The newest ThinkBook X1 Carbon, which Lenovo debuted with additional fanfare again at CES 2026, boasts additional repairability past every other laptop computer within the firm’s ultraportable repertoire. Nevertheless, that simply detachable keyboard and chassis had been constructed extra for the sake of skilled technicians reasonably than the lowly laptop computer person who simply desires to swap out their USB-C port for HDMI. Lenovo’s newest ThinkPad idea goes a step additional. It guarantees a complete new stage of modularity that’s much more formidable than Framework’s present design. It’s solely held again by Lenovo’s want to hold on to too many proprietary parts.
This Modular AI Idea looks like an adaptation of so many opponents, equivalent to Framework and Asus. With the keyboard on, it resembles a daily 14-inch ThinkBook laptop computer. The keyboard then comes off, revealing a platform the place you may stick in a secondary display screen. It ought to remind you of the Asus Zenbook Duo with related dual-screen performance. The modularity doesn’t cease there. That display screen may connect to the rear of the laptop computer lid. On this mode, customers can mirror their display screen to point out anyone on the surface what they’re engaged on.
That secondary display screen may hang around as an exterior show because of an built-in kickstand. It’s not Bluetooth enabled, which means you’ll must plug it into one of many ThinkBook’s obtainable USB-C ports. Taking a web page from Framework, two of the laptop computer’s 4 ports are detachable and swappable with—ostensibly—another number of port. If you recognize you’ll be working with photographs, you would trade it for an SD card slot.
It simply wants an additional contact of Framework
I used to be beginning to really feel the joy constructing. Lastly, Lenovo was going full Framework and promising its business-class laptops might have the customizability we’ve longed for for therefore lengthy. Then actuality set in. In contrast to the Framework 13, the ThinkBook idea makes use of a pin connection for its detachable ports. Framework, alternatively, depends on a USB-C system that permits extra customers to put in any variety of port connections. Which means the ThinkBook is much much less customizable for the DIYers who take pleasure in creating their very own modules for his or her laptops.
There’s lots to love in regards to the ThinkPad idea, besides maybe for the sturdiness. The pin part behind the monitor turned unglued as I eliminated it from the laptop computer. Lenovo fished me out a substitute so I might end testing it. Nonetheless, I’ll admit the thought behind this laptop computer is particularly attractive. The Zenbook Duo proved we will have a high-powered dual-screen laptop computer with robust battery life. Having one with much more modularity might make the ThinkPad design extra worthwhile past the usual enterprise laptop computer person. Lenovo simply must eschew the module’s pin connection and stick an enormous crimson TrackPoint “nipple” within the middle of the keyboard, and the ThinkPad Modular may very well be the one ultraportable laptop computer to rule all of them.
As with all proof of idea, you shouldn’t count on a finalized product. It’s Lenovo’s give attention to proprietary ports that dampens my enthusiasm. We should always all take pleasure in a extra modular, repairable design. We’d be higher off if Lenovo might belief its customers to do it themselves.
If you happen to don’t care about modularity, how a couple of 3D display screen?
As if Lenovo didn’t have already got sufficient idea units in tow, it was additionally adamant I take a look at its Yoga Ebook Professional 3D idea. This system is precisely what it seems like: an enormous, dual-screen laptop computer, with one display screen constructed for glasses-less 3D. Positive, it’s operating on an Intel Core Extremely 7 processor (Lunar Lake, not Panther Lake, sadly) and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 cellular GPU, however what you actually care about are these twin screens.
Lenovo has proven me earlier monitor ideas and prototypes, like its ThinkVision 2D/3D monitor and an analogous laptop computer with a 3D display screen. These units make use of an connected webcam to trace customers’ eyes. Then, the display screen exhibits a unique picture to every eye, making a stereoscopic impact that leads to customers perceiving a 3D picture. Samsung has this expertise in its Odyssey 3D gaming monitor and upcoming 6K-resolution 3D redux. The Yoga Ebook Professional 3D Idea is constructed extra for creators than players. It features a touchscreen on the underside that works with a stylus. Customers can manipulate a 3D mannequin in a graphics app, then see the way it seems in 3D on the highest display screen.
If 3D screens take off—regardless of my enthusiasm for them, that’s an enormous ‘if’—then a lot of these units might grow to be crucial for creators and 3D modelers. The underside display screen additionally makes use of “pads” that react to the show, enabling a coloration picker or a lighting adjuster. Consider it or not, it’s that small characteristic that’s the least helpful of this extremely odd laptop computer.
