Lenovo’s 30th Anniversary ThinkPad: Hands On With the X1 Carbon Special Edition

The ThinkPad name is virtually synonymous with business laptops, and to celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary, Lenovo sent a special edition of the X1 Carbon laptop our way.

We delivered glowing five-star praise to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 earlier this year, and although it’s not the X1 Carbon’s anniversary in particular, there’s no better representative for the ThinkPad brand in 2022. Only 5,000 units of this special edition have been made.

Given that the flourishes for this anniversary edition are chiefly physical and aesthetic, we thought it best to unbox the system on camera and take a closer look at the changes. You can watch our experience in the video below, and read a rundown if you keep scrolling.

Lenovo’s 30th Anniversary ThinkPad: Hands On With the X1 Carbon Special Edition

Happy Birthday, ThinkPad!

As some quick math would indicate, IBM released the first ThinkPad laptop in 1992, and produced the product line until IBM’s PC division was sold to Lenovo in 2005. The laptops have obviously come a long way in that time, bringing us to (among many other ThinkPad models) the super-sleek ThinkPad X1 Carbon. There are cheaper, larger, and faster ThinkPads today, but as our five-star review indicates, it is one of the pinnacle among premium products in Lenovo’s stable.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

That brings us to this 30th Anniversary Edition. It shares the same chassis design as the Gen 10, so head over to that review for full in-depth thoughts on the design and quality. Needless to say, it’s a very well-made laptop, and especially portable at 14 inches. Traveling business users will appreciate the size, as well as the slim 0.6-inch thickness and 2.4-pound weight.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

The fun lies with a handful of aesthetic additions and special touches, though we will say up front, they are on the subtle side. That may be preferable for business users and ThinkPad fans; over-the-top visual flourishes aren’t exactly in keeping with the design. This starts with the bamboo-and-sugarcane compostable box and its 30th anniversary wrapper, and continues with a slew of materials inside.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

As far as the documentation goes, the most interesting is a little pamphlet that outlines the ThinkPad’s history. There’s also a few stickers, a couple more documents, and some swappable TrackPoint heads on the right side. These are red, green, and blue, which are the retro branding colors used on old ThinkPads and, also, a theme on this device.

The first thing you’ll notice on the laptop itself is the lid branding, matching these three colors as a throwback to the old branding. Otherwise, it’s the same nice carbon fiber lid we’re used to, and it doesn’t go overboard in making the device look distinct.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

If you open up the laptop, you’ll find the same retro-colorized ThinkPad logo on the palm rest right away, but you may have to look closer for other flair. One is the 30th Anniversary tag on the lower left corner of the keyboard, just some red and white text in keeping with the Lenovo branding, but it adds an appealing stamp of legitimacy.

With the limited number of these units produced, Lenovo made the choice to mark each edition with a serial number, denoting which model out of 5,000 units you possess. This may be the coolest touch for these limited edition laptops, letting you feel like you have a piece of the history. Sure, only the hardcore or longtime ThinkPad user will be excited by that, but that is who the product is for.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Finally, there’s the eraser-head TrackPoint, which I mentioned earlier. By default, the traditional red pointing nub is in place on the laptop, but it’s very easy to swap the other colors in. You can just pinch and pull off the red nub, and press a replacement color down in its place. You only need to be mindful of the square-shaped slot on the button of the TrackPoint cap that lines up with the peg in the keyboard, which is how it stays in place.

But What’s Inside?

One would, presumably, also be using this as a real laptop for work, so let’s take a peek inside. We won’t go long here, as the options are virtually the same as the standard X1 Carbon, but it’s worth a look. Given it’s one model, and not configurable like most ThinkPads, that job is easy.

The laptop packs an Intel 12th Generation Core i7-1270P processor, 32GB of memory, and a 1TB solid-state drive. The 14-inch display is a 16:10 4K equivalent, meaning a 3,840-by-2,400-pixel resolution.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Connectivity includes two USB-C connections with Thunderbolt 4 support, two USB-A ports, an HDMI connection, a headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2. The camera is full HD with IR and a privacy slider.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

If you want to grab one of these units, you’ll have to act quickly given the limited run. More than likely, you may just want to appreciate it from afar, so be sure to take a closer look at the video.