In addition to new models powered by Intel and Snapdragon processors, Lenovo has shown new laptops powered by AMD Ryzen Al processors at IFA 2024. They are ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD, ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+, and Yoga Pro 7 14". In this article, I will tell you what interesting things the new products have to offer in terms of design and materials.
ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD
Another laptop in Lenovo's lineup in the traditional ThinkPad design with a charcoal-black body. The model has a fairly minimalist design, with only the Lenovo and ThinkPad logos on the display unit lid. The case has a pleasant to the touch soft-touch coating, but it will have to be wiped periodically.
When discussing ThinkPad laptops, there are always a lot of questions about their cost, but it stems from the increased requirements for reliability of this line, in particular, the durability of the case. That's why, along with aluminum, it uses materials such as carbon fiber and magnesium alloy to reinforce the structure.
The display cover of the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD is easy to open with one hand, but the hinge fixes its position very well at any angle. It's convenient that the screen can be adjusted up to 180 degrees.
When the laptop is opened, the user will see a classic ThinkPad keyboard with a proprietary trackpoint button that allows you to control the mouse cursor without taking your fingers off the keys, which is really convenient when you type a lot.
The keyboard buttons themselves are as comfortable as expected, they are well spaced and have a nice soft stroke. I always enjoy typing on the test ThinkPads, so this is one of the top laptop keyboards for me.
The touchpad in ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD is medium-sized, and its upper part is occupied by three trackpoint keys. However, the touch surface is generally sufficient for comfortable use, including Windows 11 gestures. Interestingly, different laptop models may have different touchpads. It can be either a simple glass-coated touchpad or a Haptic ForcePad, a touchpad that has no moving mechanical parts, and its pressing is actually simulated by vibration from a linear motion drive.
Despite the fact that the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD is hardly a multimedia model, the laptop is equipped with quite good stereo speakers located on both sides of the keyboard, and thus directed at the user.
Since, as the name ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD suggests, the laptop has a 14-inch screen, and not very large bezels, the model's body is quite compact. It measures 313.6 x 219.4 x 16.9 mm and weighs 1.3 kg.
The ports in the model are located on the sides. On the right side there are two USB-A 5 Gbps ports.
The left side has two USB-C 40 Gbps (Thunderbolt 4), HDMI 2.1, a 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jack, and a SIM card slot.
The laptop display itself, in addition to the 14-inch diagonal, is available only with an IPS matrix and can offer a resolution of 1920×1200 dots, 16:10 aspect ratio, 60 Hz refresh rate, 400 nits brightness, and 100% sRGB color space. These are rather conservative screen characteristics, but it has a good anti-reflective coating and, depending on the modification, can be touch-sensitive.
Above the laptop screen is a 5-megapixel camera with an infrared sensor for facial recognition and a curtain to provide additional privacy when needed. Webcams with higher than Full HD resolution are still rare in laptops, but it's worth noting that not all video services can show the advantage of a 5-megapixel camera. But the image quality is really better.
This version of ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 uses an AMD processor, which will be a new solution with Strix Point architecture. Why is it new? Because during the presentation, the manufacturer mentioned the Ryzen AI Pro chip in the specifications, which has not yet been officially presented. Perhaps it will be AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360, information about which has already started to appear on the Internet. In any case, since the launch of ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD is scheduled for October in the US, information about the new processor should appear soon.
So far, we can say for sure that the model will be able to get built-in AMD Radeon graphics, up to 64 GB of dual-channel LPDDR5x-7500 RAM, and a PCIe Gen4 SSD drive of up to 1 TB. The updated platform will also add Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless modules, and the ability to add a 5G modem to certain model variants.
AMD's ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 will have a 58 Wh battery built in, and it can be charged from the bundled compact 65 Wh GaN power supply. Lenovo does not mention the battery life of the model, which is logical, since its processor has not even been officially presented yet. But let's hope that it will be no worse than the new Intel and Qualcomm processors.
AMD's ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 is scheduled to start selling in the US in October, where it will start at $1699, and in Europe it should appear a little later, in November, but its price will be higher and will start at 2199 euros.
ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+
Another 16-inch laptop in the line of more massive ThinkBook business models. The model essentially shares the same chassis with the ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 and Snapdragon X Plus, so the design is the same and the specifications are very similar.
The laptop also offers an aluminum body, a minimalist design with Lenovo and ThinkBook inscriptions on the display cover, an island keyboard with a numeric keypad, and a fairly large touchpad. Moreover, it is not mechanical, but fully touch-sensitive with vibration imitation. The manufacturer calls it Precision Haptic ForcePad.
The set of ports in the model is quite wide. On the right side there is an RJ45, one USB-A 3.1, an SD card reader and a USB-A 2.0 port hidden behind a cap.
The latter allows you to hide the transmitters from a wireless mouse or headset.
On the left side is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, another USB-A 3.1, HDMI 2.1, USB4, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
I like not only the number and variety of ports, but also the fact that they are well spaced, with only one Type-C port missing on the left side of the case.
Despite the same design, the dimensions and weight of the plus model are slightly larger than those of the ThinkBook 16 Gen 7. They measure 357 x 248 x 16.9 mm and weigh 1.9 kg.
The laptop has a 16-inch IPS display with a resolution of 3.2K, a refresh rate of 165 Hz, 400 nits of brightness, and support for 100% of the DCI-P3 color space. It's a pretty good quality matrix, but I'd gladly swap the high refresh rate for a higher maximum brightness. To me, this would be a more balanced solution for a non-gaming model.
The ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+ is powered by an AMD Ryzen M Al 9 365 processor, a 10-core chip with a frequency of 2 to 5 GHz, built-in AMD Radeon 880M graphics, and a separate NPU for artificial intelligence tasks. Therefore, this model also belongs to the Copilot+ PC category and has a separate button for calling the Microsot chatbot.
The platform is complemented by up to 32 GB of dual-channel LPDDR5X-7500 RAM and up to 2 TB of SSD storage. It also has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless modules.
ThinkBook 16 Gen 7+ has a large 83 Wh battery, so you can count on a good level of autonomy.
The laptop will be available in Europe this month and will cost from 999 euros.
Yoga Pro 7 14"
A bit similar to AMD's ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 in terms of its design and styling, but aimed at a wider range of consumers. The model has a slightly larger 14.5-inch display, which also opens 180 degrees, has a similar hinge design, speaker holes on the sides of the keyboard, and comfortable island-type keys. But the design itself is completely different here, the Yoga Pro 7 14" body is made of aluminum with a matte finish and a more rounded base.
However, minimalism is also present in this design, with nothing but the manufacturer's logo on the display unit cover.
There is a small ledge above the Yoga Pro 7 14" screen that houses a Full HD webcam and an infrared sensor for face recognition. There is also no traditional curtain here, the camera is turned off via a slider on the right side, which is supposed to open the contact with it.
The model has slightly fewer ports than AMD's ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. There is only one SB-A 3.1 Gen 1 and a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the right side, and two USB-C (USB 4.0 Gen 1, PD 3.0, DP 1.4) and HDMI 2.1 on the left. All in all, it's enough for an average user to connect peripherals.
Since this is a consumer model, we already have 4 speakers. They are quite loud and even have hints of bass. They are perfect for watching videos on a laptop.
Given the diagonal of the screen and the relatively thin bezels around it, the Yoga Pro 7 14" is compact, with dimensions of 325.5 x 226.49 x 16.6 mm and a weight of 1.54 kg.
The 14.5-inch display of the model offers an OLED matrix with a resolution of 2.8K (2880x1800 dots), 16:10 aspect ratio, 120 Hz refresh rate, 600 nits peak brightness, 100% Adobe RGB, DP and sRGB color coverage. In all respects, this is a very high-quality screen that is suitable not only for working with office documents but also for editing photos or videos. The display is covered by a glossy protective glass, so it can catch glare.
Yoga Pro 7 14" has an AMD Ryzen Al 9 365 processor with 10 cores (4 x Zen 5, 6 x Zen 5c) and a frequency of 2 to 5 GHz. The chip has AMD Radeon 880M graphics with 12 cores and a frequency of 2.9 GHz. Like almost all new processors, Ryzen Al 9 365 has a separate NPU to speed up the processing of tasks by artificial intelligence. AMD claims that the computing power of the NPU in this processor reaches up to 50 TOPS, and in general, it can deliver up to 73 TOPS. Accordingly, Microsoft is already licensing this platform as a Copilot+ PC, so the Yoga Pro 7 14" will have all the AI functionality in Windows 11 when it becomes available.
It's also worth noting that the model can have up to 32 GB of dual-channel LPDDR5X-6400 RAM and up to 1 TB of Gen 4 2280 M.2 SSD.
Despite the generally new platform, the wireless modules in the laptop are not of the latest generation, the manufacturer still offers WIFI 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
The Yoga Pro 7 14" has a 73 Wh battery, which should provide a high level of autonomy. But it will be possible to check it in a full-fledged test, which I hope will be done soon enough. At the very least, sales of the laptop in Europe should start in September, and its price will start at 1699 euros.