If you're going for a Thinkpad, the T480 from a couple of years ago seems to be the gold standard. The current successor of that model is the T14, but I have no idea if it's as good. I got an X1 Extreme, which is a gorgeous machine, and very powerful, but it eats through its power like no laptop I've seen before. Battery charge rarely lasts more than 2 hours.
One big advantage of the high-end Thinkpads: they're spill resistant. I accidentally spilled an entire mug of tea over this one, and it had no ill effects whatsoever. You can't do that with most laptops.
I have a 2021 T14, upgraded from a T460p. It's a bit underwhelming if I'm being honest. Ubuntu seems to have more problems with it than with the T460p:
- Crashes more than before. This has only been 2 or 3 times, but it's still 2 or 3 times for than it should.
- Has random issues, like graphical glitches, with builtin and external 4K displays. Right now I keep the resolution at 1080 because it's annoying.
- Has more issues going into and out of sleep.
Those are all probably Ubuntu's issues though. Physically I don't have a gripe besides maybe the speakers are a bit quiet and it would be nice if there was a USB C port on the right side so I could charge from either side.
I think the T14 with Ryzen 5 was actually what I was after, but it was "6+ weeks" shipping with the configuration I wanted (maxing out the soldered RAM). I'm glad I went with the G14 as it has a much more powerful CPU and is actually smaller (but weighs a little more).
I doubt that's unique to the T14, though. Every recent laptop and desktop I know seems to have trouble sleeping lately. Either they refuse to go to sleep, or they do, but randomly wake up and then stay on. I don't know what's causing this PC insomnia epidemic.
The T480 that I got is the worst laptop purchase I have done in years. The m2 port is not bolt in but you will need to buy an adapter if you want to install a second drive if your configuration is only 1 drive. The USB-C charging port had problem quickly after a year where it don't receive charge unless you put it in the JUST the right position and pray to god that it will keep charging. And the USB-C card is part of the mobo so you are looking at $700-800 mobo swap to fix the problem.
One big advantage of the high-end Thinkpads: they're spill resistant. I accidentally spilled an entire mug of tea over this one, and it had no ill effects whatsoever. You can't do that with most laptops.