> I've never heard of a heatsink needing replacement

It definitely happens. Usually as a direct result of someone just not taking care of their machine at all, but it still happens.

Source: work at independent repair shop.

Funny you say that, my current laptop has a really low wattage chip and as a result, a very small heatsink. As I was removing the plasticy thermal dividers that insulate the rest of the board from the heat of the heatsink so I could lap the contact area, I bent the heat-pipe and pinched it, since it was so thin and fragile.

That being said, that's a bummer. Would be nice to get a higher end compute option or one with a dGPU.