I wonder if this will suit up the “they don’t make them like they used to” crowd.

Well they dont lol, they are super flimsy these days and most stuff is soldered on. Its good if this turns out to be the start of the return to good thinkpads, but i wouldnt get my hopes up yet.

What exactly is soldered on that shouldn’t be? If you want a processor that’s user replaceable, you should just get a PC. If RAM SSD and the ports are user replaceable, that sounds pretty good to me.

Why should it be?

Have you ever carried a laptop on actual travel? Like sprinting across a train station to catch your connection? You’ll definitely learn to appreciate a smaller lighter laptop.