Kind of a weirdly written article. Only one model removed the nub, and it's from one of its "we're trying to be MacBook" lines (the X line, like the Z line, are more about form than function). And all that tech shipped in its other lines for a while, afaik.
I recently sold a Z13 because it had so many quirks (low battery life due to OLED, trackpad and trackpoint were crap, bluetooth barely worked through the dense metal chassis, display didn't fold down 180 degrees, felt heavy af).
I got a T14s instead. Holy crap, it is so much better. Feels lighter, the touchpad and trackpoint are great, 500nits low-energy display is "ok" but battery can last all day. I use the trackpoint all the time (partly due to the touchpad drifting for some reason, and partly just to have a more precise pointer for fine work). The only downside is the lack of more USB-C ports.
A random upside if you order it with Ubuntu: it comes with Secure Boot set up correctly. But then a downside: Linux kernel prevents hibernate from working if Secure Boot is enabled, unless you set up an encrypted swap and jump through hoops to set up the bootloader right (and of course it's not set up on Ubuntu). I can't believe it's still such a pain to get otherwise-standard laptop functionality with Linux.
The “X”-line was not trying to be a macbook, only the X1 was doing this, which was a class of its own and confused the product lines tremendously.
X- was always ultraportable business laptops, essentially the smaller version of the T-, lots of connectivity, conservative design etc.
T- was the standard sized laptops built to business standards- usually built the best and lasted the longest, with a conservative design and port selection.
W- was the desktop replacement class, the super-amped variant of the T-, compromising portability for power.
Everything else was confused, experimental, sub-tier, and the X1 muddied the branding of the other X-series..
There’s some legitimate reason for concern in my opinion. In some cases, form is function, and a lot of buyers of the X1 Carbon (and formerly the X1 Nano, RIP) bought them for thinness and lightness without compromising too much on classic ThinkPad qualities (like the trackpoint). The T series, while great, sits in a different category and has a different audience.
In the event that X1-series ThinkPads lose their trackpoints, I think those who are interested in the X1 Carbon are more likely to consider laptops from other manufacturers than to jump to the T-series.
I was using an X230, later a T480s with macOS between 2017 and 2020 when Apple decided to only sell glued-together unfixable devices with butterfly keyboard. Loved the key-travel, repairability, docking stations - but also the quick switch between keyboard and trackpoint. Even configured some gesture-combinations with the trackpoint (e.g. right click + trackpoint swipe to left = navigate back). Switched back to MacBook after apple released silicon macs and improved the keyboards but always good to have a backup ThinkPad.
I recently sold a Z13 because it had so many quirks (low battery life due to OLED, trackpad and trackpoint were crap, bluetooth barely worked through the dense metal chassis, display didn't fold down 180 degrees, felt heavy af).
I got a T14s instead. Holy crap, it is so much better. Feels lighter, the touchpad and trackpoint are great, 500nits low-energy display is "ok" but battery can last all day. I use the trackpoint all the time (partly due to the touchpad drifting for some reason, and partly just to have a more precise pointer for fine work). The only downside is the lack of more USB-C ports.
A random upside if you order it with Ubuntu: it comes with Secure Boot set up correctly. But then a downside: Linux kernel prevents hibernate from working if Secure Boot is enabled, unless you set up an encrypted swap and jump through hoops to set up the bootloader right (and of course it's not set up on Ubuntu). I can't believe it's still such a pain to get otherwise-standard laptop functionality with Linux.