Comment by teaearlgraycold

I normally use an M3 MacBook Air, but I still have my T430 from college and I love how upgradable and hackable it is.

What I've done so far:

* Maxed out the RAM to 16GB (using lower voltage DIMMs to increase battery life)

* Swapped to a larger 9 cell battery

* Upgraded the CPU (and thermal paste) from a 2 core/4 thread i5 to a 4 core/8 thread i7

* Flashed a custom BIOS to remove the WiFi card whitelist and installed an Intel 7260 WiFi AC + Bluetooth card

* Replaced the stock 1600x900 TN panel with a 1920x1080 IPS display

* Replaced the barrel charging port with a USB-C connector (requires a 20v USB PD power supply, but those aren't super rare or expensive)

* Replaced the HDD with an SSD

* Replaced the optical drive and a 2.5" drive enclosure and installed a second SSD

Future projects:

* Flash Coreboot

* Upgrade to a faster i7

* Upgrade to a 1440p IPS panel

* Swap to a T420 keyboard