Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 Review: Too Dang Expensive

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon line dates again to 2012, and now, in its twelfth incarnation, the laptop computer has reached a stage of maturity few other brands can boast. Right this moment’s X1 Carbon has been honed to a high-quality level—but it might be legitimately tough to tell apart from the unique. I’d know, as a result of I reviewed it for WIRED manner again when.

{Photograph}: Lenovo

The music writ massive stays the identical as ever. That is Lenovo’s flagship ultralight, the enterprise laptop computer designed to kill all others. It retains the identical dimension 14-inch LCD (with 16:10 side ratio, now at 2,880 x 1,800 pixels) that it has all the time had, with the burden now hitting 2.2 kilos— exhibiting a wholesome and regular weight reduction through the years.

I measured the thickness at 21 millimeters, largely owing to a large rubber foot that runs alongside the again of the bottom to prop the keyboard up a bit. The present chassis, in Lenovo’s phrases, is made out of “recycled aluminum, magnesium, aerospace-grade carbon fiber, in addition to post-consumer supplies which are used all through its building.”

Many different improvements listed here are incremental at finest. I imply, when the model begins speaking about “new tactile markings” on the keyboard—these little bumps on the F and J keys— we’re getting near an innovation terminus. There’s additionally a small ridge that juts out on the high of the display the place the webcam (that includes a handbook shutter) seems, plus a relocated fingerprint reader, however every other beauty modifications are robust to suss out.

{Photograph}: Lenovo

The massive information is underneath the hood, with the inclusion of the brand new Intel Core Extremely CPU, this mannequin that includes an Extremely 7 155H chip working at 1.4 GHz. A small brigade of producers is dropping machines with Extremely chips this month, with the large pitch being round synthetic intelligence efficiency, higher energy effectivity, and improved built-in graphics. AI-driven benchmarks are nonetheless a brand new factor, so till I’ve an honest base of outcomes to attract from, I’m reporting on my normal battery of exams that blend numerous enterprise apps and graphics benchmarks.