Your definition of dumbing down is strange, at best. Some things have changed, sure. Like, if you want to use Zoom, you need to re-learn to double click the window bar instead of pressing the tiny green button. (OMG! Dumbed down! So inconvenient!... you get the point). But in regards to user convenience and to what you can do with the OS, it is constantly improving. Stock apps are getting better and better. The OS recently got full scriptability with JavaScript. There is a standard OS-wide extension mechanisms, that defines how universal plugins can be written in a safe way. There is pressure-sensitive touch, which adds a new level of user interaction. Not least, you can look up all the network information by alt-clicking the network icon (how's that for dumbing down?).
People still care about these things? Hardware is cheap, labour is expensive. It costs me more to maintain an old machine rather than to buy a new one. At least Macs are quite reliable and play along nicely with the rest of the infrastructure. And our employees prefer the new Macs simply because of the reduced weight and increased battery life. I'd take a non-reparable machine that manages to shave a 0.5kg off over a heavy fully repairable one in a heartbeat. Reduced weight and height, improved battery are important to me every single day. Repairability and upgradeability are hypothetical needs which usually never become relevant, because by the time I feel the need to update the machine, the tech has moved forward so much that a new purchase almost always makes sense.
And besides, in 5-10 years all laptops will have non-replaceable components anyway, as that is what is dictated by the technological progress. Want more speed and reliability? No way around soldered-in (or even packed on the same chip) components.
Look at your original post
P.S. BTW, I am not trying to bicker here, I just want to put your statements in a perspective. I understand that your background and how you want to use your computer are different. I want to point out however, that your situation might not be that relevant to the majority of Apple users.
