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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 features a redesigned, double-sided motherboard called a Space Frame.
- It’s a significant commitment to a repairable design on a flagship product.
- Users can replace individual parts instead of buying a whole new laptop.
Repairability is a key theme at CES 2026. From removable keyboards to easy-to-access memory, manufacturers are finally catching on to consumers’ desire to increase product lifespans and push back against all-or-nothing purchase cycles.
Most laptop manufacturers are making incremental commitments to user-repairable elements, and that’s great, but Lenovo went ahead and redesigned one of its flagship laptops’ internal structure.
Also: CES 2026 live blog: Latest news on TVs, AI, phones, more
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition features a new “Space Frame” — a double-sided motherboard that includes hardware components on both sides of the motherboard. For one, it packs more components into a smaller space, but it also enables replacement of those parts, including USB ports, the battery, keyboard, speakers, and fans.
Cracking open the laptop (which is easily done with standard tools) reveals easy access to all of its major components for faster, simpler repairs either by the end-user or an IT team, earning it a score of 9 out of 10 from iFixit
It’s a seemingly simple design that doesn’t really affect the laptop’s form factor. In fact, there aren’t any physical indications of the internal redesign on the outside. You’ve still got the tried-and-true ThinkPad aesthetic here, with the TrackPoint, black matte keyboard, and premium haptic trackpad.
Also: The 5 most exciting laptops Lenovo announced at CES 2026 – including a twistable
It’s a formidable laptop in its own right, as well. Refreshed with Intel’s latest Core Ultra X7 Series 3 “Panther Lake” processors with integrated Intel Arc graphics, it’s paired with up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM at 9600MT/s, a powerful loadout designed for demanding workloads.
CES 2026 also saw OLED displays across the board, and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is no exception. You’ve got a 2.8K OLED at 500 nits of brightness for a premium user experience.
The Intel Core Ultra X7 Series 3 processors feature Intel’s 12Xe graphics for improved energy efficiency, including an increased 30W of sustained power that, when paired with the 9600 MHz memory, is set to demolish demanding workloads.
Lenovo unveiled a host of ambitious proof-of-concept products at CES, but the 14th-generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon is both a fully-realized innovation and a rather subtle change to a product that’s already highly optimized. When it comes to repairability, I hope it’s the first of many more such designs.
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