Personally, I have a ThinkPad W540 for work and while it weighs like a brick man is it easy to work with. The UltraNav isn't as nice as the trackpad on my XPS 13, but I usually work with the TrackPoint on ThinkPad's anyway (killer feature for me to be honest, even Apple's awesome trackpad disappointments in comparison to a good ol' TrackPoint in my opinion) - upgrading the RAM and SSD required a couple screws for the appropriate bays in the base cover instead of needing to take the whole thing off like my old 2012 MBP. Also, while USB Type-C and ThunderBolt 3 "work" for a dock, being able to plop by ThinkPad down on my desk at home and have it start charging and connect all of my peripherals is still easier than plugging in a cable (even if it's just one cable).
Also, as far as Linux support I guess that all really depends on the individual. Most of my workflow is heavily dependent on Linux (Java/Python dev in JetBrains products, ansible stuff, administering a couple dozen Linux VM's) with the exception of our .Net apps (where I run Visual Studio in a Windows VM) - there's not a whole lot of benefit to me running macOS, and in fact, I'd really rather run Fedora (call me an oddball I guess) since anything not getting deployed to a Windows server goes to a CentOS VM, makes moving from development to production a lot easier.
Er… yes that's quite literally my entire point, and specifically spelled out as my first paragraph.
I have an older Retina Pro, and I have a dock that works exactly like this. I stick the MBP in, and it's charging and connected to a keyboard and mouse, two displays, and my printer, along with speakers.
Your criticisms are pretty almost all a matter of taste, and we're in disagreement just about throughout.
> I wonder if it's the Valley culture?
I'm not in the valley. I've never found any non-apple laptop with a good (or even decent) trackpad, and I like that OSX has a community of indie developers who actually care.
> the keyboard
I don't enjoy thinkpad keyboard.
> the UltraNav
Same as above but much stronger, I absolutely hate this thing, and I love Apple trackpad. In fact the trackpad is one a huge reason for remaining on Apple laptops despite other shortcomings: I can and even enjoy using MBPs without a mouse.
> the swappable batteries
have never been something I've needed, plus that requires carrying additional batteries.
> a nice docking station
Meh. "nice" is in the eye of the beholder, the thing's ugly as sin. And with type C/TB3, you can actually replicate it without being beholden to Apple (!).
> upgradeable storage/memory
That is indeed a really annoying "feature" of Apple over the last few years. Though of course you can get a maxed-out MBP.
> Linux distro
and I don't see that as an advantage.
> The gap is huge! If a Thinkpad is a 100, the prev. gen Macbook Pro would be 60
If you like thinkpads more power to you, but all my experiences with them were disappointing, I'd put the 2015 rMBP at 70 and the average thinkpad at 40, maybe 50.