IMO Apple is a ripoff when it comes to their PC options. It's a captive ecosystem that costs significantly more than a PC running Windows or Linux.
If it's heating up I would consider putting in a graphite pad instead of paste. I use them on my laptops and servers and they keep things consistently cool. The laptop run s hotter than the server but, that's by design due to space inside the chassis. When doing normal day to day stuff it sits typically in the 40-50C range and tops out around 90C with the pad using a 12700H CPU. I use the pad on the GPU as well to keep it cooler and idle around 40C with a 3060.
Replacing the SSD should be a fairly simple thing for Apple to do. Is it worth the markup though? No. They typically charge 2X the going rate for drives from what I've seen.
Laptop replacements every few years or run them till they die is the mantra for either Mac or PC. I tend to swap out things when there's a major tech advancement between CPU generations. Right now is a good time to think about it though if you're in the market. Intel ADL 12xxx CPU's are going to get a bit cheaper when RPL 13xxx get released in the spring for laptops.
Lenovo is nice but, it's pricy compared to other options that aren't so well known. Clevo is a CN OEM that makes a ton of laptops with varying degrees of HW and resells them to other companies that rebadge them with their own identity. There's a good 5-10 different resellers for them though depending on the region. The best pricing though is through RJT and you can order them barebones and add your own RAM / SSD for cheaper than a preconfigured one. I ordered a 12700H / 3060 for $1300 shipped w/ no tax and it arrived the same week it was ordered. Most companies right now have a delay of 2-3 months if you order direct.
They also come under the names Sager / XMG / etc.
Clevo Custom Laptops What is a custom laptop? It is a laptop in which you have the ability to choose how much RAM to put, to choose between what SSD / HDD or different panels, cpus and gpus. It is also useful to be able to take a barebone without disks and license. What's Clevo? Clevo is a Taiwan...
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