It's official! After several years of teasing, Lenovo today has finally unveiled the "Retro ThinkPad."
Coinciding with the exact 25th anniversary of the release of the first ThinkPad model, the ThinkPad 700C, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 harkens back to some of the features that have made the ThinkPad brand special over the years.
Built on the same chassis as the current generation ThinkPad T470, the Anniversary Edition has been updated with some features ThinkPad fans have been yearning for. The IBM-era 7-row keyboard is back, along with the traditional blue accented enter key and the key switch design that helped make the ThinkPad known as the premier option for business users throughout the years.
The return of a retro-style RGB ThinkPad Logo is a nice additional detail for longtime ThinkPad fans.
We don't know about the complete specifications yet, but so far we know that the base configuration will feature an Intel i7-7500U CPU with an NVIDIA 940MX GPU and a 14-in 1080p matte touchscreen.
As for pricing and availability, the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25 should be available today, October 5th, on Lenovo's web store for a price starting at $1899. We've been told there's a special deal available today only for the 25th anniversary, but we have no indication of how much that discount is right now.
$1899 is a high price for the specifications, especially compared to other machines in Lenovo's lineup like the T470, but this seems like it will be a low-volume special edition SKU produced for the most dedicated ThinkPad fans.
We're still waiting to get some hands-on time with the device at the 25th-anniversary event, but we'll report back with more impressions on the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25!
I wonder how “T470 derived”
I wonder how “T470 derived” it is, and whether the lower chassis has enough commonality to take the keyboard and palmrest assembly from the Anniversary Edition’ and retrofit it onto the stock T470. Might be cheaper than buying the AE outright if you can navigate through the parts ordering system.
I like how the keyboard
I like how the keyboard lettering is off center so the lettering does not wear off so easily and I have one old Toshiba laptop with the keys made that way and no letters are worn off and 3 other laptops with the lettering dead center on the keys and all 3 of those laptops have lettering missing.
Now if they would just get some Raven Ridge APU variants of this laptop at a more affordable price with the APU given at least 35+ watts of power/proper amount cooling then I’ll be very intrested. I do not want any U series 15 watt constrained CPU cores or the integrated graphics throttling that comes with those 15 watt U series SKUs, or any similar APU variant from AMD. So give me something with 4 cores/8 threads at 35 watts+ and some integrated graphics that are at least as powerful as an Radeon 7650m(Terrascale Rebrand) mobile graphics and that may just get my business.
Just curious, what is the
Just curious, what is the weight difference between an original Thinkpad and this anniversary edition?
300 was 5.9lbs, 700 was
300 was 5.9lbs, 700 was 6.5lbs and the 700C 7.6lbs; so about an average rabbit less.
That would also open up the
That would also open up the possibility of fitting the decent Anniversary keyboard to a version of the laptop with current specs.. nice thought, so probably a no!
I love the design but come on
I love the design but come on a 7th gen CPU and 940MX GPU?!
Yeah, but the logo on the lid
Yeah, but the logo on the lid is the wrong side up.
How have they still not realized their mistake and fixed that?