As many brands and partners announce their offerings that carry the new ‘Meteor Lake’ Intel Core Ultra CPUs, Lenovo has chosen the ThinkPad X1 and IdeaPad Pro 5i for the job.
Just a quick mention, I’ll attach a simple spec sheet to make lives easier.
We’ll look at the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon 12th Gen first. From a design perspective, Lenovo has decided to give some “upgrades” in the form of tactile markings which they have added several for better accessibility and they include:
- Volume Up / Volume Down at F2 / F3
- Insert Key to differentiate from Delete Key
- Function Key to differentiate from Control Key
- Enter Key due to different layouts of ANSI and ISO
The new model also includes a larger trackpad now at 120mm with physical buttons which will allow accurate inputs while the TrackPoint can be double-tapped to launch the Quick Menu for quick accessing the most frequent functions.
Lenovo also gave heavy focus towards vision-related features such as improved Computer Vision, a Low Light Enhancer sensor for better video denoising, an optional 120Hz OLED screen, an optional Communications Bar with an 8MP camera, and more.
- Intel Core Ultra CPU with Arc GPU
- Up to 64GB LPDDR5X RAM
- Up to 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
- Up to 14-inch 120Hz 2.8K OLED Display
- 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A 5Gbps, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm Audio Jack
- Up to Wifi 7 connection support
Meanwhile, those who need or like to work at unorthodox angles may opt for the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 9th Gen equipped with the same specs as the former with the unique difference being the screen supports touch and can be adjusted to any angle desired.
On the other hand, the gang that fancies a dedicated GPU can go for the IdeaPad Pro 5i available in 14-inch and 16-inch variants.
Aside from the Intel Core Ultra CPU, Team Green will be in charge of the GPU department with a piece of GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU with 115W TDP.
The screen can be configured to be as best as a 16:10 OLED 120Hz panel with 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.
The sleek Arctic Grey chassis applies to both sizes and is made to be light and thin but equally powerful.
- Up to Intel Core Ultra 9 with Arc iGPU
- Up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU
- Up to 32GB LPDDR5X RAM
- Up to 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
- Up to 14-inch 2.8K 120Hz OLED/IPS == Up to 16-inch 2.5K 120Hz OLED/IPS Display
- 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 (PD + DP). 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x SD Card Reader, 1x 3.5mm Audio Jack
- IR FHD Webcam with ToF, Privacy Shutter, Dual Mic Array
Price and Availability
Here’s the starting price and expected launch for all three of these Lenovo laptops:
- ThinkPad X1 Carbon 12th Gen – From USD2,989 (Limited config starting December, full range starting next March)
- ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 9th Gen – From USD2,639 starting next March
- IdeaPad Pro 5i – From USD1,149.99
