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. At the moment’s X1 Carbon has been honed to a fantastic level—but it will be legitimately tough to differentiate from the unique. I’d know, as a result of I reviewed it for WIRED method again when.
The tune 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 over time.
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 produced from “recycled aluminum, magnesium, aerospace-grade carbon fiber, in addition to post-consumer supplies which might be used all through its development.”
Many different improvements listed here are incremental at greatest. I imply, when the model begins speaking about “new tactile markings” on the keyboard—these little bumps on the F and J keys—you recognize we’re getting near an innovation terminus. There’s additionally a small ridge that juts out on the high of the display screen the place the webcam (that includes a handbook shutter) seems, plus a relocated fingerprint reader, however another beauty modifications are powerful to suss out.
The massive information is beneath 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 massive 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 a good base of outcomes to attract from, I’m reporting on my normal battery of checks that blend numerous enterprise apps and graphics benchmarks.