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8.3 / 10 Score Cnet Score CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance. Read more on: How we test Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition $2,374 at Lenovo Pros Space Frame design increases repairability
Same great X1 Carbon exterior
Still incredibly compact and light
Free OLED upgrade Cons No faster than last year's model
Battery life is shorter than last year's
The 14th generation of Lenovo's flagship business ultraportable, the X1 Carbon, looks no different than the previous iteration. But don't let its comfortingly familiar design fool you: The interior has been completely reengineered to make the laptop run more coolly and quietly, and -- more importantly -- it's easier to repair.
The X1 Carbon Gen 14 introduces Lenovo's Space Frame chassis that features a smaller motherboard and larger cooling fans, along with a modular design that makes it easier to access and then repair or replace individual components. This is good news for ThinkPad buyers who care about ROI, sustainability or both.
The laptop is based on Intel's Core Ultra 300 series processors, known as Panther Lake. If you were hoping for a big leap in performance from last year's Lunar Lake model, you'll need to keep waiting in the hopes that next year's Gen 15 delivers the goods. This year's model isn't any faster than last year's ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, and battery life is actually a few hours shorter.
Performance certainly suffices for basic office tasks, and you should be able to get through even the longest workdays on a single charge, but the reason to pick up the X1 Carbon Gen 14 is the increased repairability rather than anything resembling an increase in performance. Two other reasons for it: the X1 Carbon's traditional look remains largely unchanged, which will delight longtime ThinkPad fans; and pricing hasn't gone up (the model Lenovo sent me is actually $100 cheaper than the similar config I tested last year). That will come as a relief to any laptop buyer in this era of RAMageddon and skyrocketing prices for laptops, phones and other electronics.
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