September 5, 2024
By Bob O'Donnell
Given all the recent developments in semiconductors for AI PCs (see “Intel’s Lunar Lake Reignites PC Competition”), there have been a lot of questions about how PC companies were planning to differentiate the various “flavors” of AI PC silicon across their product lines. At its Innovation World 2024 event in Berlin, Lenovo tackled the challenge head on by introducing a range of both consumer and commercial laptops that include the latest SOCs from Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD—all at once.
The net result is an impressively comprehensive set of AI-capable notebook PCs that all meet the Copilot+ standard that Microsoft laid out earlier this year. All the systems include not only the latest CPUs and GPUs from each of the major PC chip companies (several of which were just unveiled this week), but also NPUs that offer performance levels of 40 TOPs or higher. Part of the way Lenovo achieved this feat is by leveraging the large range of sub-brands that cut across its PC line—including ThinkPad, ThinkBook, Yoga, Yoga Pro, and IdeaPad—and putting chips from different vendors into different lines.
Logically, Lenovo’s approach makes sense, as it helps cross the AI PC chip divide currently facing the PC industry in a manner that—once you figure it all out—should theoretically help keep things straight. Practically speaking, however, it also leads to a somewhat overwhelming set of choices that, initially at least, is likely to confuse buyers who want to consider multiple options. Knowing that the consumer laptop featuring Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 2 (aka “Lunar Lake”) is the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition, for example, while the consumer PCs with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon X Plus 8 Core (just announced here in Berlin as well) are part of the IdeaPad Slim 5x takes a bit of sleuthing to figure out. Plus, in several of its product lines, Lenovo is using multiple different chip vendors. Now, ultimately, some buyers may not care what chip is powering their system, as long as it’s seen as an AI PC or meeting the Copilot+ spec, but there’s going to be a little extra research necessary during the buying process.
Regardless, what’s interesting about this set of notebook announcements from Lenovo is that it shows how quickly things are evolving in the PC market and how rapidly AI-accelerated options are becoming available across all market segments. Many in the PC industry have been talking about the launch of the AI PC era in a more conceptual way, but with big announcements like the ones Lenovo just made, the concept is very quickly becoming reality.
What this set of product launches also highlights is how many choices are available to Windows PC buyers and how so many other elements of a laptop, including its display size, resolution and screen type, selection of I/O ports, and much more can provide differentiation and options for PC buyers to consider, even within the more defined world of Copilot+ PCs.
In terms of specifics, Lenovo’s latest top-of-the-line ThinkPad commercial notebooks include the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition (with Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 and a 14” OLED display) and the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 AMD (with AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 9 365 chip and a 14” LCD panel). The company also has both AMD and Qualcomm powered versions of its lower-cost ThinkBook 16 Gen 7 products, each with 16” LCD displays. The new Qualcomm-based version of the ThinkBook 16, which has an 8-core version of the Snapdragon X Plus chip and the same 45 TOP NPU from its larger siblings, is particularly intriguing as it offers the lowest entry price point ($749) of any Copilot+ PC system yet.
For consumers, the aforementioned Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition leverages Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 2 SOC and a 15” LCD display, while the Yoga Pro 7 integrates AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365, which includes the highest performing NPU currently in the market at 50 TOPs, with a 14.5” OLED display. The latest Qualcomm-powered Lenovo offerings are the IdeaPad 5x and IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1 convertible, both of which feature 14” OLED displays and the Snapdragon X Plus 8 Core SOC.
Another important and interesting detail of these Lenovo announcements is that several of them also include AI-focused software and services that are designed to offer a unique Lenovo experience. While none of the major PC vendors have had a great track record with doing their own software, it’s becoming clear that all of them are seeing opportunities for software-based differentiation in the AI PC era, so I expect to see quite a few efforts in this regard (particularly in conjunction with partners) moving forward.
For Lenovo, both the commercial and consumer Aura Edition PCs with Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 chips also include unique capabilities that were co-designed by Intel and Lenovo. Smart Modes provide different settings that can be optimized for things like Privacy, Collaboration, Wellness and more. Smart Care is a white glove support service that lets owners of these devices get access to trained support personnel quickly (though I’d argue in an AI PC, an AI-powered digital assistant might be more appropriate.) The most intriguing of all is Smart Share, which leverages Intel’s Unison screen sharing software for easily moving photos and files back and forth between your PC and smartphone (either Android or iOS). While there are several tools for doing this, Smart Share leverages a smart touch-based sensor that immediately launches the app when you tap the side of your notebook with your phone. The effect is a bit like tossing your phone’s screen onto your laptop display, and it will be very intuitive for many users. For consumer PCs that include discrete GPUs, Lenovo also worked with Stability AI to create an app called Lenovo Creator Mode, which makes the process of converting text to images directly on the PC easy and fast.
In addition to showing off AI PCs, Lenovo’s Innovation World 2024 event also highlighted the release of some lower-cost non-Copilot+ PCs powered by AMD’s Ryzen 7000 SOCs (the IdeaPad 5) and an intriguing new prototype design of laptop with a motorized display called AutoTwist. As its name suggests, the AutoTwist AI PC has a screen that can twist around and be voice-controlled (through an AI-powered LLM). Unlike previous twistable screen designs, however, the new Lenovo offering can do the movement on its own, following the user around the room if they are, say, walking around a room during a video call.
All told, the Lenovo event presented an enormous range of new PC options that reflect an intriguing microcosm of where the PC industry finds itself at the dawn of this new AI PC era. There are undoubtedly a great deal of options to consider that cover a wide range of market segments and price points, but the wealth of choices could also become very confusing. To its credit, though, Lenovo is simply bringing to life all the different options that Microsoft and the big three chipmakers (AMD, Intel and Qualcomm) have made possible. To be fair, I expect we’ll see a potentially confusing array of options from the other big PC competitors very soon as well. The real test will be how all of these different choices fare in the real-world marketplace. Right now, it’s too early to tell, but it’s certainly going to be interesting to watch.
Here's a link to the original column: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lenovo-laptop-launches-cross-ai-pc-chip-divide-bob-o-donnell-jqxwc Bob O’Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, LLC a market research firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community. You can follow him on LinkedIn at Bob O’Donnell or on Twitter @bobodtech. |
