Lenovo’s new ThinkPads score 10/10 for repairability • Hacker News Board

Re: Lenovo’s new ThinkPads score 10/10 for repairability

#251

Post by accrual » Sat, Mar 07, 2026, 5:18 PM UTC

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #187

What about sleep mode? Anyone measured power draw in sleep mode in newer Thinkpads? From what I understand, Gen 2 was the last one to have S3, and newer versions with si0x will have higher power consumption in sleep mode, right?

I have had excellent sleep duration with a T14 Gen4 AMD under Fedora. I can put it to sleep and wake it a week later and still have >60% battery. Windows 11 was a different story - I'd find it dead after a day or two of sleeping. The "i" in Thinkpad pulses while asleep so it was easy to tell when it had switched from sleeping to drained.

Re: Lenovo’s new ThinkPads score 10/10 for repairability

#252

Post by accrual » Sat, Mar 07, 2026, 5:23 PM UTC

liz_ifixit wrote: post #234

owenversteeg wrote: post #75

Yikes. Has iFixit jumped the shark? An AI generated press release on behalf of Lenovo, who is (from my perspective) essentially paying them for good PR? And this paid relationship - Lenovo paying iFixit - isn’t disclosed until the very last line of the article, so you have to first read 1500+ words of AI slop? That made me start looking into their scores. The Thinkpad E14 Gen 7 gets a 9/10 despite soldered ports, a p…

Hey, I head the editorial team at iFixit and honestly appreciate the feedback. Totally fair to suggest we should've flagged our relationship with Lenovo at the head of the article. It's a tricky thing, to figure out how to message our business relationships with companies when we're also scoring their devices. I've added a fuller note about our business relationship with them to the beginning. What Lenovo pays us for…

Not GP but I appreciate the transparency, thank you! The snapshot document was particularly cool to see.

Re: Lenovo’s new ThinkPads score 10/10 for repairability

#253

Post by accrual » Sat, Mar 07, 2026, 5:27 PM UTC

Terr_ wrote: post #2

> 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-...

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.

Re: Lenovo’s new ThinkPads score 10/10 for repairability

#254

Post by _ache_ » Thu, Mar 12, 2026, 5:28 PM UTC

carefree-bob wrote: post #64

_ache_ wrote: post #57

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.

What do you think of the build quality of your Framework? Have you had any issues over the last 3 years?

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.

Re: Lenovo’s new ThinkPads score 10/10 for repairability

#255

Post by owenversteeg » Tue, Mar 17, 2026, 3:35 AM UTC

liz_ifixit wrote: post #234

owenversteeg wrote: post #75

Yikes. Has iFixit jumped the shark? An AI generated press release on behalf of Lenovo, who is (from my perspective) essentially paying them for good PR? And this paid relationship - Lenovo paying iFixit - isn’t disclosed until the very last line of the article, so you have to first read 1500+ words of AI slop? That made me start looking into their scores. The Thinkpad E14 Gen 7 gets a 9/10 despite soldered ports, a p…

Hey, I head the editorial team at iFixit and honestly appreciate the feedback. Totally fair to suggest we should've flagged our relationship with Lenovo at the head of the article. It's a tricky thing, to figure out how to message our business relationships with companies when we're also scoring their devices. I've added a fuller note about our business relationship with them to the beginning. What Lenovo pays us for…

Hi Liz, I appreciate you coming here to comment, and the modifications to the article. I also appreciate the public documents.

Looking at the differences between the M5 Macbook Pro vs E14 Gen 7 I still don't quite feel that the scoring is fair. It is true that the battery is more difficult to replace and the memory/storage are soldered in the Mac. However, the soldered ports for the Thinkpad are a pretty big downside. I bet that if you surveyed regular users, they would be more likely to prefer replaceable ports to upgradeable memory/storage. The battery replacement also does not seem terribly difficult on the Mac; most of the repair guide is about Apple's neurotic use of torque drivers and adhesive activators. If you are happy with the build quality and durability of modern Thinkpads, these steps are entirely unnecessary.

I suspect a substantial factor in the scoring is Apple's fasteners - the drivers for which, of course, are now in every electronics repair kit in the world, not to mention typically included for free with replacement parts on Amazon. Is this really worth a substantial hit to Apple's scores?