Lenovo releases affordable iMac rival globally with Intel Lunar Lake and 100Hz touchscreen option

Lenovo has quietly begun rolling out refreshed ThinkCentre desktops with Intel Lunar Lake processors globally. For instance, the company recently updated the ThinkCentre Neo 50q Gen 6 Tiny PC in the US and other markets in Asia and Europe. Now, Lenovo is bringing the same Lunar Lake refresh to the ThinkCentre Neo 50a all-in-one PC.

Previously, Lenovo offered the ThinkCentre Neo 50a Gen 5 AIO with Intel Raptor Lake processors, including the Core i5-13420H and Core i7-13620H, alongside up to 32GB of RAM. The ThinkCentre Neo 50a Gen 6 replaces those chips with new Intel Lunar Lake options, specifically the Core Ultra 5 226V and Core Ultra 7 256V. Both configurations ship with 16GB of soldered DDR5 RAM, and it's unclear whether Lenovo plans to introduce a Core Ultra 7 258V variant with 32GB RAM.

Performance-wise, the Core Ultra 7 256V outpaces the previous Core i7-13620H in single-core workloads and comes with a superior Intel Arc 140V iGPU. The older Raptor Lake chip still holds the advantage in multi-threaded tasks such as video editing, however. That said, the new AIO can be configured with up to 1TB of PCIe Gen4 storage.

Lenovo offers the ThinkCentre Neo 50a Gen 6 with 24-inch and 27-inch display options. These are standard IPS panels with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 99% sRGB color coverage, 250 nits peak brightness, and 100Hz refresh rate. A touchscreen is also available as an option. In any case, Apple's iMac offers a far superior 4.5K Retina display with much higher pixel density.

Other features include a 5MP webcam, dual microphones, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1. For ports, the ThinkCentre Neo 50a Gen 6 includes a 10Gbps USB-C, three USB-A (one 10Gbps), an HDMI 2.1 output, an HDMI 1.4 input, Ethernet, and an audio jack.

Pricing and availability

Both the 24-inch and 27-inch ThinkCentre Neo 50a Gen 6 are now available in North America and several other markets, including Singapore, the UK, and Australia. Interestingly, North America only gets the Core Ultra 7 256V configurations, while most other markets also offer the Core Ultra 5 226V variants. In the US, pricing starts at $1,058 for the 24-inch model with 256GB storage and $1,158 for the 27-inch with 256GB, well below Apple's iMac, which starts at $1,499.