My beloved, daily driver laptop is a ThinkPad X1 Carbon that I bought all the way back in 2018. That’s the PC I take with me into the Tom’s Hardware office and use when I’m on trips or, at home, when I’m away from my home office and working from the couch.
I love the Carbon for its light weight, world-class keyboard, wide selection of ports, accurate pointing stick (gotta have my nub) and bright screen. However, the Core i7-8650U CPU and 16GB of RAM in my system just aren’t powerful enough for me anymore and, after six years of constant use, my battery is wearing out too. I’m on the hunt for a new laptop and I would really like another X1 Carbon.
Enter the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 12). It’s actually a little lighter than my unit (2.42 pounds vs 2.5 pounds), it sports an Intel “Meteor Lake” Core Ultra processor that is above five generations ahead of mine and it’s available with up to 64GB of RAM, which is the amount of memory I want. A new X1 Carbon “Aurora” edition is due out next month with Intel’s new Lunar Lake processor, I won’t buy Lunar Lake because it’s limited to only 32GB of RAM. I need all that RAM for running virtual machines.
To get the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with 64GB of RAM, you must use Lenovo’s “Build Your PC” option, which allows you to choose the CPU, RAM, SSD, screen and OS for your new X1 Carbon. Last week when I checked, the lowest 64GB configuration would cost more than $3,000. Today, it’s just $1,772! But you have to make a few compromises and do some aftermarket upgrades to get it at that price.
To get the X1 Carbon with 64GB of RAM for $1,772, you have to choose the top-level, Core Ultra 7 165U CPU, which is required for the 64GB RAM option. Pick that processor and RAM, change to the base-level, non-touch screen, stick with a 256GB SSD and change the OS from Windows 11 to Linux Ubuntu or Linux Fedora. Your total will be $1,772.65. That’s what I would buy today if I could shake the money out of my piggy bank today. I’m going to start shaking.
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking “$1772 for a laptop that has a 256GB SSD and doesn’t have Windows? Are you nuts?” Well, if you configure with more reasonable specs: Windows 11 Home and a 1TB SSD, it will cost you a still-reasonable $2,128. But I’d rather save money and do an aftermarket upgrade.
Fortunately, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a standard, 2280 size M.2 SSD that you can upgrade by removing the back panel. So, instead of spending an extra $250 to go from 256GB to 1TB at Lenovo, I’ll get a 1TB WD Black SN850X for just $74 and install it myself or I’ll double my storage and buy a 2TB config for $139.Then, I’ll get a Windows 11 Pro key for $12 and install the OS myself.
If you don’t need 64GB, consider getting one of the X1 Carbon SKUs that are on sale and come pre-configured. I recommend the configuration that comes with a Core Ultra 7 155U CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1920 x 1200 touch screen for $1,595.
Whether you demand 64GB of RAM like I do or can settle for 32GB, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 12) is a great laptop. I had the chance to review the X1 Carbon earlier this year and was blown away by its snappy keyboard, powerful performance and sharp webcam. The battery life was a solid 9 hours, but our review unit had a 2880 x 1800 OLED screen operating at 120 Hz and the config I would buy has a 1920 x 1200, 60 Hz panel so I would probably pick up an extra few hours saving on screen power alone.
The X1 Carbon is super-slim at just 0.59 inches thick, but it still has room for two USB Type-A ports, two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports and a full-size HDMI port. So, whether you need to use a Thunderbolt dock or pop in one of the best USB Flash drives, you don’t need a dongle.
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