[arthurfm]

> It's a shame that thinkpads are becoming less and less modular and functional.

The new T490/T490s/T590 ThinkPads are even worse in terms of upgradability.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T490s-T490-T59...

> It seems that Lenovo prioritized sleeker designs over flexibility with the newest T ThinkPads, as the manufacturer is making some rather drastic changes to the internals and ports of the new models. Features like the SD card slot (replaced with MicroSD) or full-size RJ45-Ethernet on the T490s are getting the axe, the same is true for the 2.5 inch storage bay on the T490 and T590. Also, Lenovo is relying more on soldered RAM than before. The ThinkPad T490s has a maximum of 32 GB of soldered RAM, while the T490 and the T590 both have up to 16 GB of soldered RAM plus a single DDR4 RAM slot (up to 48 GB RAM in total). All of those changes will likely result in some fierce discussions among the ThinkPad fans.

[i_am_proteus]

I think the silver T490 is a little telling. Anecdotally, people are abandoning MacBooks for Thinkpads due to a drop in the quality and utility of the former, and Lenovo is trying to grab that share by... making Thinkpads more like Macbooks?

Sadly, those of us who value features only found on older Thinkpads are probably in the minority. My X220 is slowly aging out of usefulness and I'm not sure what will replace it.