The ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkPad X1 Yoga are two heavy-hitters that dominate the ThinkPad family, and their update usually gets the attention of the PC industry.
The X1 Carbon 2020 is the 8th generation of an arguably very successful product. This version will come with Intel’s 10th generation processor. Specific CPU SKUs aren’t yet known, but a 6-core i7 processor will be in the mix, plus Intel vPro.
The newest Intel chips bring modest performance gains, but not a generational change compared to what is available since 2019-Q3.
As a laptop participating in Intel’s Project Athena program, this updated X1 Carbon should improve in critical user experience criteria such as battery life, boot time, or wake up time. We’ll take a closer look at this when the review units become available, but that’s our expectation.
The ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen5 is quasi-identical internal hardware and can be configured with the same mix of CPU & RAM. Even the battery capacity is identical, at 51 Wh, which is the capacity around which almost the whole industry has coalesced around, with a few exceptions.
Obviously, the X1 Yoga is a 2-in-1 laptop that can turn into a tablet when its display is rotated all the way to 360-degrees. At 2.99 Lbs, the X1 Yoga is also a bit heavier than the X1 Carbon which only weighs 2.4 Lbs – but again, the difference between the two is blurrier than ever.
X1 Yoga Gen5 (2020)
Both laptops get four or five display options, somewhat similar to what we’ve seen in our Gen7 X1 Carbon review. Options cover a broad range of use cases going from office work with long battery life, to 4K image quality compatible with Creative jobs, without forgetting the privacy features and options like ThinkShutter to cover the webcam lens, and
As you can see, the general design is very similar to the 2019 editions, and that includes theMIL-STD-810G durability certifications (~12 tests), the excellent keyboard and trackpad design. The X1 Carbon gets a little fancier with a visible carbon weave back cover for the 4K Dolby Vision display option.
At $1499 (X1 Carbon Gen8) and $1599 (X1 Yoga Gen5), these computers are not cheap, but we expect these to be the MRSP prices, and the actual street prices are generally a bit lower by the time it hits the market and reviews are up.
Common Specifications
- Intel Core i5/i7/6-core i7 (vPro optional)
- 8 to 16GB of RAM
- 2TB max SSD
- 51 Wh battery
- 2x Full-size USB 3.1, 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3, 1x HDMI 1.4, 3.5 mm audio
- 1080p IPS LCD to 4K 500 NITs display options
ThinkPad X1 Yoga
- A privacy screen is an option
- 323 x 218 x 15.25 mm, 2.99 lbs
- Dark gray color
- Garaged Active Pen
ThinkPad X1 Carbon
- 323 x 217 x 14.9 mm, 2.40 lbs
- Black with optional fiber weave
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