That "made to open up and update" aspect is exactly why I switched when my 2013 (Retina) MBP crapped out. I had just spent $300 CAD to replace the battery, which involved the glued-together mess of battery, top case, keyboard and trackpad. So when the charging circuit died on motherboard right after, I was not keen to spend much more to just get back to baseline. They wouldn't even countenance the idea of my giving them more money, so that I could get a board with more soldered-on RAM.

Switched to a P50 with twice as much RAM, and that's just one socket of four. Since upgraded to the max, with bigger SSD, it's still a beast.

Compare with Apple's use of glue and special screws, when Lenovo provides detailed service manuals on its web site.

I normally use an M3 MacBook Air, but I still have my T430 from college and I love how upgradable and hackable it is.

What I've done so far:

* Maxed out the RAM to 16GB (using lower voltage DIMMs to increase battery life)

* Swapped to a larger 9 cell battery

* Upgraded the CPU (and thermal paste) from a 2 core/4 thread i5 to a 4 core/8 thread i7

* Flashed a custom BIOS to remove the WiFi card whitelist and installed an Intel 7260 WiFi AC + Bluetooth card

* Replaced the stock 1600x900 TN panel with a 1920x1080 IPS display

* Replaced the barrel charging port with a USB-C connector (requires a 20v USB PD power supply, but those aren't super rare or expensive)

* Replaced the HDD with an SSD

* Replaced the optical drive and a 2.5" drive enclosure and installed a second SSD

Future projects:

* Flash Coreboot

* Upgrade to a faster i7

* Upgrade to a 1440p IPS panel

* Swap to a T420 keyboard