I tried Lenovo’s mindblowing modular ThinkBook concept — and now I want this in every laptop

A laptop being repairable, upgradeable or modular in any way has been a running joke for years now. Sure, Framework is doing the thing, and I’m impressed by it. But that always comes with a price premium and older specs to get there.

However, Lenovo’s picking up the bag and taking it seriously with the ThinkBook Modular AI PC Concept — the result of what happens if an Asus ZenBook Duo got busy in the bedroom with a Framework Laptop.

With detachable displays, keyboards and modular I/O, this unlocks a world of versatility that is rare in portable tech like this, and I got to go hands-on with it.

A Zenbook Duo in Framework clothing

You may take a look at this and think “that looks familiar,” and you’d be right. This is giving the ZenBook Duo vibes with its tower of screens, but the real party trick is in its modularity — a “carry small, use big” mentality in Lenovo’s own words.

This starts as a 14-inch base system, but the way you build on top of it is entirely up to you. There’s the dual screen layout as you see above, or you could go more traditional laptop and use the screen to one side like an external monitor.

It really broadens the appeal to be able to go from both what I call the “working hard/hardly working” orientation of productivity on the bottom and binge watching on the top, all the way to a full vertical side panel for typing this story (like I am right now).

However, the real Framework magic comes in when you see those interchangeable I/O ports — using pogo-pin connectors to all join up is a cinch based on whatever connectors you need for the moment.

Modularity, repairability and upgradeability. In a time like this, when we need to preserve our tech’s lifespan, this kind of thinking is more important than ever.

The ThinkBooks you’ll be able to actually buy

This is Lenovo’s bread and butter — lure you into the dealership with a supercar, and you’ll walk out with the sensible station wagon that can do it all. And this year, the ThinkBook and ThinkPad lineups are getting even more thinkier with internal refreshes to the latest silicon.

The ThinkPad T-series systems are all getting better 5MP webcams with HDR, upgrades to either Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3, Snapdragon X2 Elite or AMD’s new Ryzen AI Pro 400 series chipsets, and serviceability at its core (a simpler internal layout to make them much more repairable by you).

For those who want something uber portable, you’ve got that Surface Pro-esque ThinkPad X13 revival with Intel Core Ultra Series 3. And just like the above, Lenovo wasn’t kidding about its price increase warnings: T-series starting at $1,799 and launching sometime this Spring, and the ThinkPad X13 for $1,999 this summer.

Need to expand that field of view? In the spirit of the ThinkBook Modular, Lenovo is launching a $259 ThinkVision M16 in Spring too — a vivid 16:10 panel with a wide 178-degree viewing angle and a decently sharp 1920 x 1200 resolution.

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