I think it's funny how signaling things like "expandable performance" and "deep key travel" get tied to being a hacker. The only thing you can upgrade even on an expandable laptop is memory and disk, which a hacker is probably maxing out to begin with. (Even expandable laptops are pretty limited by the chipsets these days in how much RAM they can handle). And given the high resale value of Macs, your typical Silicon Valley worker will probably spend more on lattes than on simply selling their Mac every couple of years and buying a new one.
HP Zbook first gen here: I can also replace CPU and GPU. I didn't do it and never will do but it's in the user manual.
I upgraded RAM and swapped the DVD with a 1 TB SSD. The HD is still in there, auto shutdown after 5 secs. I use it for storing large files I don't need on the SSD but could be handy to be online sometimes, like raw videos from my camera.
I'd like to replace the keyboard with one without the number pad. Possible in theory but there is no part that fits on the market. The only 15" laptops without number pad at the time were the Mac and I think the XPS, which was overheating. Maybe the problem with the latter is solved now.
