My X1 Carbon, which cost as much as a 13” MBP, has a plastic sticker for a bezel. It’s now peeling off.

Good lord, I knew the newer Lenovo models were underwhelming but that's their flagship premium model. That's utterly unacceptable.

It's their thin-is-better lighter-is-more-important model. In the traditional 14-16" size, the T4xx/T5xx devices do what they are supposed to. A changable battery (while running, without tools) enables you to do things like swapping an empty battery for a full one, either by plugging in shortly, using a secondary battery in the case, or briefly shutting down. I don't want to carry that much energy with me all the time, but I still want the option to use the device without having significant downtime. A short break is fine, but that's 5-10 minutes, not 30+ for charging the battery.

I believe the hot-swappable batteries are a goner on the latest T series machines.

Thinkpad doesn't say much. What series? Thinkpads range from supermarket offer bin to mobile workstations like P1.

It's a P52s.

The fact that it matters is part of the problem. All of the Apple laptops feel solid and well put together.

They have a price point where they can be made solid and well put together. Lenovo also sells cheap laptops of lower quality. Not sure why that's a problem. Or do you think people shouldn't be given cheaper options?

Don't use the same name for the quality product and the flimsy product.

Sure, there's lots of models to choose from and potential for analysis paralysis. That's not what I understand the OP was complaining about though.