Shocking redesign: ThinkPad laptop without a TrackPoint! Lenovo ThinkPad X9 leaks out

In the run-up to CES, it seems like Lenovo has a big problem with leaks. Earlier, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9 with the under-display webcam was already revealed by the leaker "WalkingCat" on Twitter. Now, another laptop series joins the fray of leaks: WalkingCat has posted pictures of a new Lenovo ThinkPad series, the Lenovo ThinkPad X9.

The images show a radically redesigned laptop compared with the usual ThinkPad fare: The new Lenovo ThinkPad X9 appears to ditch the established ThinkPad design language that is represented in models like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 (available on Amazon). It opts for a silverish-gray color in place of black and most importantly, it drops the ThinkPad TrackPoint, instead opting for a huge touchpad.

This turn of events has long been feared by fans of the ThinkPad series. The TrackPoint pointing-stick, an input device used to control the mouse pointer, as been a staple of the ThinkPad brand since its very inception in 1992. It has been present on almost all previous ThinkPads, but its popularity among other manufacturers has dwindled in recent years, with Lenovo being almost the "last man standing". The touchpad has vastly eclipsed the TrackPoint in popularity, but with the TrackPoint being linked so closely with the brand identity of ThinkPad and having many dedicated fans, it still remained - but no more.

Seemingly, there are two sizes of the Lenovo ThinkPad X9: A ThinkPad X9-14 and a ThinkPad X9-15, so a 14-inch and a 15-inch model. "WalkingCat" also had something to say about the CPU that Lenovo will use in these laptops, as it appears Intel Core Ultra was chosen to power them.

Other than that, there is not too much that can be extracted from the images. The ThinkPad X9 appears to be a slim device modeled after the Apple MacBook Air, though it does have USB-A and HDMI ports. It also features a brand-new keyboard design with modified key-caps and a revamped layout, which, again, resembles Apple's layouts. Seemingly the only design-attributes it shares with the rest of the ThinkPad line are the typical ThinkPad logo, the smile-shaped design for the keyboard and the webcam-bump on top of the screen.