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Lenovo updates its ThinkPad X1 and Yoga models with Intel's 12th-gen chips
12th-generation Intel Cores for (almost) everyone!
Shortly after Intel tells the world that Alder Lake for laptops has arrived, that all the laptop makers show off the products to take advantage of the new silicon. Today, it’s Lenovo’s turn, busting out a refreshed range of ThinkPad X1 and Yoga machines with new, 12th-generation Intel Core chips and plenty of razzle-dazzle.
The flagship X1 range is welcoming a 10th-generation X1 Carbon, seventh-generation X1 Yoga and a second-generation X1 Nano. Those high-end machines are targeted at professionals currently caught between the office and working from home, like so many of us are these days. That means the big focus is making sure you don’t look completely awful while you’re sat in yet another endless Zoom meeting.
That’s why these new models all get a redesigned “communications bar,” which is a fancy way of describing the webcam housing. Nestled inside you’ll find a “superior camera,” with a number of options, including a standard HD camera or an FHD + IR camera, paired with quad-array microphones. You can also opt for a Computer Vision bundle that, Lenovo promises, will be able to automatically detect which person is in front of the machine for a faster log-in experience.
You can also spec these machines with OLED displays, a 2.8k option for the X1 Carbon and a full 4K OLED for the X1 Yoga. Plus, there’s WiFi 6E, options for 4G or 5G modems and support for Tile’s finding features to help you never misplace your machine. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 10) and Yoga (Gen 7) will be available in March, with prices starting at $1,639 and $1,749, respectively. The X1 Nano (Gen 2), meanwhile, will turn up a month later in April, with the base model due to cost $1,659.
At the same time, Lenovo also wants to talk about its not-X line of Yoga machines, including the Yoga 9i, Yoga 71 and Yoga 6. The 9i is the flagship 2-in-1 for the year, which comes with the option of new 12th-generation Intel Core chips paired with Iris Xe graphics — making it an Intel Evo-certified machine. Lenovo says that this new model has vastly-improved (Bowers and Wilkins’) audio which is much louder than before, too. You’ll also be able to get the 9i with a 16:10, 4K OLED IPS touchscreen with 100 percent DCI-P3 color accuracy.
Meanwhile, the 7i gets the option of a 2.8K OLED touchscreen (for the 14-inch) or a 2.5K LCD 60Hz display (for the 16-inch model). Both get the option of a Intel Core i7, paired with Iris Xe graphics, rapid charging and screens optimized for graphics professionals. The Yoga 6, meanwhile, is designed to burnish Lenovo’s environmental credentials, with its recycled aluminum cover or fabric-wrapped cover made with 50 percent recycled plastics.
You can expect to get your hands on the Yoga 9i at some point in Q2, 2022, with the base model available for $1,399. The 16-inch Yoga 7i will retail for $899, while its smaller sibling will set you back $949 before you’ve started speccing it up, and both arrive in Q2 this year as well. Finally, the Yoga 6 with a Ryzen 5000 will require you to hand over $749, and if you guessed that these would also drop at some point in Q2, you deserve a cookie.
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