How Lenovo's radically thin ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga 5G came to be

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Key

It is no cloak-and-dagger that of all the laptops announced at CES 2022, the new ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is among those I found the most interesting. It's the kind of 2-in-i laptop that you look to exist ARM-based instead of Intel x86-powered. With 5G, a titanium hat, packed with features like Thunderbolt 4, and one of the first haptic trackpads, the X1 Titanium is both familiar and unique. It is quite literally the thinnest ThinkPad ever made.

But I had many questions about how Lenovo fabricated the Titanium Yoga, and just as importantly, why. After all, y'all can order the 6th Gen X1 Yoga, which is also a 2-in-1 business organisation laptop with optional 5G. What makes this so special?

So, we sabbatum downward with Thomas Butler, Executive Manager of Commercial Portfolio & Product Development, at Lenovo to find out simply what went into the ThinkPad X1 Titanium and why information technology exists.

Benefits of a tablet, but more like a laptop

Why make ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga?

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Lenovo has been doubling down on its ThinkPad line for years with revised generations of electric current home runs like the perennial X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga. That line has recently expanded with the X1 Extreme (15-inch workstation), X1 Nano (smaller X1 Carbon), X12 tablet (Surface Pro-like), and even the experimental X1 Fold (new form factor).

The strategy has paid off with a recent 2d sequent record-breaking quarter with revenue upward 22 pct year-on-yr of $17.2 billion. Compare that to Microsoft's admirable $two billion on Surface, and you get the thought of why Lenovo is one of the biggest PC makers on the planet.

X1 Titanium is "optimized for a tablet without penalizing y'all for the weight of that keyboard."

The X1 Titanium Yoga is another alternative for those focused on mobility and connectivity. It is not low-priced either, starting at $ii,909 (Core i5, 8GB, and 256GB storage) and heading due north of a sobering $three,800 for the Core i7 with 16GB and 1TB. That makes it non only of the thinnest ThinkPads ever only likewise one of the most expensive too.

Butler explained the reasoning behind the X1 Titanium, which aims to solve "the detachable problem," as he calls information technology. While devices like Surface Pro and even Lenovo's new ThinkPad X12 are tablets with floppy detachable keyboards, they are not great laptops for many people.

So, what about making an actual laptop feel like a tablet? How do y'all gain the portability and benefits of a tablet PC, but without compromising the design?

The X1 Titanium's base of operations is no thicker than an iPhone 12 or a pen. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

That's where the X1 Titanium leaves its mark. Combine unique materials for the chassis, extreme thinness, a 3:2 display, and the X1 Titanium becomes a great tablet and a not bad laptop. As Butler puts it, X1 Titanium is "optimized for a tablet without penalizing y'all for the weight of that keyboard." For comparing, Lenovo's new ThinkPad X12 is virtually identical in weight to the X1 Titanium merely comes with a smaller 12.3-inch display instead of a larger 13.5-inch one.

Category	ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga (Gen one)
OS	Windows x Home Windows x Pro
Processor	Intel 11th Gen with vPro Core i5-1130G7 Core i5-1140G7 Core i7-1160G7
RAM	Up to 16GB LPDDR4x
Graphics	Intel Iris Xe
Storage	Up to 1TB Thou.two PCIe SSD
Display	thirteen.5 inches 3:2 aspect ratio Impact Dolby Vision 2256x1504 (2K) 450 nits, 100%sRGB Anti-cogitating, anti-smudge
Pen	Lenovo Precision Pen
Ports	Two Thunderbolt iv iii.5mm audio
Sound	Dual top-firing speakers Dolby Atmos 4 microphones
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 Optional: WWAN 4x4 MIMO 5G (LTE CAT20) / 4G (LTE CAT9)
Camera	Front-facing 720p Privacy shutter
Security	IR camera Fingerprint reader
Battery	44.5Wh
Dimensions	11.71 x ix.14 x 0.45 inches (297.5mm x 232.7mm x xi.5mm)
Weight	From ii.54 pounds (1.15kg)
Colour	Titanium

And like a Surface Pro device, Lenovo wanted something with a total-sized pen instead of a siloed i like with X1 Yoga (the Titanium is just too thin to firm one anyhow).

Inside the densely packed, but not stacked, ThinkPad X1 Titaniun Yoga. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

The X1 Titanium is undoubtedly small and light at just 2.54 pounds (1.15kg). With a 3:2 display, the Titanium is just slightly larger than an 8x10 sheet of paper. However, that screen is still a notable 2256 10 1504 resolution that supports Dolby Vision HDR with 100 percent sRGB color accuracy.

And this gets to the crux of why X1 Titanium exists. While the bigger X1 Yoga and other 2-in-1 laptops can turn into a tablet, they are only decent at it for short durations. Lenovo refers to this every bit "anecdotal tablet utilize" — laptops like the X1 Yoga or HP EliteBook x360 excel at it. Only past existence lighter, thinner, and more symmetrical in design, the X1 Titanium is suited for more than just occasional tablet indulgence. Flip its keyboard effectually, and the X1 Titanium truly feels more like an iPad Pro than a convertible laptop PC.

However, the but mode Lenovo could pull off the Titanium's design is with some recent technological innovations.

Radically thin

Central ingredients: Intel, Sensel, 5G, and titanium

Titanium, Magnessium, and Carbon unite. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Primal

As the proper noun implies, X1 Titanium relies on titanium equally one of the core materials for its chassis. The pricey metal is used in the lid (forth with carbon) due to its specific structural properties. Titanium is extremely lightweight but also incredibly strong. As Lenovo puts it, titanium lets them get "radically sparse."

This is not the first Lenovo laptop with titanium. Lenovo kickoff experimented with the metal back in 2005, just information technology never actually caught on for what they needed. Now, 16 years later, titanium has finally found its niche.

Besides protection, titanium does double duty every bit the laptop's core when information technology is in tablet manner. When flipped effectually, it supports the display interim more like a tablet than a laptop. The titanium also has the pleasant side furnishings of existence lustrous and shimmery, giving the X1 Titanium a distinct silver colorway that also resists fingerprints.

The bottom chassis of the Titanium is a different story. It utilizes Lenovo's other favorite go-to materials: carbon and magnesium. Carbon is similar titanium reversed: it is even lighter just not nearly as rigid. Magnesium is needed in the bottom one-half for "windowing," a term used to expose the internal Wi-Fi and 4G/5G antennas since radio waves do non bode well traveling through metallic.

But it is non all fancy metals and alloys that make the X1 Titanium unique. Intel and Sensel are too needed to get that chassis and then thin.

The X1 Titanium is built for more than "anecdotal" tablet use, which is why it's so sparse.

Intel'south 11th Gen processors, Iris Xe graphics, and Evo platform allow Lenovo cram a real quad-core 10nm Core i7 processor into the Titanium without using much space. Indeed, the entire motherboard is only a few inches long, thank you to Intel onboarding many advanced features like Thunderbolt 4 for the two Type-C ports and Wi-Fi 6.

I have already done a deep swoop on Sensel – the US company behind the new haptics-based touchpad in the Titanium. Without moving parts and a few millimeters thin, Lenovo had more space to put in a decently sized battery.

Popping off the lesser hat of the Titanium, and you lot can see how packed it is inside. Lenovo crammed in ii top-firing Dolby-tuned Atmos speakers, a 44.5WHr battery, a cooling fan with rut pipe, SSD, two Type-C ports, and a 5G modem with antennas (5G requires more sophisticated antennas than merely 4G). There's nigh no "stacking" either of the components, which is why the Titanium's base is no thicker than an iPhone.

Even the keyboard, a hallmark of Lenovo laptops, is non compromised. While regular ThinkPads accept an aplenty i.5mm of central travel, Lenovo just drops to 1.35mm on the Titanium — what Butler considers the bottom threshold for ideal typing. That is withal mode more than Apple tree'southward widely panned Butterfly switches (0.7mm) and even its more than contempo scissor-switch in MacBook Pro (one.0mm).

Futurity-proofed

ThinkPad X1 Titanium pushes the border (with few compromises)

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Information technology is easy to read the headlines of the X1 Titanium and think Lenovo went sparse for the sake of sparse. Information technology does make for good marketing. But that overlooks the benefits this design enables compared to existing 2-in-1 laptops and tablet-based PCs. Lenovo tells me it could have gone even thinner, but that wasn't the bespeak as information technology would accept sacrificed fundamentals similar battery size, sound quality, and its keyboard.

Lenovo didn't brand the X1 Titanium sparse for headlines, just to solve "the detachable problem."

In my conversation with Butler over the ideas that fed the X1 Titanium, it'south evident that Lenovo has a clear target for this premium laptop. Ultra-mobile, working professionals who prioritize connectivity (5G), conferencing, inking, and tablet mode over everything else.

The X1 Titanium, though, does have pocket-size tradeoffs besides that high price. With only two Thunderbolt four ports, road warriors volition miss having expandability. Lenovo makes up for that by including a full port replicator in the box, complete with two Type-A ports, standard and micro SD card readers, full HDMI, and Type-C. Demand Ethernet? There is a carve up Blazon-C to RJ-45 connector included too.

Certain, information technology is the dongle life, simply at least it is part of the package. And if that bothers you, Lenovo gladly points you lot to its latest X1 Yoga as an alternative. Desire the smallness of the X1 Titanium but don't intendance about the tablet office? Check out the new X1 Nano.

But it'southward the coming together of all the latest tech that makes the X1 Titanium worth discussing. Lenovo could not have made this laptop without all these fundamental pieces coming together in 2022. An increasing number of workers only demand a quality brandish, a total keyboard, connectivity, and the power to act every bit a tablet. For those people, the minimalist ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga makes a ton of sense.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga

This convertible laptop has optional 5G back up, a sparse-and-light metallic body, and runs on 11th Gen Intel Core processors. It also has a unique haptic trackpad.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/story-behind-lenovo-thinkpad-x1-titanium-yoga

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