That’s precisely the point I’m making. Machine’s performance is great (today…), but it is not a victory for user serviceability or upgrades, likely never will b

That’s precisely the point I’m making. Machine’s performance is great (today…), but it is not a victory for user serviceability or upgrades, likely never will be now. At least with other integrated SoCs such as those from AMD, you can buy and replace the SoC on a standard socket too… it’s not a given that putting everything on the same die prevents upgrades or replacements the way this design does. The SoC does not need to be permanently attached, but that’s how Apple force these machines to be close to obsolete within 5 years and then require the purchase of a whole new computer again. Proprietary CPUs/SoCs make aftermarket upgrades difficult but not impossible - the G4 era professional machines from Apple had socketed CPUs and after market options did emerge (companies like Sonnet back in the day), despite only apple using the chip.