The Latest Enhancements in Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Unveiled: Insights From ZDNet

Explore the Enhancements: Discover the New Upgrades of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 - Insights

Lenovo ThinkPad x1 Carbon Gen 11, with updates to features, such as Lenovo View.

Image: Lenovo

Lenovo has showed off its forthcoming ThinkPad X1 laptops that will feature Intel’s latest Core CPUs and recycled materials when they arrive next year.

The tech giant has showcased the high-end, 14-inch display ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 and ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8, as well as the 13-inch display ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3.

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The new ThinkPad X1 lineup includes 90% recycled magnesium in the palm rest and 55% recycled aluminum on its bottom cover, according to Lenovo. Additionally, retail packing is entirely made of bamboo and sugarcane fibre, while the brown box packaging is made from plastic-free packaging and is 90% recycled.

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Lenovo says the ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with intel’s “very latest generation” of Intel Core i7 mobile CPUs. Intel recently announced its 13th Gen Intel Core i9 desktop processors, but hasn’t announced their mobile counterparts. The 2022 ThinkPad X1 also came with Core i5 and Core i7 mobile processors. ZDNet recently reviewed the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 , which featured the 12th generation Intel Core i7-1255U processor.

Lenovo points to updates to features like Lenovo View as a result of the shift to hybrid work. “Collaboration features like auto-framing, background concealment, and virtual presenter upgrade those on-camera calls to make the presenter front and center,” it said.

The new ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 and X1 Yoga Gen 8 can be configured with up to 64GB of LPDDR5 RAM, with both supporting up to two terabytes (TB) of Gen 4 PCIe NVMe SSD. Meanwhile, the ThinkPad X1 can be configured with 16GB RAM and up to 1TB Gen 4 PCIe SSD.

Each of the laptops comes with a decent array of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, two USB-A 3.2 ports, one HDMI 2.0b port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. They’re all thin, at no more than 0.61 inches and reasonably lightweight; the heaviest, the Yoga, weighs 3 pounds.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is expected to start at $1,729, while The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 is expected to start at $1,859, and the ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 should start from $1,649. All of them will be available from April 2023.

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For consumers and students, Lenovo also announced the next generation of IdeaPad Pro 5 (AMD) 5i (Intel) laptops, but many of them are not going to be available in the US and instead will head to Europe.

The IdeaPad Pro 5i and IdeaPad Pro 5 Gen 8 will be available in 14-inch and 16-inch screen sizes with up to the latest Intel Core 5 and 7 processors or AMD Ryzen 5000 or 7000 processors. The laptops feature 25% larger touch pads and an SSD expandable storage slot in the 16-inch model. They also feature two USB Type-C ports that support display and power delivery.

The 14-inch IdeaPad Pro 5i with Intel isn’t scheduled for release in North America but will start at €999 in Europe from April 2023.

The 16-inch IdeaPad Pro 5i with Intel will start at $1499.99 in North America and should be available in May 2023.

Neither the 14-inch or 16-inch IdeaPad Pro 5 with AMD will be available in North America, but the smaller will be available in Europe from July 2023, starting at €999, while the larger will be available in Europe from April 2023, starting at €1399.