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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Lenovo unveiled a modular impervious of conception ThinkBook astatine Mobile World Congress 2026.
- It features a detachable dual surface and keyboard, and swappable ports.
- While it's inactive successful development, it feels similar Lenovo is adjacent to a completed product.
Lenovo has been flexing immoderate superior conceptual musculus with its impervious of conception PCs. Last year, I tested the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 rollable and recovered it's 17-inch rollable surface amazingly applicable -- if not perfectly polished.
Lenovo has been inching toward a genuinely modular laptop implicit the past fewer years, but this exemplary mightiness beryllium the astir superior committedness to the thought yet with a mainstream 14-inch laptop that feels amazingly adjacent to a implicit product, adjacent if determination are inactive immoderate kinks to enactment out.
Detach and swap
By default, the laptop's 2nd show lives connected the backmost of the main display, but it tin beryllium snapped disconnected to either instrumentality the spot of the keyboard oregon basal propped up adjacent to the laptop similar a standalone portable monitor.
If you privation to usage it arsenic a standalone outer monitor, there's a built-in kickstand connected the backmost that allows for the show to beryllium propped up, either successful scenery oregon representation mode. Just support successful mind, however, you person to support it connected with a USB-C cablegram to the laptop itself.
Also: Lenovo's caller PCs connection a glimpse of the aboriginal - and it's modular
In my hands-on with the kickstand, I recovered it a small awkward and hard to maneuver, and is 1 of the weaker carnal elements of the laptop's design, but besides apt 1 of the easiest for engineers to amended on.
Similarly, keyboard/trackpad is besides afloat detachable and tin beryllium positioned anywhere, utilizing Bluetooth to enactment connected. It's akin to the plan we saw with connected the Zenbook Duo -- casual to usage but a small awkward to freeform the placement connected your desk. I inactive privation determination was immoderate benignant of snap-to mechanics that attached it to the bottommost of the laptop.
Modular I/O
Although the swappable displays and keyboard is cool, personally I recovered the astir absorbing happening to beryllium the swappable ports, which talk to a level of modularity that we haven't yet seen connected Lenovo's mainstream laptop line. Only the Framework laptops (the 16-inch being 1 of my favourite laptops of past year) person this benignant of swap-and-go I/O, truthful it's notable successful a ThinkBook.
Whereas the Framework's ports are integrative modular ports that each link via integrated USB-C connections, however, the ThinkBook's I/O are not. Also the benignant of larboard is much limited, with USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI lone disposable truthful far.
Also: I tried Lenovo's $3,000 rollable ThinkBook and can't spell backmost to regular-sized laptops
Still, being capable to popular retired the larboard and swap sides if you request an HDMI to beryllium connected the close oregon charger connected the left, is infinitely convenient and speaks to a much flexible instrumentality concept.
The ThinkBook Modular AI PC is simply a large measurement successful an breathtaking direction, and though it's a conceptual instrumentality with nary merchandise date, it feels similar Lenovo is onto thing here. After all, it's conscionable a ThinkBook chassis present with immoderate specialized adjustments for the signifier factor.
Lenovo made an indirect connection connected its committedness to taking modularity and repairability earnestly with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition from CES. That laptop saw a redesigned, double-sided motherboard to amended entree and portion replacement for the extremity user, and connected a flagship laptop lineup nary less.
Following up with that, I'm hopeful Lenovo volition proceed to iterate connected these ideas and enactment them into mainstream laptops similar ThinkPads and Yogas. There's surely user interest.
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