Let me explain my point of view once again, why not the removal of built-in ports is pure fraud on the part of both the manufacturer of processors and laptops, but rather a general conspiracy.
When buying a SoC with built-in controllers, you inevitably pay for all of them, regardless of whether the greedy manufacturer of a series of laptops provides these ports or not. If the SoC manufacturer (for example, AMD) sold Zen4 Phoenix in a truncated form without USB40 controllers and some other components at a reduced price, I and adequate consumers would not have any questions for the laptop manufacturer - no, no trial.
But they sell you a deliberately full version of the SoC with 2 USB40 ports in the case of AMD, which does not even require soldering a separate retimer chip on the board if the video ports are also used from igpu, and not from dgpu, and usb streams also do not come from an external controller. In fact, in the case of gaming and especially business solutions without a discrete gpu, a retimer chip in the case of the Zen4 Phoenix series is NOT needed at all. But it is needed in the case of other SoCs from AMD. Likewise, a retimer is not needed in the case of Intel U/P/H series, where the presence of TB4 in the SoC is indicated, and video outputs from a discrete gpu are also not used on TB4 outputs. Most often, again, in business decisions.
The built-in USB40/TB4 controller raises the price of Soc for both AMD and Intel by at least $30-40 compared to the version without it, if it were available. The buyer could use this saved money to double the RAM or SSD, for example. Just like the manufacturer when creating a laptop on truncated versions of SoC from AMD and Intel without USB40/TB4 controllers.
In the same way, you can talk rationally and sensibly about other expensive functional blocks of the SoC and other microcircuits on the motherboard of laptops, which are in the SoC, but are not intentionally brought out by the manufacturer, if the output chain outside on such a motherboard is obviously cheaper, than the cost of this functionality in the SoC. This is obviously true in the case of TB4/USB40 controllers. Especially, looking at how wildly and unjustifiably the retail prices for different options go - for example, as in the review - the price of the version with a half-dead i7+4050, but with a built-in TB4 controller, which is NOT brought out, is absurdly SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the version with the AMD 7640HS and 4060, which obviously cannot be. And the difference in the cost of both options with a retimer microcircuit and power harness in both options is significantly lower than the retail prices for both options.
In addition, in retail there are new Legion 5 Pro with 6800H+3060, which cost $1100, which have a soldered retimer chip, because... there is a USB40 port, despite the fact that there are no built-in USB40 ports in the Zen3+, according to AMD specifications. Which obviously clearly says that bringing the USB40 port out through an additional USB40 controller and a retimer chip (and this is obviously clearly more expensive than bringing out a ready-made, built-in port in the SoC. Do you agree?) does not significantly increase the price, despite the fact that the 6800H +3060 16/1TB is cheaper than this, weaker version of LOQ 2023.
It is obvious that technically illiterate ordinary people are simply being cheated out of extra money by the manufacturers of all laptops with expensive and extremely necessary and more profitable SoC functions (especially in the case of the 2022/2023 GTX4050, which is completely unsuitable for games, even in High quality with fps not below 60) as USB40/TB4 ports are intentionally not output. The saved output costs, despite the fact that the buyer is still sold the full version of the SoC at full price, falls into the pockets of the fraudulent laptop manufacturers.
When a cheaper version of the screen, keyboard and the rest is installed there, this is understandable if there is a choice. But consumers have NO choice to refuse the most expensive version of the SoC, which immediately integrates all expensive functions, such as USB40/TB4 controllers and video ports, for example.
It turns out that both AMD and Intel are selling SoC at the full selling price of the SoC manufacturers to the consumer, as part of laptops, and the mandatory ports and functions are intentionally disabled purely for marketing and mercantile reasons. Prices are set according to countries and are distributed in retail so that the difference literally covers the output of all ports and functionality of the SoC, with a margin.
It all comes down to the direct deception of technically illiterate buyers (of which 95%+) on the planet, due to which SoC manufacturers (where there is a direct oligopoly in the x86 market in the form of 2 companies, which excludes market pricing for their products - this is the task of setting prices, their products should already be dealt with by the antitrust authorities in each country) laptops and greedy laptop manufacturers.
This wild situation will continue as long as consumers remain as technically illiterate as possible. Alas, they will continue to be like this, the majority. Moreover, most likely in the future, they will be even more stupid, as shown by the global trends in the decline in education, especially in the last 20 years.
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