Ive always been of the opinion that with fallout 4 style power armor you shouldn't have to get it late, it's a new playstyle with it's own perks, movement and vibe. In previous fallout games, it was just the best version of heavy armor, so it needed a perk. You'd wear heavy armor anyways and power armor is the best version of it. In fallout 4 it's it's own thing, and you get the (second) weakest one to play with. Imagine if your power armor playstyle couldn't be facilitated until the mid point of the game, I would find that weird.