ThinkPad P16v, P14s G4 and P16s G2: Lenovo announces new AMD Ryzen 7040 based workstation laptops

Workstation laptops have been historically dominated by Intel processors and to this day, most big workstation notebooks are using the Intel chips. In the last years though, AMD has slowly but surely begun to chip away at the Intel monopoly.

Case in point: Lenovo workstation laptops of the ThinkPad P series. Lenovo first started to offer their compact 14 inch model ThinkPad P14s with Ryzen-CPUs in 2020. Last year, Lenovo expanded the line to include the bigger ThinkPad P16s (available for $1,300 from Amazon) as well as the thicker budget workstation ThinkPad P15v Gen 3. Whereas P14s and P16s featured low power U series CPUs, the ThinkPad P15v was the first H-class CPU AMD workstation.

It makes sense then that Lenovo is updating this portfolio with the newest Ryzen Pro CPUs: ThinkPad P14s Gen 4 and ThinkPad P16s Gen 2 will be released with AMD Ryzen 7040U CPUs, while the new ThinkPad P16v AMD, the successor of the P15v, will be released with Ryzen 7040HS and the dedicated Nvidia RTX 2000 Ada as an option.

P14s and P16s prioritize mobility and a lower weight. These ultrabook type workstation do not have the option for a dedicated GPU when equipped with Ryzen-CPUs. Instead, they rely on the integrated Radeon 700M graphics. New for this year are 2.8K (P14s) and 4K (P16s) OLED options, 5 megapixel webcams and the RAM is upgraded to LPDDR5X. The maximum RAM capacity offered is now 64 GB instead of 32 GB, but RAM on these two models is soldered. Also, both models now feature a USB4 port, which the predecessors P14s G3 AMD and P16s G1 AMD did not offer. 

The thicker, heavier ThinkPad P16v offers a beefier dual fan cooling system, allowing for more powerful HS CPUs and the dedicated Nvidia RTX GPUs. It has two SO-DIMM slots for up to 64 GB of DDR4 memory. The ThinkPad P16v will not be offered with an OLED screen, but it does have a 4K IPS option with up to 800 cd/m² of brightness, one of the brightest screens offered in any ThinkPad laptop thus far. Unlike the smaller models, it can take in up to two M.2 2280 SSD at the same time, even offering RAID 0/1. And the ThinkPad P16v offers a SD card slot and a big 90 WH battery. Unlike the small models though, it does not feature a RJ45 port anymore. The P16v also relies on a proprietary Lenovo Slim tip charger, while P14s and P16s utilize USB C PD charging.

Lenovo ThinkPad AMD workstation 2023: Availability

The new Lenovo ThinkPad workstation with AMD CPUs are slated for an August 2023 release.