I’m not at my computer to find a link, but I think dell and hp had similar, but less severe, scandals. Windows-based laptops are a wasteland, I’m not sure who to buy my next machine from (I run Ubuntu)
System76 is pricey but the hardware is handpicked for linux and their support is excellent. Also I believe they are currently in the process of transitioning to opensource firmware
Yup, they're working on coreboot support. If you're in Europe Tuxedo Linux is also working on coreboot, and the Purism laptops ship with it out of the box.