As a lifelong Mac user, it seems 2015 MBP was "peak Apple" and I've also been frustrated with more recently released machines.
This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but - I built a desktop Hackintosh for flexibility, repairability, extensibility. It dual-boots Ubuntu, for now. I'm migrating off of macOS gradually, and looking at Thinkpads for laptop.
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As a lifelong Mac user, it seems 2015 MBP was "peak Apple" and I've also been frustrated with more recently released machines.
This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but - I built a desktop Hackintosh for flexibility, repairability, extensibility. It dual-boots Ubuntu, for now. I'm migrating off of macOS gradually, and looking at Thinkpads for laptop.
Funnily enough when discussing this with a friend this morning I also described my 2015 MBP as 'peak Apple'.
Sadly I need a laptop instead of a desktop, and I can't be bothered to battle with Hackintosh compatibility...
For what it's worth, here are a couple of laptop models I noted down from prior HN discussions on this topic:
Lenovo ThinkPad E/T/X series; X1 Carbon
Dell XPS 13