Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 and ThinkPad L15 Gen 3 launched: Intel SKUs get upgraded to Alder Lake vPro while AMD options still remain at Ryzen Pro 5000

Lenovo has announced a new generation of the ThinkPad L-series today. The ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 and L15 Gen 3 come in Intel Alder Lake vPro processors and AMD Ryzen Pro 5000 series APU options. Lenovo has focused more on chassis changes in this generation than on internal upgrades — well, at least for the AMD variants.

The new ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 and L15 Gen 3 now feature narrower bezels for higher screen-to-body ratios. While the ThinkPad L-series Gen 2 came with a standard 45 Whr battery across the board, Lenovo is now offering a choice between 42 Whr, 57 Whr, and 63 Whr options on the ThinkPad L14 Gen 3i and the L15 Gen 3i, wherein the "i" denotes an Intel processor. Lenovo hasn't specified the exact battery options available on the AMD models, however.

The ThinkPad L-series Gen 3 have reduced dimensions and overall weight. The ThinkPad L14 Gen 2 weighed 1.67 kg and had a thickness of 0.8 inches whereas the L14 Gen 3 upgrade now weighs 1.39 kg and is 0.74 inches thick. Similarly, the ThinkPad L15 Gen 2 had a 1.93 kg heft and was 0.83 inches thick while this year's L15 Gen 3 version tips the scales at just 1.76 kg with reduced thickness of 0.78 inches.

The ThinkPad L14 Gen 3i and ThinkPad L15 Gen 3i come in Intel 12th gen vPro variants up to the Core i7 with integrated Iris Xe graphics. Being vPro platforms, the Gen 3i models offer Intel Hardware Shield, which is a set of platform security features for Windows platforms available in both vPro Essentials and vPro Enterprise.

The ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 and L15 Gen 3 AMD versions continue to be featured on the AMD Ryzen Pro 5000 series APUs similar to the Gen 2 series. We are not sure why Lenovo hasn't considered an upgrade to Ryzen Pro 6000 given that these enterprise APUs have already been announced by AMD. 

Users can configure the ThinkPad L-series Gen 3/Gen 3i with up to 64 GB RAM and up to a 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD. This time, users also get to use a FHD IR camera with a dedicated privacy shutter unlike the 720p models we've seen so far. 

The ThinkPad L14 Gen 3/Gen 3i features a 14-inch FHD low-power display with a brightness of up to 400 nits. A touch option is also available for those who need it. The ThinkPad L15 Gen 3/Gen 3i, on the other hand, sports a 15.6-inch FHD display with up to 300 nits brightness and an optional touch SKU.

Port selection is decent and includes a HDMI 2.0b-out, Thunderbolt 4 (on Intel variants), USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (on AMD variants), USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, a SIM slot, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack. Networking is provided by the 2x2 802.11ax WLAN and 4G LTE CAT4 or CAT16. An RJ-45 port is also available for wired connectivity.

The Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3i and L15 Gen 3i Intel will be available from May 2022 starting from US$929 while the ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 and L15 Gen 3 AMD will be available from April 2022 starting from US$869.

Buy the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 2 with Core i5-1135G7 on Amazon