Lenovo is a leader in the manufacturing of notebooks and its ThinkBook laptops are of top-notch quality in the market. The manufacturer is now updating its 14-inch and 16-inch ThinkBook business laptops and is also improving its graphics section. The press release from Lenovo at CES 2021 did not specifically mention the processor upgrade we assume that the new updated model will feature the new Ryzen 5000H mobile APUs from AMD.
ThinkBook 14p
ThinkBook 14p
The new Gen 2 ThinkBook 14p and 16p models are primarily designed for business individuals. It is providing a large touchpad and comfortable ambient light sensing backlit keyboards. Users also get an AI-based noise cancellation algorithm plus three distinct audio presets. The audio preset includes Private mode for personal conferencing, Shared mode for group calls, and Environmental mode for sound sharing across multiple devices. The device is truly built for business conferencing.
ThinkBook 16p
ThinkBook 16p
Standard specs featured on both versions include:
Anodized aluminum dual-tone top cover + Mylar bottom cover
Up to 32 GB of DDR4 RAM
Up to 1 TB PCIe NVMe SSD storage
HD IR or FHD RGB webcam with ThinkShutter
Dual array mics
Smart Power Button with fingerprint reader
180-degree durable hinge
Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0
Port selection: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, combo audio jack, microSD card reader (full size on the 16p)
To differentiate between the specs of both the products the first thing is their screen size. The 14-inch model does not come with discrete graphics whereas the 16-inch variant is equipped with Nvidia RTX 3000 GPU. Battery capacity on the 14-inch model is limited to 61 Wh but the battery capacity is slightly higher at 70 Wh for the 16-inch ThinkBook. Both versions will start shipping this quarter. Prices for the 14p model start at $849, while the 16p model will be available for $1,299 and up.
AMD has taken their game to the next level and has challenged Intel on all fronts and even winning in some areas. Everyone was expecting AMD to launch their highly anticipated processors at CES 2021 and they haven’t disappointed anyone.
Ryzen Threadripper PRO Processors offer an unmatched feature set to workstation customers with up to 64 cores, 8 channels of memory, RDIMM and LRDIMM support, 128 PCIe® Gen 4 lanes, and AMD PRO security technologies.
Product Specification: AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO
Model
Cores/ Threads
Boost/Base Frequency (GHz)
Total Cache (MB)
TDP (Watts)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX
64C/128T
Up to 4.2 / 2.7 GHz
288
280
AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX
32C/64T
Up to 4.2 / 3.5 GHz
144
280
AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3955WX
16C/32T
Up to 4.3 / 3.9 GHz
72
280
AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO Processors will now be directly available to consumers through participating global retailers, e-tailers and system integrators with on-shelf availability expected in March 2021.
Electric vehicles are seeing unprecedented growth in the market and the demand for smart autonomous EVs is increasing as the high-end technologies grow rapidly in the market. As such many of the tech giants of the automobile industry are gearing up to release their products in the market.
GM, a leader in EV development stated that Chevy Bolt, its famous lineup of EV will receive two new versions in February 2021. The company released a new teaser which highlights new features coming to the new electric vehicles.
The first model of GM’s Chevy Bolt was first released in 2017, as well as a Bolt Electric Utility Vehicle, or EUV. The interesting thing is that the teaser was released at the same time as the keynote speech of the company’s CEO Mary Barra at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show.
The company’s new and refreshed Bolt EUV will have a longer wheelbase than the regular Bolt and is much taller than the regular Bolt. The most important feature will be the inclusion of Super Cruise, GM’s “hands-free” advanced driver-assist system.
First debuted in 2017, Super Cruise drew immediate comparisons to Tesla’s Autopilot system. The technology uses cameras, radar, and LIDAR mapping data, which is combined with a robust driver monitoring system.
Drivers can take their feet off the pedals and hands off the steering wheel, and the car generally drives itself on divided highways. The feature received quite a stare when it was initially launched but has now become one of the most sought after features in EVs.
According to reports, both the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV will be built on GM’s BEV2 platform, which is distinct from the new “Ultium” battery pack announced in early 2020. The production of the new EVs has to be delayed as the company is currently facing a lawsuit alleging that Chevy Bolt’s battery is prone to burst into flames.
AMD has taken their game to the next level and has challenged Intel on all fronts and even winning in some areas. Everyone was expecting AMD to launch their highly anticipated processors at CES 2021 and they haven’t disappointed anyone.
AMD has announced reduced-TDP alternatives to the award-winning AMD Ryzen™ 9 5900X and AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800X desktop processors, coming to pre-built OEM systems only.
Powered by the new “Zen 3” core architecture and with a lower 65W TDP, the Ryzen 9 5900 desktop processor offers an average of 24% faster 1080p gaming across select titles compared to the prior generation.
Product specification:
Model
Cores/Threads
Boost5/Base6 Frequency (GHz)
Cache (MB)
TDP (Watts)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900
12C/24T
Up to 4.7 / 3.0 GHz
70
65
AMD Ryzen 7 5800
8C/16T
Up to 4.6 / 3.4 GHz
36
65
It would have been great if AMD had made them available for all the people via retailers.
It’s official, AMD has launched the world’s first overclockable Ryzen 5000HX mobile processors based on its new Zen 3 architecture. This brings extraordinary mobile gaming performance to laptops with higher single-core boost and the support to overclock it as well.
Essentially the new mobile gaming processors from AMD are fantastic as they all feature the new Zen 3 cores at the heart and come with blazing fast clock speeds. It will be interesting to see if these new mobile processors will be able to boost at sustained high clock speeds across all cores like their desktop counterparts.
AMD has indeed expanded its gaming processor lineup and announced a lot of them:
Model
Cores/Threads
Boost/BaseFrequency (GHz)
Cache (MB)
TDP (Watts)
Architecture
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX
8C/16T
Up to 4.8 / 3.3 GHz
20
45+
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS
8C/16T
Up to 4.8 / 3.0 GHz
20
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
8C/16T
Up to 4.6 / 3.3 GHz
20
45+
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
8C/16T
Up to 4.6 / 3.0 GHz
20
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
8C/16T
Up to 4.4 / 3.2 GHz
20
45
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS
8C/16T
Up to 4.4 / 2.8 GHz
20
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 5 5600H
6C/12T
Up to 4.2 / 3.3 GHz
19
45
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 5 5600HS
6C/12T
Up to 4.2 / 3.0 GHz
19
35
“Zen 3”
Topping out the mobile processor offering, the HX Series processors provide gamers and creators with elite-level performance while HS processors bring the power of H-Series in thinner and lighter form factors.
As leaked previously, AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX will be the flagship out of the lot featuring 8 cores and 16 threads, with a 3.3 GHz base clock and up to 4.8 GHz boost frequencies. It is the first time AMD has reached such high clock speeds and being unlocked you can further push the processor.
AMD has also showcased the performance of its flagship Ryzen 9 5980HX against Core i9-10980HK and its mind-blowing. The graphs show Intel is nowhere near the absolute best single-core and multi-core performance which AMD is offering.
Interestingly there is no Ryzen 9 5900H, but we have a couple of Ryzen 9’s this time in the form of Ryzen 9 5980HS, Ryzen 9 5900HX and AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS.
Talking more about the Ryzen 9 5980HS, AMD has promised single-threaded and multi-threaded performance out of it. AMD has even compared the 35W TDP chip to Intel’s top-of-the-line CPUs like Core i9-10980HK and the new AMD CPU comfortably beats it drawing less power.
Its good to see AMD has kept both AMD Ryzen 7 5800H & HS and AMD Ryzen 5 5600H & HS processors which also have Zen 3 cores that gives significant improvements over last-gen.
The world’s top notebook OEMs, including Asus, HP, and Lenovo, will all bring AMD Ryzen 5000 systems to market starting in February, with more than 150 systems expected to launch this year. Announcements have already started of these laptops do keep an eye here to get to know all of them!
At the year’s biggest IT event, Lenovo has unveiled its latest entry in the Legion series of products. The company’s new Legion 5 will have the same subdued design from its last year’s models. as far as gaming laptops go, Lenovo’s Legion series products are by far the most decent looking laptops in the segment. You don’t get the feeling of carrying some futuristic robot controller suitcase in your hand.
The manufacturer has not yet released the processor model nor the graphics card variant for its new gaming laptop. But the timing is pretty conspicuous and we expect the company to go with AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 mobility series as well as Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30 GPUs. The expected combinations of up to 32 GB DDR4-3200 RAM, 2×2 WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.1 are expected to be present in the new laptop.
according to sources, the display has a higher refresh rate at 165 Hz and a sub-3ms advertised response time with 120 Hz and 60 Hz options as cheaper alternatives with lower potential battery impact. But if you are looking for a decent gaming experience along with optimum performance then the 120 Hz display option is a better choice. The flagship panel on each model has a 100% sRGB rating and is Dolby Vision compatible. The ports include:
2 x USB-C with Display Port 1.4
power delivery
4 x USB3
1 x HDMI 2.1
1 x RJ45 Ethernet
power, and an electronic shutter button.
The Lenovo Legion 5 15 and 17 launches in March 2021, starting at an MSRP of US$770.
Besides iPhones, another device is there on which Apple is improving year after year, yes you’re thinking right, the Apple iPad Pro, probably the best tablet series in the world. Apple had launched the last model of iPad Pro in the first half of 2020. So, it is almost one year has passed and as per a recent announcement from Apple, the company is going to launch a newer model of its iPad Pro in the first half of 2021. Apart from its official announcement, the design of the upcoming iPad Pro 2021 has now leaked via 3D CAD renders. So, let’s see how this time the iPad Pro will get updated with new hardware and design setup.
Unfortunately, the 3D CAD renders of the iPad Pro 2021 have revealed nothing of its specifications but the display. As per the leaks, this device is said to offer a 12.9-inch display. The renders are saying that the upcoming iPad Pro 2021 will arrive with a similar design to what we’ve seen in its predecessor, the same squared-off edges, and a dual-camera setup along with a LiDAR sensor accompanied by an LED flash.
As per the ports and buttons, this Apple device will include the power-key and dual-speaker grille on the top side whereas it will consist of another dual-speaker speaker grille and USB Type-C port at the bottom. On the right side, you’ll find the volume rockers along with a magnetic connector to charge Apple Pencil. Additionally, it is said to house Smart Connector pins for keyboard accessories on the rear panel, apart from its camera setup. This device is expected to be powered by the 5nm based A14 Bionic chipset and the iPad Pro 2021 could be the first in the series to feature a mini-LED panel. That’s all we can speculate for now. We’ll definitely keep you posted further on the basis of the upcoming reports from Apple regarding the device.
At today’s RTX Game On event NVIDIA has announced its latest RTX 30 Series laptop GPUs that will be powering next-gen gaming laptops. Also, it has announced its new 3rd Gen Max-Q Tech which is said to bring a lot of new features that help these new laptop graphics cards to deliver impressive gaming performance.
This helps the new GeForce® RTX™ 30 Series Laptop GPUs, which will be available from later this month, an increase in energy efficiency by up to 2x. On the performance front, even the entry-level RTX 3060 mobile GPU is more powerful than the last-gen RTX 2080 SUPER.
The third generation of Max-Q technologies uses AI and new system optimizations to make high-performance gaming laptops faster and better than ever. These include:
Dynamic Boost 2.0: Traditionally, gaming laptops set the power for the CPU and GPU. Yet, games and creative apps are dynamic, and demands on the system change from frame to frame. With Dynamic Boost 2.0, AI networks balance the power between the CPU, GPU and now, GPU memory, depending on where it is needed the most — constantly optimizing for maximum performance.
WhisperMode 2.0: Delivering a new level of acoustic control for gaming laptops, WhisperMode has been reengineered from the ground up and is custom built into each laptop. Once the desired acoustics are selected, WhisperMode 2.0’s AI-powered algorithms manage the CPU, GPU, system temperatures, and fan speeds to deliver great acoustics at the best possible performance.
Resizable BAR: This advanced PCI Express technology enables all of the GPU memory to be accessed by the CPU at once, providing a performance boost in many games.
NVIDIA DLSS: NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling uses AI and RTX Tensor Cores to deliver up to 2x the performance at the same power. For a single 1440 frame, a GPU needs to calculate almost 4 million pixels. NVIDIA DLSS requires only a fraction of the pixels, which improves efficiency and increases performance.
Talking about professional work, many people will benefit from NVIDIA’s new laptop GPUs with 3rd Gen Max-Q technology. With the help of the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, rendering on Studio laptops is now up to twice as fast as the previous generation and up to 30x faster than CPU.
Video editors can work with 8K RAW footage; use AI to simplify workflows, and reduce encode times by up to 75%. Artists can take advantage of up to 16GB of graphics memory to simultaneously work with huge assets or multiple apps.
Using new third-generation Max-Q technologies, OEM partners ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and Razer are launching new NVIDIA Studio laptops with the new GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs. We will discuss more these new laptops and the new Resizable BAR support from NVIDIA as well.
AMD has finally announced their much anticipated Ryzen 5000 series mobile APUs including both U-series and H series processors. This generation brings key improvements to single-core performance with higher cache and a notable increase in clock speeds.
“As the PC becomes an even more essential part of how we work, play and connect, users demand more performance, security, and connectivity,” said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, Client business unit, AMD. “The new AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop and Mobile Processors bring the best innovation AMD has to offer to consumers and professionals as we continue our commitment to delivering best-in-class experiences with instant responsiveness, incredible battery life, and fantastic designs. With our PC partners, we are delivering top-quality performance and no-compromise solutions alongside our record-breaking growth in the notebook and desktop space in the previous year.”
The new AMD Ryzen 5000 H-Series Mobile Processors deliver impressive gaming experiences by combining unmatched performance with outstanding battery life, featuring up to 8 cores and 16 threads, and built on the new AMD “Zen 3” architecture.
Whereas the AMD Ryzen 5000 U-Series Mobile Processors offer the perfect blend of performance and efficiency consuming just 15W TDP. The new AMD Ryzen 7 5800U processor offers:
Up to 16% more single-threaded performance and up to 14% faster-multithreaded performance over the previous generation
Up to an incredible 17.5 hours of general usage battery life and up to 21 hours of movie playback on a single charge
Here’s the AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors lineup:
Model
Cores/Threads
Boost/Base Frequency (GHz)
Cache (MB)
TDP (Watts)
Architecture
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX
8C/16T
Up to 4.8 / 3.3 GHz
20
45+
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS
8C/16T
Up to 4.8 / 3.0 GHz
20
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
8C/16T
Up to 4.6 / 3.3 GHz
20
45+
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
8C/16T
Up to 4.6 / 3.0 GHz
20
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
8C/16T
Up to 4.4 / 3.2 GHz
20
45
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS
8C/16T
Up to 4.4 / 2.8 GHz
20
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 5 5600H
6C/12T
Up to 4.2 / 3.3 GHz
19
45
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 5 5600HS
6C/12T
Up to 4.2 / 3.0 GHz
19
35
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 7 5800U
8C/16T
Up to 4.4 / 1.9 GHz
20
15
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 7 5700U
8C/16T
Up to 4.3 /1.8 GHz
12
15
“Zen 2”
AMD Ryzen 5 5600U
6C/12T
Up to 4.2 / 2.3 GHz
19
15
“Zen 3”
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
6C/12T
Up to 4.0 / 2.1G Hz
11
15
“Zen 2”
AMD Ryzen 3 5300U
4C/8T
Up to 3.8 / 2.6 GHz
6
15
“Zen 2”
As you see, AMD has kept the momentum going and brought a wide range of Ryzen 5000 series mobile APUs. From the entry-level AMD Ryzen 3 5300U to the flagship AMD Ryzen 7 5800U, you are still getting 8 cores and 16 threads in a 15W TDP and clock speeds up to 4.4GHz on thin and light laptops.
AMD has promised more battery life with the optimizations done with the Ryzen 5000 series APUs. The company has even announced that in the first half of 2021, the Ryzen™ PRO 5000 Series Mobile Processors will provide new levels of productivity and collaboration along with seamless manageability to meet the ever-shifting demands of modern work environments.
Essentially AMD has mixed things up for their upcoming lineup and uses both of their Zen 2 and Zen 3 architectures as the leaks suggested. So, these Renoir refresh APUs have been called Lucienne APUs with Zen 2 cores, and the APUs like Ryzen 3 5300U, Ryzen 5 5500U, and Ryzen 7 5700U will be a refresh over last-gen.
The Ryzen PRO 5000 Series Mobile Processors will also offer enterprise-level security features with innovative layers of defense at the silicon, OS, and platform levels, giving IT teams confidence their PCs have protection, no matter where their workforce is stationed.
You can expect announcements from OEMs and laptop makers in the next few days and in the coming months when these new AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors get to the action!
Lenovo is rapidly adapting to the Tiger Lake platform and as such the company is improving its products for the new year with the new technology. Its second-generation hybrid display ThinkBook Plus laptops have been updated with the configurations to meet the requirements of Intel’s 11th gen Tiger Lake processors.
Key design improvements include:
the e-Ink display size has been increased from 48% screen-to-body ratio to 68%. Which offers a larger 12-inch usable area. The main display has thinner bezels and an increased screen-to-body ratio from 78% to 90%. The resolution of both the e-Ink and the 13.3-inch IPS touch screens has also been increased to 2560 x 1600 (16:10 aspect ratio).
The better refresh rate for the e-Ink display brings along with it better and improved performance. A new and redesigned User Interface provides more intuitive access to most used information, with flexible options to run productivity apps without having to access the main display.
Chassis are now thinner (13.9 mm / 0.54 inches) and total weight has been reduced to 1.3 Kg / 2.86 lbs, technically making these models compatible with the Intel EVO standards for ultrabooks.
In terms of specifications the ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i laptops has the following features:
up to i7 Tiger Lake processor
Iris Xe iGPU
16 GB of LPDDR4x RAM
1 TB NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage
13.3-inch main display
400 nits peak luminance
HDR compatible with Dolby Vision
The device comes with useful port selections which include 2x Thunderbolt 4 connectors and a combo audio jack, and the battery capacity was upped to 53 Wh.
Other features:
2x 2 W Harman Kardon speakers compatible with the Dolby Atmos
Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.0
ThinkBook Charging Mat featuring Energysquare’s Power by Contact technology
Lenovo will start shipping the ThinkBook Plus Gen 2 i models this quarter starting at $1,549.
