# Lenovo ThinkPad T480

40 Hacker News commenters recommended Lenovo ThinkPad T480 and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Durable, repairable ThinkPad that many people still use for modern work, with cheap used prices and good Linux support. Critics point to a dated CPU and failing ports.

## Why people recommend it

- Still capable with enough RAM and storage (5 comments): "still a very decent machine in 2026 even when used by a browser tab messy with a bunch of electron apps opened all the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251729)) "they run Linux so personally I don't see any reason to upgrade any time soon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46666660)) "it's incredibly repairable. I still use the t480 for modern workloads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49061694))
- Repairable with cheap, available parts (8 comments): "I have 4 t480s...and I buy new ones to cannibalize rather than replace the parts as works out to be still cheaper." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49062491)) "Lenovo has also done a great job with keeping their detailed service manuals online and available." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46393129)) "Thinkpads were really awesome, you could easily fix that thing by buying parts from eBay." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50288646))
- Affordable on the used market (4 comments): "a lot of models almost a decade old such as 480s or 490s with IPS screens that are very affordable second-hand." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49596780)) "just buying a Thinkpad t480 you can buy for 200$" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47360631)) "Managed to get 2x16Gb sticks for not much money." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50240943))
- Works well with Linux and FreeBSD (4 comments): "they also support Coreboot and Libreboot so you no longer have to rely on Lenovo for firmware updates" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45815040)) "they run Linux so personally I don't see any reason to upgrade any time soon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46666660)) "I own these and they also work great with FreeBSD" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47707915))

## What people warn about

- CPU feels dated for some tasks (3 comments): "CPU is feeling a bit long in the tooth for some compiling tasks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49807923)) "I was let down by the Intel processor that would throttle very badly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46667338)) "Even a riced T480 can have all that, except the CPU." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49806834))
- Ports failing on many units (2 comments): "sad to see my laptop from college die for a reason like the port dying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49062057)) "ports physically failing on a lot of t480s" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49063159))
- WWAN and wireless card restrictions (2 comments): "I would have never imagined that the Lenovo WWAN approach would not even support audio calling" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49062083)) "It has whitelist for wireless cards ? That's just evil" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49062183))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend
- [Apple MacBook Neo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo.md): 707 recommend
- [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend
- [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend
- [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lenovo+ThinkPad+T480&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Lenovo ThinkPad T480", https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinkpad-t480/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).