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tombert
vbezhenar
I own T14s Gen4 Intel and Linux support is perfect, even fingerprint reader works. Zero complaints. I'm mostly using it in clamshell mode connected via USB-C to display with backwards charging, it all just works! I'm also using secureboot with my keys, I cleared all MS keys and it didn't brick the laptop.
My only grievance is a bit buggy firmware. When I turn laptop on or reboot, speakers will randomly be muted (not a problem after OS boots, but for example in UEFI it'll either beep or not beep and that's random). UEFI interface was a bit buggy regarding mouse control, for example I've used to touch and drag things in boot order, but it didn't work and I have to actually press touchbar button down and keeping it like that move cursor. But touch drag works in other places. Not a big issue bit the first time I encountered it, I spent good few minutes trying to make sense of it, as I thought it just does not allow me to reorder boot entries or something like that. But these are small issues and once you've installed OS, you never deal with that.
Oh, and another complaint is that their BIOS update procedure is super weird. I have to find computer with Windows, download some exe, unpack things, find some BAT file and write to USB drive things, then boot from it. Theoretically they publish stuff to fwupd but I don't like this service. My best BIOS update experience was on Asus PC. I just put some bin file onto FAT32 USB drive, entered UEFI configuration, chose "update", selected that file and that's about it. Super easy, every manufacturer must implement this workflow.
Anyway I'm satistfied owner and my next laptop will likely be Thinkpad. Mostly because its stellar Linux support, but also because I didn't have any major issues with my current laptop.
bald
Re firmware updates, I've had the same problem and written a blog post about how to update the firmware on ThinkPad under Linux without a Windows computer. Find it here: https://random.xdiez.com/it/2024/02/03/Lenovo-BIOS-update-do...
amluto
What’s wrong with fwupd? I’ll admit that that the CLI is not exactly awesome, but it seems like a fairly clean implementation of the actual UEFI spec for updates.
vbezhenar
I disabled possibility of updates in my BIOS, so I must first enter BIOS, enable updates in BIOS, then I have to tinker with my boot configuration as I'm using secureboot with custom keys and no bootloader, I also need to allow changing UEFI boot variables, well, lots of things I just don't want to do for my setup. A lot of moving parts with zero sense over something as simple as update from the USB drive.
Basically right now my setup is super simple and restricted and I have to make it significantly more complicated and insecure to allow fwupd to work.
russianGuy83829
Not sure if its intel specific, but for the amd variants you can download an .iso instead of an .exe and boot from that to upgrade. No need for windows
0xbadcafebee
T14s Gen4 AMD user here w/secureboot enabled. Just used fwupd to upgrade BIOS two days ago, because I didn't realize the BIOS boot-order lock was preventing it. Rebooted, changed setting, rebooted, upgraded firmware automatically, rebooted, changed setting back. Yes it took 30 minutes, but I don't expect I'll need to do it again.
While most of the hardware works, hibernate doesn't, which annoys me. Fingerprint scanner also only works randomly at login, Linux issue I assume. Machine was crashing once a week (logs suggest it was AMDGPU related), but not since the firmware update, so fingers crossed that's fixed. In retrospect I wish I got the L14, didn't realize I would need more RAM at the time.
cmxch
For me, that’s the older(?) T15g Gen2. Maxed out a reasonable i7 /4k screen/16GB 3080 mobile configuration when SSDs and memory were dirt cheap.
Feels like the old A31p in practical grunt but thinner and easier to maintain.
Cyph0n
> Linux support required basically no effort with NixOS
My main requirement for a next laptop is running NixOS (coming from Macbook land). It’s probably this or one of the new XPS models, but not clear what NixOS support looks like there.
tombert
There's actually a compatibility listing and the hacks required to make them work! https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware
In the case of my ThinkPad, you can see there is literally no extra work required: https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware/blob/master/lenovo/t...
Still, doesn't mean you shouldn't look into other brands, obviously. Take a look at that repo to see if there's obvious compatibility stuff.
saratogacx
I just got an L13 which is a convertible form factor with every feature they offered (like cell modem, dual cameras, smart card reader, stylus, etc).
Tossed Kubuntu on it and every single piece of hardware was found and worked right out of the box. The hardware linux support has been fantastic.
thrdbndndn
Majority of laptops works "pretty well out of the box".
tombert
Not with Linux, typically. If you don't have drivers included in the kernel, it requires a lot of effort to get things working. I've done it many times, so now I will generally only buy laptops that have decent Linux support. [1]
I've had the laptop for about two years now and it still runs just as well as the day I bought it. I'm very happy with it.
[1] No I will not stick with Windows. Please feel free to read through my comment history to see why, but TL;DR I just don't like it.
zdragnar
I've had linux on every laptop I've owned for years, and I haven't really had a problem with any of them running linux, except for display port support on a dell xps.
Aside from that one dell laptop, though, I generally avoid HP and dell entirely, so perhaps that's why.
system2
I urge you to try HP.
cookiengineer
^ this comment is more relevant than people might think. HP regularly deploys broken BIOS updates and literally bricks your laptops. Happened in 2023 I think 7 times that year, and one time even right in the next week. Our IT got so fed up and ditched any HP laptops because of it.
Teknomadix
Second that. Both AMD p16 and p14 are amazing NixOS machines.
MattPalmer1086
I have the same model, it's a nice machine!
emeril
my dell is hot garbage from work
Terr_
> LPCAMM2 memory that’s fast, efficient, and easily serviced [0]
Today I Learned about LPCAMM2, which is refreshing, seeing soldered-on memory always felt like some kind of slide into disposable barbarism.
[0] https://www.ifixit.com/News/95078/lpcamm2-memory-is-finally-...
orev
When CAMM was announced, they (Dell) mentioned that one of the reasons for soldered RAM was due to electrical tolerances not being met anymore with regular DIMMs at the speeds they were reaching. CAMM was designed to avoid this, and ensures that each trace has the same length so there aren’t timing issues.
I’m no expert but it sounds plausible to me. From a manufacturing perspective, it makes sense that they’d want modular RAM so they can configure them at point of sale instead of having to manufacture multiple motherboards with only RAM sizes being different.
trinsic2
Yeah I read about that too. Makes sense as faster cpus demand faster responses from ram and the timing has to be right. I think it came up with a gamers nexus video on the steam machine.
kristianp
Looks like the T14 Gen 7 is the first T14 to have a CAMM socket. The previous model has SODIMM DDR5-5600, more power hungry? Prior to that it was the more expensive P1 Gen 7 that had LPCAMM2.
Regarding the T14 and T16, I'm frustrated that in my market (AU), they don't sell better screens than 1920x1200. I'd like to have a brighter 3k or 4k screen.
The LPCAMM2 seems to be limited to the Intel models, according to the pc mag article.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/lenovo-thinkpad-t14-gen-7-hands-o...
accrual
I'm excited to see a CAMM socket on a Thinkpad. I remember reading about CAMM a few years ago and thinking "wow looks futuristic, when will I start seeing it in hardware I care about?" and that day finally arrived.
ehnto
It did worry me though, as I had also never heard of it. Is it highly available like more regular DIMM or SODIMM ram?
That is usually my concern with things like the modular ports and replaceable keyboards too. By the time I actually need to replace anything it could be 10 years from now, could I actually source these parts easily?
Regardless, that is a excellent problem to have compared to other less repairable laptops. I have been running my current laptop for 10 years, by the time it's unrepairable I might switch to this.
idle_zealot
If this model of laptop is produced in high volume, at minimum it means that dead ones can be used for parts to cobble together a smaller number of functional ones. Well, unless it turns out that a design flaw means a few parts in particular are almost always the first to go...
accrual
> Is it highly available like more regular DIMM or SODIMM ram?
I imagine it will be kind of like USB-C. It's new and uncommon for a few years until suddenly everywhere you look has piles of it.
Edge connector RAM may one day be looked back on as "old style memory" like SIPP and DIPP is now.
accrual
I love how the LPCAMM2 slot and module looks on this board, almost futuristic/cyberpunk. Thick outline to mark it on the PCB, arrows pointing to screws, stamped metal heatspreader (reminds me of RDRAM), QR code, angular footprint, big "MEMORY" label affixed.
Cool how memory converged on the same grid-of-pins solution as CPUs.
aitchnyu
Can we expect laptops with removable memory modules to stay on top of AI workload benchmark?
bmenrigh
Yeah I learning about LPCAMM2 memory was far more interesting than the repairability score.
varispeed
I thought the issue with the soldered on RAM wasn't the fact that it was soldered, but that manufacturers would use chips that are not easy to source and in some way serialised. So even if you got larger chips, you would still have to figure out other parts to swap that tell the CPU it's 32GB now, not 24GB.
doubled112
Being soldered on is a huge issue to 99% of people and businesses wanting to repair or upgrade something.
I don’t have the tools or skills to replace soldered on memory chips when they fail. Nobody at my place of work does. Nobody was doing that type of work in a warranty centre I worked in either.
I’d need to buy an entire motherboard which will much more expensive, and likely more time consuming, than swapping a couple of memory modules.
varispeed
It's not about 99%, but enabling an industry of skilled repairers to do it for you for a small fee.
99% of people will not be replacing the USB-C port, they'll just bin the device and buy a new one or live with a dead port. So the effort is 80% PR 20% actual usefulness.
bigtex
In the almost 30 years of using Mac’s at home and various desktop pc’s in the workplace I don’t think I have ever seen ram fail. Replaced plenty of old school failed disk drives however.
mushufasa
This commitment by Lenovo must have been driven by customer demand -- in this case, the IT departments. I wonder how much of that demand may be attributed to questions about comparisons to Framework. Even if Framework is not mainstream, it has mindshare among the IT-crowd.
nine_k
The replaceable Thunderbolt sockets connecting to an internal Thunderbolt socket are a direct... homage to Framework.
opan
Lenovo has long had a separate board for the power connector you could separately replace. This is likely a continuation of that idea. I had an X220 Tablet (Released in 2011) from eBay that was sparking when I plugged it in. IIRC I just unscrewed and rescrewed the charging board and then it worked again. I guess there was some short, maybe it was loose. It would've been easy to replace just that part if it had failed completely.
TiredOfLife
Framework just made dongles be a part of case. Inside it's still soldered type-c connectors.
0x38B
For me, Framework is super cool as a brand, both for the quality of their product and the ethos that backs it. When everyone else in the coffee shop has an apple or another brand so widespread that you don't even notice it, the gear is something different. I like that.
huddert
Framework is a great concept but they will die due to poor execution. If I hadn't already recently bought a Framework (and knew what I do now about them) I would've held out for one of these new Lenovos. I don't think Framework can compete if one of the established players joins the game.
leethargo
Could you share some of "what you now know bout them"?
Was there some issue in customer support, or getting spare parts?
Is it about the new products that have since come out?
I'm also using a Framework notebook for the past two years and have been quite happy, but nothing needed replacement so far...
Epskampie
I've got a framework 13, pretty happy with it. Everything works as expected under the newest ubuntu. Build quality is good enough for me.
chrisss395
Do folks have any security concerns with Lenovo? An IT leader at a medium-large US bank recently told me they won't use Lenovo due to security risks from Chinese firmware (or something to that effect, referencing and older incident I don't recall). I've only seen such policies with defense players ten or so years ago.
That said, I've owned them personally for 10+ years, so looking for objective thoughts outside repairability as the article covers.
kemotep
Would that not be a concern for most computers? Aren’t most of these motherboards manufactured in China (or at least close proximity to China? Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.)
But older Thinkpads (not sure about newer (~5 years old) ones, certainly not brand brand new models) have great support of alternative firmware such as coreboot and libreboot, other projects that disable Intel ME and the like.
SamuelAdams
Reminds me of the film Armageddon 1998, where the Russian astronaut had some complaints:
<in reference to hardware buttons in the spaceship control panel>
USA astronaut: "This is an American aircraft, you don't know the parts"
Russian astronaut: "Ah, American parts, Russian parts... all made in Taiwan!"
cromka
It's the firmware that is made in China that's problematic, not where the motherboard is soldered. Framework assembled there, too, but use open source coreboot firmware. Doesn't get any better than that.
Almost every upgrade of firmware for my Lenovo laptop is CVEs recently. I have no doubts they share that with their government and keep some backdoors opened.
justaj
Perhaps, but lots of (older) Thinkpads are supported by Libreboot, so that cuts down on the binary blobs significantly.
iso-logi
The bigger threat is the US, which injects spyware capabilities into every AMD, Intel and Nvidia die.
imglorp
Maybe? The Lenovo Superfish thing was pretty bad.
Anyway, every die? citation needed.
Also. If true, what's the alternative?
naruhodo
"Every"? Maybe not, but... from a brief web search, IME should give you the heebie-jeebies due to it's network access.[1]
AMD's PSP (now ASP) seems to be more of a local attack surface[2] that has its fair share of vulnerabilities.[3]
[1] https://www.franksworld.com/2025/09/18/the-intel-backdoor-no...
[2] https://www.digit.in/features/laptops/intel-me-and-amd-psp-t...
[3] https://www.amd.com/en/resources/product-security/bulletin/a...
alabhyajindal
Nice very cool. Unfortunately, the blog post looks like it's been generated by an LLM.
> Going from a high score to the highest score isn’t usually about making minor tweaks. It requires fighting for every small, boring, consequential decision—the ones that determine whether a repair isn’t merely possible or practical, but within easy reach.
aleph_minus_one
I, as a non-native speaker, don't associate this with LLMs, but with corporate advertising texts.
idle_zealot
They're basically the same thing. Machine language, just generated by a different kind of machine, one social, the other a transformer model.
0x38B
One of the worst places are company "About pages". I've come across new products, some linked here; interested, I click through to the "about us" page, only to find meaningless marketing fluff that tells me zero about the people behind the product. That's a signal to me to close the tab and move on.
mceachen
At the same time, at least to me, the text reads like a transcript from one of their YouTube tear downs.
pjjpo
There are those times we may be seeing the source of LLM language training. I had the same reaction of sounding like one but agree it's likely not.
trinsic2
Ifixit, the same guys that gave the new Macmini 8/10 for repairability? They're totally biased to mainstream products IMHO especially Mac products.
Then they give this Laptop a 10/10. One look at the internals and without a shadow of doubt it's not as as repairable friendly as framework laptop.
Not sure what they are smoking.
Yea someone else said it but bios updates on certain models can be hit or miss. But definitely better than dell or hp. I'd take Asus over Lenovo any day for bios though.
thenthenthen
> Full disclosure: iFixit has an ongoing business relationship with Lenovo, and we are hopelessly biased in favor of repairable products.
Bottom of the page
trinsic2
It should probably read "hopelessly biased over shinny new products that have the appearance of repairability over other products that are actually repairable so that we can promote companies that contribute to the unreparibility of technology without really holding the industry accountable"
samusiam
I can recall reading human-authored text like this for more than a decade.
dismalaf
LLMs copied this style of writing, no doubt by training on blog content. Blogs have been doing it forever now...
evil-olive
> We noted a similar lack of modularity on the Wi-Fi module, where repairs or upgrades will be impractical at best.
I'm the current owner of a T14s (gen3 AMD) and the non-replaceable wifi chip has been my biggest pain point with it. I'm somewhat disappointed to see them give this 10/10 score with that problem unresolved.
according to lspci it's a Qualcomm QCNFA765 and it works great under Linux...until you suspend the machine. after it wakes up from suspend, it will only stay connected for a few seconds to a minute before dropping the connection and re-establishing it.
I've replaced wifi chips in other Thinkpads I've owned, so I naively assumed this would be the same as well - just swapping out the M.2 card. but no such luck, it's soldered in place.
I ended up using systemd to rmmod-then-modprobe the ath11k_pci module when the system resumes from sleep. this is annoying because it adds a delay of several extra seconds before the machine is ready to use, but none of the "smaller hammer" workarounds I attempted worked at all.
ggm
I'm not in a refresh cycle, but I would seriously consider this platform having used the older X series, and found them workhorses. I destroyed an X30 keyboard and the replacement was fast and easy. Bringing that experience into the modern era is a good thing.
One thing which worries me, is how easily the Qualcomm core platforms run novel OS because I don't see indications they are avoiding blob dependency either in the core, or in peripheral control. It will probably be fine if you run the Lenovo tailored linux release, but if you want to run a BSD or something else you might find either you're on a slower path, or you have less battery life, or you simply can't drive some devices. (I am a user not a kernel/devicedriver developer so if I misunderstand blobbyness and why things like wifi cards often don't work please don't hate me)
But for hardware replacement? This is ace! I like the other sources which people use too, but Lenovo has a worldwide warranty, and has agents almost everywhere so your ability to be on-the-road, pick up a phone, quote a number and get a part is significantly enhanced. (in my experience)
mvkel
> disassembling, evaluating, and feeding back ... listened, iterated, and shipped. they didn’t declare victory and go home. They kept pushing.
Not even an attempt to clear the ai smell out of this piece.
_ache_
I switch from ThinkPad to Framework because they couldn't send me a replacement keyboard. They want me to send the keyboard back to get a refund but I never receive it so... I never did get a refund.
Later, Framework send me a laptop in 1 week and later a replacement screen in less then a week. It's been 3 years ago now.
carefree-bob
What do you think of the build quality of your Framework? Have you had any issues over the last 3 years?
_ache_
On part with top ThinkPad, the experience is overall better (better Linux support, less noise, easier to hack, ...).
The bad points: - The colored bezel is shit. - The way is open wasn't good for me and had to switch the hinges. Now I don't even think about it, but it was really bad before. - The 60W Power adapter doesn't last long and had to change it each year. Now I switch to the 180W. - The battery is ok but not exceptional
The good points: - The screen is very good (don't remember which one I choose, but not the first one, nor the last, I remember only 3 options so ...). - The compute power is quite good, I'm impressed about that. - Easy to clean, open it with the screwdriver, a little "Compressed air" on it, a little "Eyeglass Cleaner", and it's basically new. - The support was very very good. I had a defective screen kit. The ask me for photos, twice (two opinions from different people). Then conclude, like I already did, that it was an internal problem (but they have to verify I'm not responsible for the defect, that is normal) and send me a display kit free of charge. I had to send back the old on, free of charge too.
kiddico
I'm rocking a framework 13" intel 12th gen still and I love it. The only issue I had was being part of the few that got a batch of bad hinges. I didn't know there was a replacement program I could have used and just replaced them myself with the heavier hinge option. At this point I have every expansion port thing they offer and keep them in my bag. My laptop can have any I/O I want :) pretty cool.
SV_BubbleTime
Hmm, framework 13 and Linux… loves nothing more than to drain while off. I’m getting really annoyed by that
aitchnyu
Hows hibernate on those machines? Never did in on an SSD/NVME.
0x38B
My sister just ordered a battery & some hinges for her Framework and they practically overnighted it to us here in Alaska. They included a colorful sheet of stickers, too - fun!
userbinator
I agree with the other comments here saying that it smells of AI-generated marketing puff-piece --- ThinkPads have always been very repairable, with the official service manuals published (which is more of a guide to disassembly/reassembly, but that's sufficient especially given the availability of (leaked) schematics). Older Dell Latitudes are not too bad either.
ed_mercer
ThinkPads have definitely not always been very repairable. The t480 was the last solid option, and it went downhill from there.
opan
Specifically the T14 had half or fully soldered RAM for the first several gens. Gen 5 restored the socketed RAM. T440p was the last with a socketed CPU. We've lost a lot of power user features over the years, but ThinkPads still tend to be better than most modern alternatives.
megous
I love this. T14 gen 7 was the first NB I a actually bought for myself, and it's great to know that USB-C ports can just be replaced that easilly without soldering and that it was designed from the start with repairability in mind. Non-A USB ports is something that always ends up failing.
bondant
> it's great to know that USB-C ports can just be replaced that easilly
Yes exactly! To me it's surely the biggest win. It's very easy to break them when the power chord is plugged in. I'm really pleased that we will now be able to fix them without having to change the whole motherboard (which surely very few people do because of expansive and how ridiculous it sounds)
WD-42
This is great. I’m still rocking a nearly 10 year old T470s. Great machine with Linux on it, still snappy enough- Tailscale is there when I need to do serious work (on my desktop at home!)
I replaced the batteries a few months ago and it was painless.
abdullahkhalids
I have a T470. I have changed the screen (after I dropped water on it and shorted it), changed the batteries after 5 years, increased the RAM, and added an M2 drive. All of these were painless operations. Couldn't be happier with my purchase.
hermanzegerman
Same. And it's still fast enough for almost all 08/15 Tasks if you replace Windows with Fedora
petepete
I use my 2019 X1C 7th Gen daily and it's been the best laptop I've owned by a mile. Never skipped a beat.
I immediately switched it to Fedora and everything worked out of the box except the fingerprint reader which started working a few weeks later after a firmware update (also handled effortlessly/perfectly within Gnome - and it still gets updates!)
cbenz
Same here. The only problem is that I "only" have 24Gb of RAM. I wish I could upgrade but it's a hard limit. And keyboard quality seems to have been degrading over the years since 2020. Is this new model good in terms of keyboard?
Markoff
You can have more than 32GB RAM in T470s (btw. I'm using T480s with 40GB RAM)
https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/bibx3p/t470s_supp...
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I have the ThinkPad p16s AMD gen 2. What it lacks in name it makes up for with being the most headache-free computer I have ever had (including a Macbook).
Everything works pretty well out of the box, it never really overheats, Linux support required basically no effort with NixOS, the keyboard feels pretty nice, the screen is bright and easy to read, and fortunately I bought it when RAM prices weren't insane so I got the 64GB model.
I haven't tried repairing it yet but considering how well it's been working I'm not even sure I'll need ever need to. If this laptop gets stolen, I will likely just buy another ThinkPad, I'm a complete convert.