p3x.deApple and Lenovo have the least repairable laptops, analysis finds
sabreW4K3arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/apple-has-the-l…
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Interesting, Lenovo must have a wide spread over their product range, then … at least quite a few of their products are amongst the top scorers on iFixit repeairability scores … changing the keyboard on my IdeaPad was a different story, though 😅
The Thinkpads are typically quite easy to work on. Lenovo’s consumer grade laptops are mostly disposable junk though.
It was the same way with the Dell Latitude and Inspiron lines. The latitudes were stupid easy to work on, but more expensive and business focused. The Inspirons were trash.
Well, depends on how brave you are …
I’ve replaced the keyboard on my IdeaPad Flex 5 … removing plastic rivets and replacing them with superglue isn’t fun but it’s holding up great so far …
One of the display hinges crumbled (or, rather, the plastic mount it was screwed into), I repaired it with heavy-duty epoxy … the screen is held in the bezel with adhesive clay.
The laptop has been heavily used over the last 4 years, including many on-stage shows … so I wouldn’t call it unreliable, and it was ridiculously cheap for what it is … so I wouldn’t call it junk …
recklessengagement…I literally just swapped a heatsink in a modern thinkpad yesterday. Can’t say I agree with this.
Unless maybe they are only grading consumer-channel laptops? Because it is trivial for me to get replacement parts and manuals for any X, T, or P-series.
RomkslrquszAnecdotes from an independent repair shop owner / operator.
I very rarely encounter reparability issues from Lenovo devices. I’ve worked on the full range down to Chromebooks and all the way up to high-end ThinkPad workstations. Parts are generally available, if not from Lenovo then on the aftermarket. They have repair documentation on their site. There are cases where the memory is soldered, but that is not something that is unique to Lenovo.
From my perspective, the least repairable devices end up being the LG and Samsung laptops. Parts are much harder to come by, which means that when they are available they’re usually quite expensive. Their designs are hostile to repair, documentation has not been readily available, they haven’t used modular memory for about 10 years now.
Microsoft’s Surface lineup has historically been real bad for repair, it’s not until recently that they’ve been turning a new leaf. Their logic board designs are so unusual that even component level repair becomes a huge pain compared to others.
YerboutiApple is absolutly the GOAT on this. I need a macbook for work. The fact that the hard drive is solder to the mobo is bullshit.
boredsquirrel (he)Lenovo Thinkpads ≠ IBM Thinkpads. They steadily got worse and worse. My T495 broke down really fast and didnt turn on anymore. Easy to replace some parts but hard to replace the rest
SaneMartiganI swapped the battery in mum’s leonvo with minimal fuss. Same as most hardware issues - found a youtube and followed it.
Shouldn’t this also be weighed against the actual reliability of these devices?
Sure you could take it into consideration. However, the abuse these laptops go through in an office setting wil not be saved by reliability. Then fixability is the different between fixing it or throwing it in the bin.
We should think about ruggedness and reliability as two different metrics. Some models are quite good at dealing with physical impacts, vibrations, moisture, dust, etc. That doesn’t always translate to reliability for ordinary use, or failures caused by other things related to design or manufacturing, or even software/firmware issues.
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Considering that ThinkPads are as beloved as they are for their repairability, I would have assumed Lenovo to score higher
Maybe, their consumer-grade laptops aren’t as repairable as the ThinkPads. The article linked within the article also mentions, that they went from “F” last year to “C”.
Oh, I missed that one. That’s a huge bump
I replaced a fan on my Lenovo ThinkPad so yeah, it wasn’t difficult except for that moment of adding the right amount of thermal paste.
iFixit says different about Lenovo.
https://www.ifixit.com/repairability/laptop-repairability-scores
iFixit is honestly terrible with these rankings. They seem to be based completely on how easy they are to take apart and reassemble, and nothing to do with availability or cost of components, or whether the components themselves are serialized.
https://www.ifixit.com/News/75533/how-ifixit-scores-repairability
Well it’s good to know that they added that. But don’t the OEMs decide what MSRP is?
Their job is to sell tools to fix stuff, did you even read the ars article, it’s just clickbait. Lenovo failed because they didn’t provide repairability score for their laptop models. nothing to do with if it’s actual repairable or not.
I’ve repaired Lenovo before, aftermarket items all available, change screens, keyboard, battery, simple stuff only though, no issues, everything is designed so it’s easy to change.
I would not say the same about HP or DELL, shit enterprise laptops, and the consumer ones are worse.
And?
The article was not relevant to my statement.
I wasn’t talking about Lenovo.
Yeah. I can say the same about most HP laptops starting with pro.
Yet my oldest still on use laptop is HP EliteBook 2560p is quite the different. The bottom cover opens completely without screw driver and even the cpu fan in it’s entirety is out in the open to be able to clean every now and then.
One model verses the hundreds of other products they been selling. Also if not enough people purchase this model, they stop parts production and kill the model line. It will be like it never happened.
Anecdotes from an independent repair shop owner / operator.
I very rarely encounter reparability issues from Lenovo devices. I’ve worked on the full range down to Chromebooks and all the way up to high-end ThinkPad workstations. Parts are generally available, if not from Lenovo then on the aftermarket. They have repair documentation on their site. There are cases where the memory is soldered, but that is not something that is unique to Lenovo.
From my perspective, the least repairable devices end up being the LG and Samsung laptops. Parts are much harder to come by, which means that when they are available they’re usually quite expensive. Their designs are hostile to repair, documentation has not been readily available, they haven’t used modular memory for about 10 years now.
Microsoft’s Surface lineup has historically been real bad for repair, it’s not until recently that they’ve been turning a new leaf. Their logic board designs are so unusual that even component level repair becomes a huge pain compared to others.
Purely anecdotal but my IdeaPad has very decent repairability . Certainly better than any modern phone. Fan can be cleaned, memory and storage can be upgraded except I think there is some base memory soldered on. But overall I was relived at how easy it is given it was a gift and I didn’t get to meticulously investigate the model before buying
Yet the best performance and longevity
every non-apple macbook I ever bought always had some issue. broken hinges, screens that went bad, just go dead,etc. It’s not like apple ones are defect-free but I have 4 of them running at home, the oldest from 2012 running without zero issues beyond a wasted battery. repairability is not an issue if they dont break in the first place.
My oldest running laptops that have never had a single issue are a MacBook Pro (2011 model, the high-end 15”) and a Lenovo gaming laptop that’s like 14 years old and inexplicably has a second video card you can take out of the side.
I use them both to this day. They have 16GB RAM and SSDs now, and never had a problem.
Quick edit: the MacBook Pro has its original battery and lasts over two hours at full brightness still, but has fewer than 40 battery cycles since it was originally a gaming machine for LAN parties I went to. The Lenovo has its original battery and lasts about 45 minutes still.
Was glad to see the new Macbook Neo was a small correction of this trend for Apple at least. No idea if it’ll stick, seems unlikely. But one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world becoming more repairable is great for everyone whether you like their products or not.
I disagree about Lenovo. They sell a lor parts. I just replaced my Lenovo ThinkPad’s battery last year.
Not all Lenovo’s are thinkpads… They sell a lot of garbage at lower price points.
Hot take: elitebooks > thinkpads
That is a hot take.
I’ve got a new Thinkpad for work, and it’s actually been pretty good so far, I’m pleasantly surprised. The battery lasts the entire day, it’s consistent….
I’ve also had elitebooks, and with HP when you get a good one it’s generally good. But it sometimes took a couple attempts to get a good one. Never got one to go the distance either. I’m not necessarily hard on my work laptops either, they get used, but it’s not like I’m throwing them around like frisbees or anything.