For people with no other albums, Carplay was playing that U2 album automatically when they enter their car. So some people were forced to listen to it :-)
I fixed the eGPU disconnecting issue on my 2012 MacBook Pro by placing the entire motherboard inside an oven for 10 minutes (a rather unconventional solution for reballing). So, yes, MacBooks from that era were not as fragile as they are now. By the way, that laptop still works.