I also just switched from a MBP to a Thinkpad with Arch this year. After some minor hesitation I pulled the trigger and am still very happy with the decision. I got nearly twice the specs of a MBP for a significantly smaller price.

Initially I loaded Cinnamon (I think?) but replaced it with Gnome after some unresolved -to me- issue with my volume buttons. Everything works wonderfully now. And I'm having zero issue with any developmental experimentation (Android, web, traffic analysis, etc.)

Highly recommend the switch.