Soldered no more: ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 revives replaceable Wi‑Fi

Traditionally, ThinkPad laptops used socketed Wi-Fi modules that users could change and upgrade themself. Back in the olden days, those were mPCIe cards, and then, after the introduction of the M.2 standard, M.2 2230 modules.

However, after Intel developed the CNVi technology, which partially integrated the Wi-Fi into the SoC, Lenovo gradually switched its business line from the old modular solution to a fully integrated one - meaning that the Wi-Fi card was now soldered. Obviously, ihis impairs both repairability and upgradeability. Almost all ThinkPads dropped modular Wi-Fi in favor of the CNVi solution, expect for the affordable E series. 

At least, until 2026. This year, modular Wi-Fi returned to one of the core ThinkPad models, the most powerful and most upgradeable of them all: The Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3. This thick and heavy 16-inch mobile workstation laptop, which we recently tested, brings back the modular Wi-Fi card, as the Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 in our review sample was in the form of a M.2 2230 card.

While this is a modern, capable Wi-Fi 7 card, which means there is little reason to change it, Wi-Fi 8 is already on the horizon - and with the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3, upgrading to the newest standard becomes a possibility again! Thus far, the P16 Gen 3 is the only enterprise-level ThinkPad with this feature, but according to Lenovo, it may be expanded to other models in the future.