Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is at Lenovo’s Tech World conference announcing a partnership with... AMD? We’ll hear more about the “x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group” that they’re founding, but for now he’s assuring us that rumors of the x86’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
The ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, which launched as a Snapdragon laptop, will get a $1,699 AMD Zen 5 variant in October with an undisclosed Ryzen AI Pro chip.
North America won’t get: €699 IdeaPad Slim 5 with AMD Ryzen 7000; €1699 Yoga Pro 7 with AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 and a 14.5-inch 600-nit OLED; €999 ThinkBook 16 Gen7+ with Ryzen AI 9 365.
It features Qualcomm’s new budget 8-core chip underneath a 16-inch 2K 60Hz, 300-nit IPS display — with “up to” 32GB RAM and 1TB storage. It does come standard with an big 84Wh battery.
Lenovo’s other new Qualcomm is the $850 IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1. It has a brighter 14-inch 400-nit OLED display, but a smaller 57Wh battery and only one USB-C.
Good news: Lenovo’s 14-inch ThinkPad X1 Carbon and 15-inch Yoga Slim 7i now have Intel Lunar Lake chips alongside 2.8K OLED screens and twin Thunderbolt 4 ports. Lenovo says the 2.16-pound Carbon is its lightest ever.
Weird news: They’re both now “Aura Edition” laptops, which apparently means software like focus modes, posture alerts, and “Smart Share” — tap an iPhone or Android to your laptop to share photos.
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Lenovo previously had an unsatisfactory answer, but it’s come around:
For affected processors, we will honor Intel’s 2-year processor warranty extension and recommend customers impacted by any CPU instability issues to contact Lenovo service for support.
Fuller statement in our big story:
The number-one PC maker has answered our question whether it’ll honor Intel’s two-year extended warranty on damaged chips — but the answer doesn’t even include the word “warranty.”
Lenovo has been made aware of the instability issue affecting Intel’s 13th and 14th Generation Processors and is working with Intel to understand the potential impact on our products and how to best resolve them. We will work toward integrating into our future product BIOS any fixes provided by Intel once available. We recommend customers impacted by any CPU instability issues to contact Lenovo service for support.
Intel is footing the bill for replacements; this shouldn’t be a hard decision for Lenovo.
Windows Central reports a Lite version of the modular Steam Deck alternative is in the works, with an AMD Z1-based processor — and almost no information beyond that.
I think there’s more than enough room to shrink the relatively massive 8.8-inch display. Lenovo could also easily sacrifice the removable mouse/controllers, among other low-hanging fruit. We’re taking bets in the comments.
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Verge Score
Duel of the dual-screen laptops: Asus Zenbook Duo vs. Lenovo Yoga Book 9i
Small design variations make a big difference.
According to Windows Report, Lenovo might be showing off a new transparent concept laptop at MWC later this month. There’s no specification info yet, but this thing looks gorgeous: a fully transparent bezel-less display, alongside a clear deck with a visible keyboard underneath.
Lenovo’s new 2-in-1 is a Windows laptop with a detachable Android tablet. They run on separate hardware. This is the least awkward way Lenovo could have done this.
Apple, on the other hand, uses the exact same chips for iPads and MacBooks and could simply make an iPad Pro that runs MacOS when the keyboard is attached. And yet!
Wi-Fi 7 quietly took off while everyone was looking at AI
There may not have been any splashy router announcements, but Wi-Fi 7 hit laptops all over the place.
At BlackHat EU, Binarly showed how custom boot logo features could be exploited by crashing vulnerable image parsers, report SecurityWeek and ArsTechnica, allowing them to take over Windows and Linux systems. Binarly’s researchers write, “we detected parsers vulnerable to LogoFAIL in hundreds of devices sold by Lenovo, Supermicro, MSI, HP, Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Samsung, and Intel.”
Not all of those systems are actually exploitable this way, but some vendors, like Lenovo, have issued BIOS updates or advisories in response.
Shortly after Geoff Keighley announced Valve will give away 100 Steam Deck OLEDs during the event, Lenovo piped in with a giveaway for its competing handheld: the Legion Go. The company will hand out 100 free devices during The Game Awards, which you can enter to win starting tomorrow at 7:30PM ET.
[The Game Awards]
Lenovo’s USB-C Laptop Power Bank (model PBLG2W) just got recalled because it may catch fire. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says the power bank’s “internal screws can come loose, causing a short circuit and overheating of the lithium-ion battery, posing a fire hazard.”
About 2,850 units are affected by the recall. If you have this power bank, you can contact Lenovo to get a free replacement.
The Lenovo Legion Go will have a 144Hz, 8.8-inch QHD plus touchscreen and can be configured up to an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme mobile gaming processor, claims Windows Report, citing a leaked press kit.
The same outlet has produced steady leaks about the Legion Go this month, including alleged pictures of the console and AR glasses to pair with it.
[WindowsReport]
Digital Trends got a preview of Lenovo’s Aurora design that comes apart without the use of so much as a screwdriver. The company is the latest to look towards sustainable notebook designs following the successful release of Framework’s modular laptops. They’re a DIY dream come true thanks to easy upgrades to basically any component, which as the Framework 16 now includes graphics too.
Dell also announced a similar Project Luna concept late last year.
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Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i is for the two-screen lifestyle
The Yoga Book 9i jettisons the traditional lower laptop deck for a second touchscreen, which opens up some interesting use cases along with some compromises.