Lenovo’s engineers said they couldn’t make ThinkPad X1 lighter, so they went all in on repairability

by

Lenovo is a major computer manufacturer with a significant presence at the Consumer Electronics Show, so you’ll find many of their laptops on display there.

This includes the newest versions of Lenovo’s popular ThinkPad X1 laptops, like the best-selling X1 Carbon and the flexible X1 2-in-1. However, at CES 2026, Lenovo announced a new strategy for updating these models this year.

Rather than focusing on making the ThinkPad X1 Carbon lighter – which Lenovo’s engineers said would mean sacrificing quality – the company prioritized building a business laptop that’s incredibly durable, easy to repair, and more powerful and efficient.

Introducing: Space Frame, for ThinkPad X1

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 14) Aura Edition and the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 (Gen 11) Aura Edition have quite lengthy names, but they could be the best business laptops released this year.

Both devices are equipped with the newest Intel Core Ultra X7 Series 3 processors, along with fast memory and PCIe Gen5 storage. This significantly boosts performance, particularly with Intel’s new 12-core Arc graphics processor.

These devices come with plenty of connections, including three Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a new 10MP wide-angle front camera. You can also add optional NFC and 5G connectivity. Plus, with features powered by both Copilot+ and Lenovo’s Aura Edition, they’re packed with helpful AI capabilities, making them very well-equipped overall.

The X1 Carbon now has a bigger, more responsive touchpad. The X1 2-in-1 gets an updated pen that attaches magnetically and recharges automatically. However, the core strength of both laptops remains their durable Space Frame design.

In my review of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 13), I was amazed that Lenovo managed to make their top-of-the-line business laptop even thinner and lighter. I didn’t think it was possible to improve on that, but the X1 Carbon is already so good that it didn’t really need to.

Lenovo redesigned the inside of the device with a new “Space Frame” structure that utilizes the entire motherboard. This offers two key benefits: better cooling for consistently higher performance, and simplified repairs. Replacing parts like the USB ports, battery, keyboard, speakers, and fans is now much easier.

This change helped both ThinkPad X1 models achieve a good repairability score of 9 out of 10 from iFixit. In contrast, the newest Apple MacBook Pro 14 received a much lower score of only 4 out of 10.

Lenovo ThinkPads are famous for being dependable and long-lasting, but it used to be difficult to repair the more expensive X1 models. This new design fixes that issue, and it could make these laptops the best choice for professionals by 2026.

Read More

2026-01-07 23:39