We do not know the failure rates so making judgements of its sustainability are hampered and cannot just rely on "I want the option" as a counter to how a product is designed.
By your logic why stop at laptops, why not demand tablets and even smart watches be treated the same. the reason is simple really, the reliability of these devices is very good and companies like Apple have highly developed processes in place to recycle the failures they do encounter.
we would never survive in a world were consumer electronics were lego like in their manufacturing. you think we have waste issues now, it is far more likely a laptop or desktop would be recycled than individual components which when failed many would just toss like they toss one use batteries found in many devices.
Well, there is a middle ground between completely unrepairable and completely lego like. Nobody needs to glue the keyboard to the battery and the speakers in a laptop. My laptop is fine. Changing the battery is especially common, they wear fast. And Apple has shown that it did glue an unreliable keyboard to components that didn't need to be thrown away.
As for tablets, you can change the screen or the battery on an iPad 2 for instance - though not easily -, and its form factor was perfectly fine. A bit thicker would not make it horrible so I am sure it is also possible to design a repairable tablet and I think Fairphone proved that it is possible for phones too (although the Fairphone seems a bit thick, granted).
As for smartwatches, I'd argue that while there are valid use cases for them, most people certainly don't need them, so it should not be a big concern. Almost everybody has a phone now, and people who really want to wear the time on their arm can get a regular watch that will last decades instead of a smartwatch. We don't need to carry two computers 24-7. I hope this market is niche and remains niche. But I certainly can imagine that you don't need to glue the battery to the screen in a smartwatch neither anyway.
By your logic why stop at laptops, why not demand tablets and even smart watches be treated the same. the reason is simple really, the reliability of these devices is very good and companies like Apple have highly developed processes in place to recycle the failures they do encounter.
we would never survive in a world were consumer electronics were lego like in their manufacturing. you think we have waste issues now, it is far more likely a laptop or desktop would be recycled than individual components which when failed many would just toss like they toss one use batteries found in many devices.