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ThinkPads 2020 - X13 AMD - X1 Nano?
- japhyr 7y agoI was feeling pulled back towards non-mac laptops for a variety of reasons, but I think I just came up with a good strategy looking forward. If I were just doing my own dev work, I'd probably have a well-specced thinkpad running some version of linux. But I need to support people using all OSes, so I need a mac. If I need a mac, I'd like that to be my only computer, and just run windows and linux in VMs. I got a 13" MacBook pro a couple years ago, when I started needing to support mac users more consistently. I was on a budget, so I got an 8GB version. I wanted to upgrade, so last fall I bought the last new 13" I could find online that still had physical function keys, with 16GB ram. I was having trouble running VMs effectively with the 8GB system. I would love to have 32GB ram, but I don't want to go to a 15" or 16" laptop. I thought I would sell my old 8GB laptop, but I found a really good use for it. I work at home, and I have a multiple-monitor setup that's really nice to do extended development work on. I don't like to disconnect my laptop if I don't have to, but I want to work in other parts of the house sometimes. I realized I could just use the older MacBook as a thin client when I'm not doing memory-intensive work. It's been nice to be able to do more casual work in other parts of the house. That got me thinking, though - with this setup, there's no reason I need a laptop to power the desktop setup. It's been over a decade since I've owned a desktop computer, but I think I might buy a mac mini next time I upgrade, and keep the 16GB laptop as a thin client around the house, and also have a decent laptop to travel with. Any thoughts on this approach?
- speedgoose 7y agoThe Mac mini is terribly overpriced. If you are going to replace your laptop by a desktop computer, get a descent GPU. That's nice.
- oneplane 7y agoHow so? I have yet to find a cheaper system with that many Thunderbolt 3 ports. If I didn't need macOS and Thunderbolt 3 then no, the Mac Mini makes no sense at all.
- mattmoose21 7y agoYeah I would go with a Mac Pro.\s
- ericd 7y agoIt has some features that are hard to find in that form factor, like 10GbE.
- lostgame 7y agoIt’s an unfortunate and expensive approach that would unnecessary if Apple would only at least step short of soldering the SSD/RAM to the Logic Board. Years ago, we didn’t have this problem. I don’t know I’ll ever be able to buy an Apple laptop again at this point. I refuse to pay $1200+ for something I can’t upgrade a year or two later.
- appleiigs 7y agoNot sure on your exact requirements, but I did the opposite. High end desktop, dual boots to PC and Linux. Then got the cheapest macbook air. Reduced the apple tax this way. Got tons of performance for cheap, check out latest AMD CPUs.
- japhyr 7y agoThat is a great idea! I've been wanting to go back to Linux as my main OS for a long time, but I was in a Windows world when I was teaching and then I had to have a mac. Thanks!
- ericd 7y agoI do something like this - Macs as thin clients mostly used to SSH into a Threadripper workstation running Ubuntu. Add tmux with automatic attaching upon login via ssh to make your ssh sessions persistent. Add port forwarding to your router and a cronjob to your workstation to periodically ping a dynamic dns provider (entrydns works well), and you can ssh into your workstation from anywhere you have internet access. It works really well, and means you never have to futz around with things like homebrew.
- shmoogy 7y agoI use iPad as my thin client, LTE, better battery life, Blink terminal is great. Bought a 16 inch 2019 MacBook and forgot how annoying it is running things locally (weight and heat).
- fiji-flo 7y agoMost likely some of the new ThinkPad models for 2020. Hopefully to be announced next week during some MWC replacement event. Let's stay tuned.
- Antoninus 7y agoPossibly the latest iteration of their portable desktop. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops-and-all-in-ones/thinkcentre/m-series-tiny/ThinkCentre-M90n-1/p/11TC1MNM93N https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops-and-all-in-ones/thinkc... https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-unveils-new-intelligent-devices-solutions-enterprise/ https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/lenovo-unve...
- agumonkey 7y agoAlso, maybe small ryzen can be used to retrofit older thinkpads :)
- jrepinc 7y agoCan't wait to see those AMD ThinkPads and I sure hope they also have AMD graphics.
- gfiorav 7y agoLooking at the already available AMD Thinkpad, the price cut comes at a cost: No thunderbolt
- nextos 7y agoThe T495s is already AMD and quite good and cheap.
- zelly 7y agoI use this. I like it. Upgraded the SSD and added the motherboard max of 32G RAM. If you are using Linux on a laptop, you have a choice between dealing with NVIDIA's proprietary garbage or bad integrated graphics. AMD GPU on a laptop is a godsend.
- kvark 7y agoHeh, I was hoping for the same, but in reality I get sleep issues quite often, subpar battery life, and overall unpolished experience... on AMD with Ubuntu.
- newnewpdro 7y agoDon't get my hopes up for a return of the X40/X60 form factor
- dman 7y agoI thought I was the only one pining for that!
- voidmain0001 7y agoAnd I thought everyone wanted 4:3 except for the Macbook users...
- newnewpdro 7y agoNo way, 51nb wouldn't have done the X62 if we were alone.
- calvinmorrison 7y agoGot my SO a E485 AMD ThinkPad for Christmas. It's slick! Battery life seems fine, but the big kickers is not having Intel's onboard graphics, which just can't keep up. My SO does casual gaming and the AMD graphics seem to be right in the sweet spot for performance and their needs
- 6d6b73 7y agoHopefully they will have some Thinkpads with regular docking station not this ridiculous cable based solution everyone is trying to push now.
- shmerl 7y agoThey should just have more than one USB-C / USB4 port. Having just one is ridiculous.
- eropple 7y agoUSB-C is USB3, not USB4. And every X-series Thinkpad has at least two, as far as I know.
- shmerl 7y agoIn the future USB4 will replace USB-C, so I wrote about both current and future cases. My E495 has only one and it's rather annoying (since it's also used for charging).
- eropple 7y agoThat’s kind of what you get with E and L models though. They’re bargain models. T and X models provide more ports as part of the value prop. I’ve seen a few power pass-through docks, though. Might be worth looking into if you haven’t already.
- shmerl 7y agoYes, I'm using such hub, since it's the only way to connect external monitors through DisplayPort when you only have one USB-C available. https://www.cablematters.com/pc-899-126-usb-c-multiport-adapter-with-8k-displayport-2x-usb-20-fast-ethernet-and-power-delivery.aspx https://www.cablematters.com/pc-899-126-usb-c-multiport-adap...
- numpad0 7y ago
- lostgame 7y agoThinkPads make better MacBook Pros than Apple-official products - by far and large. I’ve got a 2017 MacBook Pro and a 2016 Lenovo ThinkPad and the ThinkPad runs circles around it. It’s also literally a hybrid drawing tablet laptop running MacOS - so unimaginably useful as a creative - and something Apple doesn’t offer, unless you want half-baked iOS software (no Illustrator, no Animate, no Blender) on an iPad Pro. Even if it wasn’t for that awful keyboard (went to the Apple Store, tried the 16” keyboard, still not impressed) - there’s a ton of other factors. (Not to mention the ThinkPad keyboard is so tried and true my 2016’s keyboard is nearly identical to my 1996 ThinkPad...) From the awesome amount of ports, tablet/ink support (if your ThinkPad has it), great battery life, native updates (I‘ve not had an issue with .x updates on Mojave or Sierra/High Sierra), and about half the price for the equivalent specs, it’s, IMHO, the literal best of both worlds. Even the build quality of ThinkPad laptops is lovely. I’ve never had a single issue with MacOS not running as well or significantly better than the equivalent Apple hardware, with the exception of SSD write speeds. EDIT: Forgot to mention the #1 benefit - replaceable HDD/SSD and upgradable RAM. I will not, on principle, buy a computer whose hard drive I cannot remove with a basic computing toolkit. And I will also not, on principle, buy a computer that cannot be internally upgraded. The environmental impact alone is preposterous. So what if you make your computers out of aluminum instead of plastic if you design them to have no future? I think, specifically, of the ludicrously-limited 128GB SSD models of the 2016/2017 MacBook/Pro. Using that, for basic development - (it was sadly what we were given at the startup I was working at during the time) - was useless, by the time I put Unity and XCode on it, and started making builds, I daily saw the ‘your hard disk is almost full’ message - and what is there to do about that, except get a whole brand new computer?
- asveikau 7y ago> Forgot to mention the #1 benefit - replaceable HDD/SSD and upgradable RAM. Need to capture this rant here about part selection. My x1 carbon 6th gen shipped with a crappy SSD which showed random errors in dmesg and would occasionally cause the machine to reboot randomly. Then a few weeks ago after about a year of use it totally died. I googled the model number of the drive and found I was not the only one to experience that. Seems like Lenovo was not adequately testing that part for its impact on overall machine stability. OTOH I was pleasantly surprised that it was replaceable, even though this is the "ultrathin" model meant to compete against Apple's soldered-in components. Replaced with a third party m.2 SSD and now the system works smoother than it ever has.
- macawfish 7y agoIf this is a 2-in-1 laptop I'm there in a flash.
- macawfish 7y agoSadly, the 2-in1 version only has Intel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- lordleft 7y agoI love thinkpads but I wish one came with a decent mobile gaming gpu. I guess that's not at all the audience the thinkpads are for though.
- JoachimSchipper 7y agoThe Thinkpad X1 Extreme comes with a NVIDIA GTX1650, which isn't bad. The X1 Extreme isn't exactly a budget model, of course... (Lenovo also sells Legion laptops, which are more gaming machines. But not Thinkpads.)
- aortega 7y agoI have this on my P52 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GP107GLM [Quadro P2000 Mobile] It's enough for most games. However buying a thinkpad for gaming is like buying a Tank to do groceries.
- lordleft 7y agoI know, and I guess if I'm mobile would I be doing heavy gaming anyway? I'd probably just play roguelikes and magic arena
- aortega 7y agoYeah, workstations for work, playstations for play :)
- blaser-waffle 7y ago+1 I did some decent Linux gaming on my T450 -- moderate settings and framerates -- but ultimately they're work laptops.
- panpanna 7y agoAnything is possible if you are desperate enough :) I played (and finished) the first Witcher game on a x201.
- thinkpaddman 7y agoOne of the DIMMs is soldered to the board on the latest T series. I give it a generation or two before RAM is completely un-upgradable.
- numpad0 7y agoX13? XTRA line started from X20/T20/A20m/R30. Before that was 3 digit like 600E or iSeries 4 digit like i1420. Doesn’t look like there’s so much room in that number scheme.
- dm319 7y agoI know lots of people here need mac hardware, but it always surprises me just how many fans of macs and macosx are here. For me Thinkpads combined with linux is a great computing experience. I love the unification of package updates and installation and being able to pick from several mature desktop environments to suit your style of working. Thinkpads are pretty tough laptops - they don't have quite the fit and finish of macbooks, but they more than make for this in durability, usability and modularity.