Building the ULTIMATE ThinkPad T480 for 2026..

When you hear ThinkPad, I'm sure you think about the T480. The name has been synonymous with great value, versatility, and robustness, something lacking these days. And with that, you get a cult following. Like seriously, this laptop is insanely popular and has been glazed more than enough. Given it's now 2026, it's been almost 8 whole years since it came out. Jeez, 8 years since 2018. So, I thought if it's still a viable option and with a few upgrades, can we transform this into the ultimate T480 to be used for many years to come? Well, let's find out. The story begins with me finding a pretty sweet deal on a ThinkPat for80 on cashis for only £50. Better than buying a shitty Chromebook. And the fact it came with 24 GB of RAM basically means I made my money back. So, what's wrong with it? Well, clearly someone liked the T480 a bit too much and decided to gnaw the corner. I hope they feel proud. Still, for the price, it was a steal. And a few days later, here we have it. Essentially, we have the laptop and it also came with a 65 watt genuine Lenovo USBC charger. That's nice of him. As evident by the listing, this isn't in the best condition, but the fact it's supposedly functional means we should be able to give it the proper refurbishment. The screen was intact. Ports looked in good shape, so I guess we're in the clear. It's only cosmetic damage we really need to worry about. And if you know anything about the ThinkPad community, that's not a problem. Man, it took me a while to actually get this on the channel, but here we have it. The ThinkPad T480. one of the most popular ThinkPads that have ever been released and also one of the best. Of course, we will give this some needed upgrades and then later on we will throw a copy of Linux on this cuz why the hell not? Enough of me talking. Let's turn this thing on and see what it's all about. Okay, we're just going straight into Windows. Okay, would you take a look at that? Looks like they threw a copy of Windows 11 on this, which is actually okay, but we're not going to be using Windows 11 in this video. Shock, I know. We of course are working with the i5 8250U which is okay. It's not the best CPU anymore but of course we do have 24 GB of RAM. Remember we only paid around £50 for this and nowadays RAM is like crazy. If you want to buy a 16 GB stick of RAM that's like essentially the cost of this laptop. So thankfully we do have sufficient RAM. Okay, so the drivers are installed. I tried to scroll there and it didn't work. But looks like both batteries are recognized. We have battery one and battery 2. The first battery has a design capacity of 24 mwatt hours and it has a full charge capacity of 17,000. So, it's lost around 6,000, which honestly isn't terrible. It has 157 cycles. And the battery 2, which is essentially the same as the battery one, but that has 319 cycles. So, yeah, the batteries aren't the best. Other than that, looks like everything is fully functional, which is good to see. But I do want to go into the BIOS just to make sure if there's anything on there, for example, computer trays. So, of course, the ThinkPad T480 is quite an old ThinkPad nowadays. I mean, it's like what, 6, 7 years old, which is pretty old for a laptop, but it should be enough for basic web browsing and maybe a bit of gaming and editing cuz we will upgrade the motherboard in this. Okay, so I don't think we have any BIOS passwords, which is good, but let's just go in security and take a look at anti- theft just to make sure. And okay, so it's enabled but not activated, which is a good sign. So, it looks like everything is fully functional, which is great to see. For the price I paid, it's actually a miracle that everything is working and we did go into Windows 11, which was a good sign. But nothing much more to say except let's try and fix this thing up, give it a few upgrades and a few replacement parts, and we should be up and away. Let's take a look and see how we can transform this T480 into something usable in 2025 and beyond. For the observant viewers out there, you probably noticed I filmed our last segment in November. It's flipping February now. There's a good reason for that, but for now, let's take this thing apart and give it some meaningful upgrades with the first one being a brand new motherboard. This is quite special as it not only gives us a CPU upgrade going from the Puny i5 to an i7. In reality, they're both the same with tweak clock speeds, but also a dedicated Nvidia GPU. The motherboard was insanely cheap being sourced from Lenovo's part website, so it was a no-brainer. Of course, we need a new palm rest, so I picked up this used one off eBay for only a tenner. The only thing now left to do is transfer all parts from the old palm rest to the new one. And that of course includes removing the display. Enjoy the time lapse. Huh? Somehow I condensed an hourong clip into a minute, but you probably noticed one critical component. I didn't assemble the heat sink. I'm not an idiot. Well, maybe I am because I failed to realize it needed a completely different heat sink to the one from before, obviously. So, we're off to AliExpress, an arbitrage of a sorted tap, but they do have something we're looking for at a reasonable price. And what arrived was something truly terrible. I don't know if Common Sense was lacking that day, but maybe packaging a heat sink in the mailing bag isn't the brightest idea. The pipes were bent beyond saving, so this is effectively useless. I did try and chase the seller up, but I feel like this is a matter for PayPal. After waiting weeks for a replacement, which I never got due to. Oh, it's Christmas. There will be delays, I went ahead and bought another one from a different seller, and it arrived intact to an extent. That's why it took so long to get up to this point. Finally, we can finish off this disassembly and test out the T480. Well, guys, it's the moment of truth. Can we get this thing up and running? I mean, it's taken almost 3 months to get up to this point, so hopefully all goes well. Okay, I mean, so far it looks like it's just booting straight up. Take your time. Oh man. Oh, there you are. Let's go. Oh god. Yep. Okay, that all makes sense. Of course, we have a new motherboard, so everything is invalid. We're going to have to configure all of that. And I do have a USB with the configuration tool, so we should be able to get that out of the way. Let's go. There we have it. So, here's a little closeup. As you can see, the BioState is actually 2021. So, this motherboard was made around 5 years ago, 420 to be exact. And as you can see, both serial numbers are invalid. So, we're going to have to configure those. But, we do have 48 GB recognized and of course the i7, which is quite sweet. It does look like it's working. That's insane. All we have to do now is just configure the motherboard and we should be up and away. And after that, we'll install Linux. So, let's go ahead. Finally, we can actually do something with the T480. As with every new motherboard, it needs configuration so we can actually get rid of those pesky beeps. But most importantly, associate a serial number with the motherboard so it knows what on earth it actually is. This process was quite straightforward. Download the software, which I had to source on Reddit because it's not on Lenovo's website for some reason. Load up the software, download the files on a blank USB, eject USB, load up the USB on the T480, and let the maintenance software run. Then enter the old model number and serial number starting with 1 S. And just like that, we've assigned it. Oh yeah, also remember to assign the UYU ID, which I forgot, but that's basically it. No more beeping. Time to install Linux. I've decided to go with YUbuntu as it's what I normally use and in my opinion, the most intuitive DRO out there. So, it should work great with the T480. Comment down below what dros you want me to check out next. I'm more than happy to consider some obscure ones. Let's just wait this one out and finally explore the ultimate T480. It's time to finally take a look at the ThinkPad T480. I've got all of the drivers installed in all applications so we can actually take a look at this. It has taken so long to get up to this point. So hopefully all goes well. And by the way, I did buy a battery for the T480. It is non- genuine but the highest capacity that you can get. And they normally go for around £60, which is insane, but I only paid around £25 for this. £55. I mean, no, I do not want to buy that. 69 people are watching this. Ooh, okay. It must be really good. What the hell? 732 have sold. Okay, but I am looking at this one, this generic one, which honestly isn't terrible. I guess it's better than nothing. I mean, better than spending 60 quid, isn't it? I mean, I would not want to use this longterm, but for the price, I guess it's fine. And for the video, of course. So, let's buy this thing and see how it actually turns out. It does look like the battery is recognized, which is great. We are getting around 6 hours of battery life with 72% overall, which isn't terrible. So, I think that's pretty good for a non- genuine port. But before we do anything else, let's just check the battery life, the cycles, and of course, the capacity, just to make sure we aren't getting scammed. Of course, to check the battery health, all we have to do is just go into command or terminal, whatever you call it. I guess I'm too used to using Windows. But all you have to do here is just type in U power and hyphen D. And we should get basically all of the info that we're looking for. And as you can see here, here is battery zero, which is the internal battery. And as you can see here, it has 158 charge cycles. And it only has 74% battery health, which of course isn't the best. But once we scroll down and take a look at the battery one, which is the one we just installed. Let me find it. Let's take a look. Here it is. And there we have it. So, the energy full is 71W hours and the energy full design is also 71W hours. So, we basically got a 72-wh battery, which is quite cool. And as you can see here, there's only one charge cycle, which is what you want from a brand new battery. I'll be honest, I was kind of fearing that it would be a lot less than that because I have seen reviews online where people get like 50, 55, 60. It is essentially a lottery when you buy these non-genuine batteries. So, to get 71 is great. Let's just hope that this battery does last a long time and not explode in my face. Let's take a look at the specs one more time. Of course, we have 48 GB of RAM. I mean, there is absolutely no reason why this needs 48 GB. I just kind of put it in cuz why the hell not. Of course, it has the Intel Core i5 8550U with four cores and eight threads, which is a pretty solid CPU for the time and should run pretty well even today. Of course, we have Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics, which are dedicated with 2 GB of VRAM. So, we will do a few benchmarks and a bit of gaming just to make sure those are running completely fine. And other than that, looks like everything is running perfectly. Yubuntu is pretty lightweight in my opinion. So, there should be no problem running it on the T480. So, let's run a few benchmarks and of course play some games on the T480 just to make sure it is running properly. So, of course, we have to test out the GPU. So, here we have Valia benchmark running on the T480 and we're currently getting around 35 FPS. Yep. I'll be honest, the MX150 isn't the best out there, but back in the day, this probably would have been all right. I mean, 35 fps on Valley at high settings is nothing to brag about, but I'll be honest, it doesn't look great. It is quite choppy, and 30 fps leaves a lot to be desired, especially in these more open areas where we're getting around 48 FPS, 49, so marginally better. Yeah, here's a closer view. And as you can see, we're only getting around 22 FPS, but the temperatures don't look too bad. 69°, which is okay. But yeah, this does definitely leave a lot to be desired. I mean, it's running to an extent. I guess it is better than some other CPUs that you do get out there. But honestly, I was kind of expecting a bit more from the MX150, but yeah, do let me know down below what you think about the graphics in the T480. Are they still usable in 2026? I mean, it's not too bad. It is running to be fair. It is not stuttering a lot, which is good to see. And the average FPS that we have gotten is only 28.9, which is not good. The score is 1210. We got a minimum FPS of 17 and a maximum FPS of 50. We didn't even achieve 60 FPS throughout the test. So, here we have the T480 running Geekbench 6. Let's wait and see what score we get. And the score is in. Or should I say scores because I did have to run this test twice. I mean, take a look at the scores right there. A single core score of 663 with a multiore score of 1,85. That is basically what I'd expect from like a ThinkPad from like 2014, 2015 and not a T480. So, I did have to run the test again just to make sure. And we got a pretty big improvement. I mean, take a look at that. A single core score of 1,373 with the multiore score of 3,940, more than double than what we got before. And if we take a look at the comparison benchmarks, it's basically comparable to an i58400T. So, I guess that the i7 8550U is still quite solid in 2025. But let's take a look at some games to see if that all changes. You know, we just had to test out Minecraft. We're on Minecraft Java 1.21.10, which is the latest version, and we're currently getting around 195 FPS, which honestly isn't terrible. Let's take a look at the settings quick. And we're currently at 12 chunks. Fancy graphics. 128 chunks. I don't think it needs to be that high. And basically, everything else is set to standard. But yeah, take a look at that. 1988 just moving around. It does feel quite smooth. And just to confirm that we are using the GPU, we do have the GeForce MX150 enabled. And yeah, that's basically it. Yeah, 189 186. And once we fly around, will the FPS dip? Uh, not really. Ah, just playing normal Minecraft. Let's actually build something cuz I feel like every test that I do on the channel, I never do anything in Minecraft. I just kind of walk around. And there we have my masterpiece. Come on, you know you want to. I almost forgot to test out shaders. And with Sila's vibrant light, we're currently getting around 35 fps, 38, which is a lot lower than what we were getting before, admittedly. Yeah, look at that. 43 41 FPS. Can you play shaders on the T480? Probably not if you do want a solid 60 fps average. So, there we have it. Shaders can run on the T480, but not a solid 60 fps average, which is quite disappointing. But come on, it's a T480. It's not meant for gaming workloads. So, I guess this is quite impressive. And look at that moon. What do you guys know about? Let's take a look and see how well it plays. And okay, here I am in my world. And it is not looking great. Okay, I was not expecting performance like this. What the hell? And why is it so zoomed out? Honestly, I was not expecting performance like this. I was kind of expecting it to be a lot better considering Minecraft actually did all right. Okay, so we're currently getting around 26 FPS, which is terrible. If I put retro, will that change things? Okay, so we're currently getting 39 FPS now, which is admittedly a lot better, but still not 60. Who knew Terraria would run worse in Minecraft on Antifa 80? I did not expect that. That's crazy. No, I'm trapped. Okay, guys. I guess we're playing like this. 61 FPS. That's basically what I wanted. And the game runs pretty well now. Yay. Gaming aside, what is it like to use a T480? Here we have Monkey Tab cuz I do want to test out the keyboard. I'll be honest, I've used many ThinkPad keyboards over the years. is one of the best keyboards on a laptop. So, I am not expecting any different from this one. But, let's go ahead and see how well we do in a little typing test. So, yeah, there we have it. 83 words per minute, 100% accuracy. I mean, it's all because of this keyboard, which is excellent. There's a lot of travel, enough depth, and you can definitely tell that it's not being used heavily. And the fact that it's backlit makes it a very compelling keyboard. Like in my opinion, you need a backlick keyboard for it to be a good laptop. And of course, let's take a listen at the speakers. From what I've heard so far, they're not terrible, but let's take a listen anyway. I'll be honest, they do sound pretty good in my opinion. There's enough bass, enough clarity, so I am quite happy. But I feel like if they were front-facing, then it would project a bit more sound into your face. Definitely heard other better speakers. But for the package, I don't think it's terrible. To cap it all off, here's me editing a short minute 30 long clip in Caden Live, which the T480 did very well in. This is probably what the T480 is still good for. And with the aid of the GP, which does help out a bit in rendering and real-time playback, it felt very smooth indeed. Adding layers and effects, scrubbing through the timeline and color grading, there were no faults, as well as exporting the clip to 4K, which took around 3 minutes. Not too shabby. Here's to all of you that made it to the end of the video. You're all legends. So, what are my thoughts on the T480 and is it a viable machine for the future? Yes, of course. I really like this laptop, not only for its versatility, but the fact that you can pick these up for so cheap makes it a must buy if you need a laptop for under $200. Of course, we spec this laptop up, which should only add to its longevity. Anyway, my thoughts don't matter. What do you think about the ThinkPad T480? Leave your thoughts down below and don't forget to subscribe, like, turn on post notifications for future content. Continue the support and I'll continue to deliver. So, thanks so much for watching. See you in the next one.

It's time to take a look at one of the most popular ThinkPads that has ever been released; the ThinkPad T480. This laptop was released back in 2018 but to this day is used by many. Today I wanted to challenge myself and upgrade this laptop as much as possible, to the point where it can be used comfortably for many years to come. Stick around to see how this played out. Thanks for all the support, if you enjoyed or found it informative in any way then be sure to like, subscribe, hype and turn on notifications for future videos. Thanks for watching. SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZwFj5OBWb5r_QdP1cLOyfQ?sub_confirmation=1 CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction 01:17 - Exploring the ThinkPad T480 03:36 - Upgrades 04:17 - Disassembly 05:17 - Issues 06:12 - The Final Product 11:20 - Benchmarks 13:22 - Gaming 15:41 - Using the ThinkPad 17:02 - Outro