At CES, Lenovo is introducing an entirely new family of ThinkPads: ThinkPad Z carries ecology as a top priority, yet stands out mainly because of the Ryzen processors on the inside.
Lenovo is introducing a completely new lineup within the ThinkPad family with ThinkPad Z. The Chinese laptop specialist is initially launching two devices: a large 16-inch ThinkPad Z16 and a more portable ThinkPad Z13 with 13-inch screen diagonal. The devices will have their own design in which Lenovo says it focuses on ecological values. Thus, the devices are made of recycled aluminum and the packaging is also renewable. Those who want can choose a housing made of imitation leather, although the marketing department prefers to hear vegan leather.
As for the design, Lenovo still points out the large touchpad, flanked by glass to rest your wrists on while typing. The screen edges are modest but at the top is a large “collaboration bar”: a stylized thick bar that houses the camera.
Exclusive AMD chip
More interesting to us is what’s under the hood. There Lenovo opts for the newly announced AMD Ryzen 6000 mobile processors. The ThinkPad Z13 features U-series chips and optionally comes with a custom-built exclusive AMR Ryzen 7z. Which Lenovo says is more powerful and efficient than the classic Ryzen 7. Graphic violence, depending on the configuration, comes from an AMD APU or a discrete AMD Radeon GPU in the Z16. The latter is additionally available with AMD’s more powerful H processors. Built-in SmartShift functionality should let the components perform at the right performance level to save battery, for example.
Finally, Lenovo points to security. The manufacturer integrates its own ThinkShield solution and the laptops feature Pluton security. Pluton is a Microsoft initiative that you can think of as a successor to TPM and is baked into the processor.