i work as a mid-level engg with a 4+ yo dell (handed down to me when i joined), which is the same generic laptop that someone from admin team receives. some of my colleagues also share similar specs, and we were yet to be lucky to be given an upgrade.

might be down to the tech culture here, but we don't automatically write the most efficient code either. for a lot of simple projects, these "bad" machines are still capable enough unfortunately.