Repairability is trendy. Let’s hope it evolves.

For years, laptops have followed a familiar script: thinner chassis, more glue, more solder, lesser upgradeability, and a clear suggestion to buy a new one when something fails.

Fairphone and Framework challenged that logic. Fairphone made the awkwardly radical claim that a phone’s battery, display or camera should be replaceable. Framework made the same point with laptops: ports, storage, memory, keyboards and even mainboards should be things one can change, rather than untouchable layers sealed in a slab.

Now the large manufacturers are edging in. Lenovo’s 2026 ThinkPads T14 Gen 7 and T16 Gen 5, and Acer’s new Vero 16, suggest that repairability is not just for people who enjoy precision screwdrivers and watch teardowns for relaxation. They are bringing repairability into mainstream laptops. That is great news. And the moment to apply some sane skepticism before buying the pitch. Let me explain.

The new ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 and T16 Gen 5 received a 10/10 repairability score from iFixit, a surprising result for one of the world’s largest PC makers, with several components easier to replace (battery, SSD, LPCAMM2 memory, fan, keyboard, display assembly and certain USB-C/Thunderbolt-related parts). This is not a Framework Laptop in disguise. There are still limits: some port components remain attached to boards, Wi-Fi is not designed as a straightforward user upgrade, and deeper repairs may still involve adhesive.

But that should not obscure the point. A computer bought by a company or a public institution can now survive many more years and eliminate most of the maintenance contracts with manufacturers. For products sold in fleets, that could matter more than another ultra-thin consumer laptop claiming to be “made with ocean-bound plastic” à-la HP.

Acer’s Vero 16 is more ambitious in its language, and potentially in its design. The company says the laptop has a tool-free bottom-cover latch, replaceable battery and SSD, removable port covers, a detachable external hinge, and repair instructions physically marked on the device. Acer also claims the Vero 16 is "designed to support processor upgrades" for at least two generations... which comes with an asterisk shaped like a question mark. It is not the same as: “Here is the compatible upgrade kit, here is the installation guide, and here is our commitment to sell it in five years.” Until Acer delivers exactly that, the claim remains just a claim.

It would be unfair to write this story as if Fairphone and Framework were flawless heroes while Lenovo and Acer were late opportunists. A future-proof laptop is one for which the future parts can actually be ordered. A repairable device without the part is like a public library whose books are permanently on loan: admirable mission, frustrating outcome.

Fairphone and Framework have genuinely shifted expectations. Fairphone’s modular phones made repair accessible to people who would never otherwise open a device. Framework’s Marketplace offers replacement parts, upgrade components and expansion modules for its laptops. But both have also shown that designing replaceable components is easier than maintaining their availability.

For instance, in its own support page on Fairphone 2 parts, Fairphone explains that some components could not be replenished, and in multiple occasions it recognized that several parts were no longer available after stocks ran out. Seven years of software support are a huge deal, but ending the sale of spare parts makes it sterile. A device is not immortal simply because it has screws.

Framework has another compelling model: parts, repair guides and motherboard upgrades are meant to keep the same chassis useful across generations. Yet availability has sometimes been uneven, with community reports describing extended out-of-stock periods, with unclear restocking timelines. Said otherwise: a marketplace does not automatically guarantee a supply chain.

This is not hypocrisy. It is an industrial problem. Small companies have limited purchasing power and must forecast demand for obscure components years in advance. Producing a few thousand old camera modules, port boards or batteries can be financially difficult when suppliers prefer large, current orders. Still, the owner of a broken phone or laptop does not experience “supply-chain complexity.” They experience an unavailable part.

Fairphone made phones repairable and, at times, selectively upgradeable; Framework went further, making the laptop’s core platform itself replaceable. Lenovo and Acer, and whatever big companies makes its repairability move next, have advantages Fairphone and Framework do not: larger supply chains, purchasing power, service networks, enterprise customers, and logistics operations.

That could make their repairability programmes more durable. Large organisations buying their machines in bulk have a legitimate interest in keeping them functional for years. An affordable replacement port, keyboard or battery is cheaper than replacing an entire fleet. This is where mainstream repairability could become ordinary infrastructure rather than a values-driven exception.

But scale can also be enshittified in many ways:

• Available only to authorised service centres (à-la Acer).
• Reserved for warranty repairs or new-device production.
• Sold through a corporate channel, but not to individual owners.
• Out of stock in a certain country despite being listed online.
• Priced so aggressively that a new laptop begins to look “economically rational.”
• Blocked by firmware pairing, proprietary diagnostics or component serialisation.

That would produce a particularly modern form of obstruction à-la Apple: the “you cannot repair this,” gets replaced by a “sure you can, you merely need a service contract, an authorised partner, three weeks and a certain tolerance for bureaucracy and risk-taking.”

The timing is unlikely to be accidental. The EU’s right-to-repair directive was adopted in 2024 and must be applied by EU member states from 31 July 2026. It does not directly impose a universal laptop-repair obligation: its current scope focuses on goods already covered by EU repairability requirements.

Still, it is part of a broader regulatory shift. The EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation creates a framework for product requirements addressing durability, repairability, reuse and other lifecycle issues. And the EU’s Battery Regulation will require many portable batteries to be readily removable and replaceable by end users from 18 February 2027.

Regulation, procurement pressure and shifting consumer expectations, it seems, have simply made the old approach less comfortable. Fairphone and Framework supplied the example. Europe supplied part of the incentive. Lenovo and Acer are now testing whether repairability can fit inside the mainstream laptop business. Others will fall in line, let's hope.

Manufacturers did not suddenly discover that batteries age, ports break and users dislike waste. Repairability is not a bottom panel secured by friendly screws. It is a long-term relationship with the customer. If the part is available, reasonably priced and installable, we can call it progress.