CES 2025 | Going straight for the Apple MacBook Air: Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition without TrackPoint announced
Lenovo's ThinkPad lineup is big and it will become even bigger: At CES, Lenovo is introducing two models that will start a brand new series: the Lenovo ThinkPad X9, which is clearly inspired name-wise by the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (available over at Amazon).
Clearly not inspired by the X1 Carbon is the design of the X9, as it leaves the ThinkPad design language nearly completely behind. The iconic TrackPoint is gone, in its place is a big haptic touchpad. The keyboard receives a big rework as well. Also, the ThinkPad X9 is not available in black, as the aluminum made chassis will only be sold in silver.
Internally, Lenovo bets on the efficiency of Intel Lunar Lake. The ThinkPad X9 is also the first ThinkPad laptop that always comes equipped with OLED screens. There will be two sizes of the new Lenovo ThinkPad X9: 14-inch and 15.3-inch. The 15.3-inch model makes the target of the ThinkPad X9 plain to see: competing with the Apple MacBook Air, with a business twist.
Lenovo ThinkPad X9: MacBook Air competitor with active cooling
With Intel Lunar Lake aka Intel Core Ultra 200V, the X9 ThinkPads will not be performance champions. The CPUs are very efficient, but they do not offer a high multicore performance. An active cooling system with two fans should ensure that the performance does not suffer too much under sustained load, different from the MacBook Air - the Apple device is cooled passively.
As usual for Lunar Lake, the RAM is directly integrated into the CPU, offering 16 or 32 GB. The SSD is modular - Lenovo uses the small M.2 2242 standard, a maximum capacity of 2 TB is possible. Other commonalities between X9-14 and X9-15: Both only use the Intel ARC Xe2 GPU and both are being sold with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 - LTE or 5G is not an option here, a difference to the classic enterprise ThinkPads.
ThinkPad X9 without ThinkPad design: Lenovo copies Apple's look with more ports
Very different from the usual ThinkPad fare if the outer design of the ThinkPad X9: Instead of black plastic or magnesium with black paint, the X9 has silver aluminum, and instead of the ThinkPad TrackPoint, it has a big haptic trackpad - which for the first time is put in centered into the chassis of the ThinkPad. The outer case looks very slim, thanks to the rounded of sides, but it offers more ports than the Apple MacBook Air, thanks to the so called "Engine hub". Here, Lenovo puts in two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI and 3.5mm audio. The bigger ThinkPad X9-15 additionally features a full-size USB A port.
One of the ThinkPad-typical design cues present are the ThinkPad logos. The hinges also allow 180 degrees open/close. For the keyboard, Lenovo introduces a new keycap design, which at least preserves the rounded keycap-bottom of the keys. The layout however is clearly borrowed from the MacBook, with cut down arrow keys and the power button in the upper right corner of the keyboard.
Lenovo ThinkPad X9: Differences between 14-inch and 15-inch models
One advantage of the bigger ThinkPad X9-15 is the battery capacity, as Lenovo puts in a big 80 Wh battery, while the small ThinkPad X9-14 only has a 55 Wh battery. The screen also is a differentiator: While the X9-15 always has a 2.8K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED screen with 500 cd/m² brightness and 120 Hz refresh rate (optional touch), the X9-14 has such a screen only as an option. The base model of the 14-inch ThinkPad uses a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) OLED non-touch panel with 400 cd/m² and 60 Hz refresh rate.
The ThinkPad X9-15 has a sound-system with four instead of two speakers, and it always contains a 8 MPix MIPI webcam - option for the X9-14. Of course, the ThinkPad X9-15 is heavier (1.45 kg) and bigger (339.5 x 228.5 x 17.7 mm) than the 14-inch counterpart (1.21 kg, 311.8 x 212.3 x 17.18 mm).
Lenovo ThinkPad X9: Pricing and availability
The Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14 Aura Edition and the Lenovo ThinkPad X9-15 Aura Edition will enter the market in February 2025. The X9-14 starts at $1,399, and the X9-15 at $1,549. Both will be shipped with either Windows 11 or Linux.
Source(s)
Lenovo
