Lenovo ThinkPad T490 laptop announced as special healthcare edition

Lenovo ThinkPads are business laptops, but occasionally, Lenovo branches out a bit to reach other markets. The healthcare market is related with the business segment, but it was not really the focus of Lenovo – at least until now, as Lenovo has introduced the ThinkPad T490 HealthCare Edition. This model is based on the new ThinkPad T490, the successor of the ThinkPad T480 and member of the well-known ThinkPad T series.

The ThinkPad T490 Healthcare Edition is tailor made for the use in hospitals. Some of the special features include a RFID reader, a special FIPS-201 fingerprint reader as well as an anti-microbial coating for the chassis. Other features that are included are a ThinkShutter for the webcam, which will be available for the IR camera as well now and a new FHD (1,920 x 1,080) display with ThinkPad PrivacyGuard. While it is unclear if these features will be available on the normal ThinkPad T490 as well, it can be assumed that at least the ThinkShutter and the PrivacyGuard screen will be available.

The ThinkPad T490 is a complete redesign compared with its predecessor ThinkPad T480. While Lenovo has not released a data-sheet yet, the picture that shows the T490 reveals a few design changes, like a thinner chassis and reduced bezels around the screen. It will be powered by Intel processors of the 8th Core i generation, which most likely means that Lenovo will use Whiskey Lake chips like the Core i7-8565U. The thinner chassis weights 1.55 kg instead of 1.58 kg and it includes Dolby Premium speakers as well as optional Cat.9 LTE WWAN. The battery should last up to 16 hours according to Lenovo.

The ThinkPad T490 Healthcare Edition will be available in July. Lenovo has not revealed any starting price. Also, the manufacturer did not announce when the standard model of the Lenovo ThinkPad T490 will be available. A recent ThinkPad roadmap leak suggested that it will be released in April.

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