ThinkPad X1 Carbon

M1 non-Pro could only support one external screen through TB, and I think it carried on through at least M2 Air. It would also frequently get my Dell screen into a weird hung state after suspending and attempting to reconnect, frequently requiring a power cycle of the screen (not even connecting a Linux laptop back to it got it fixed). [...] Linux, however, has worked great ever since I got the USB-C DP Alt-mode screen back around 8 years ago with my Thinkpad X1 Carbons over the years. [...] Linux did have issues with using different scaling factors on multiple connected screens, but I only ever used one monitor so it never bothered me. On top of that, it still does support subpixel rendering, and you can even tune pixel layout (RGB, BGR...) for VA and OLED panels, so text never looks crappy or janky as it can on Macs with low DPI screens (eg. large 4k screens of 40"+, but noticeable even on 32" 4k).

I also own a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen11. It's the most expensive laptop I've every owned. [...] Annoyingly but unimportantly, the paint started peeling off in year 1. That's not covered by warranty, according to Lenovo. The battery dropped to 80% in a year. Apparently that's not a warranty issue either. It now throttles all the time. That's almost certainly due to overheating, possibly because of some fan issue, possibly because the interior of the fan is clogged - but I can't figure out how to get to it to clean it as it looks to require heat sink removal. It does have an absolutely gorgeous 4K OLED screen. Pity the keys rub against it when the lid is closed, leaving a keyboard pattern of scratches in that lovely screen. [...] The only way I can get it to work is to boot with X using an X display manager, but then flip to Wayland. [...] And while it does work well for Linux, Lenovo refuses to honour the 5 year warranty unless you boot Windows. [...] They were expensive, but they were MacBook'est in quality. That's why I got the X1, but it seems Lenovo bought the name, only.

You had a framework that broke in 3 years. I had a MacBook Pro 15” 2016 with a defective keyboard design that had repeating keystrokes within a year, which wasn’t corrected on the design of the machines until 4 years later. [...] I never claimed that you can find hardware that is 100% as good as MacBooks, I’m only claiming that the extra XX% better hardware polish/quality/battery life you get with a Mac is not really worth giving up expandable storage and easy Linux compatibility in the context of someone who was going to install Asahi Linux instead of macOS. [...] ThinkPad X1 Carbon, some higher end ASUS Zenbook systems I’ve played with, even some of the thin and light gaming-oriented systems out there are really nice quality as the space is very competitive. If the only major compromises are battery life (solved by a $50 spare battery or a wall outlet at the coffee shop) or how much my laptop feels like a luxury indulgence like a fashionable handbag, I’m personally fine with that.

I'm running a Lenovo Thinkpad, X1 Carbon from a year or so ago and it is, by far, the best Linux Laptop I've ever owned. Unlike the 4 or so Dell (and Asus) laptops (that came with Linux preinstalled) that preceded this one, it can simultaneously support: Bluetooth. [...] Wifi. [...] It's also reasonably fast and decently capable, but the not-trying-to-commit-heat-death-suicide-in-my-bag and supporting BOTH Wifi AND Bluetooth at the same time are really the biggest features.

[...] Big revolution of last 20 years was spinning drives to ssd. Otherwise, my daily drivers are all 8th generation Intel CPUs - I just got a ThinkPad x1 carbon for $300 cad from Facebook marketplace. [...] My wife's daily driver is a t580. Which is all to say I have no idea how Linux is taking 6 minutes to boot or even worse, lagging on terminal - something is horribly wrong there :-(

[...] over 3 years I'm pretty sure it also affects all newer hp and dell models since at least 2023 It's great that your choice of laptops are never the ones that are broken, but then again, I never said linux never works. Even if you set aside the webcam problem, the lenovo laptops who where always called out for their good linux support had problems: The 2016 yoga x1 model couldn't get to sleep (s3i problem which many laptops had) and if it good back from sleep it need a special command to reconnect trackpad and trackpoint. There where some special patches to make it work and after about a year it worked, still not a possibility for non technical people The 2016 thinkpad x1 carbon gen. 6 model sometimes needs a special command to reconnect the trackpad and trackpoint, think that got fixed after 3 years. [...] Yes Will every big new hardware thing still mean that some linux things are broken for some time? [...]

[...] They are more expensive and get hotter than AMD CPU's for generally less performance. [...] - My ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which I gave to a friend, is still going strong after 10+ years. [...]

[...] It has one slight dent of about 1mm in the 4 years I've had it and I definitely drop it or knock it off a desk or something a few times a year. [...] Yes, someone might say the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is 14", but the 13" MacBook Air actually has a 13.6" screen. If I were in the market for a PC laptop, I'd definitely take a look at the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, but I'm also not worried about the weight of my MacBook Air. The X1 Carbon Intel ones are on sale right now since Panther Lake will be a huge upgrade coming soon, but even on clearance they aren't cheap. An X1 Carbon with 32GB RAM and 1TB storage (Ultra 7 268V, the cheapest one due to the sale) will cost $1,679 while a similar MacBook Air will cost $1,699 - and the M5 has 48% better single-core performance and 56% better multi-core performance (Geekbench). A 16GB/512GB (Ultra 5 225U) X1 Carbon is $1,538 compared to $1,099 for a MacBook Air - and the M5 has a 74% single and multi core advantage there. Panther Lake might narrow the performance gap, but early indicators don't seem like that's the case. [...] And I'm not sure the higher wattage "H" processors work for something like an X1 Carbon. [...]

[...] Couple years ago I splurged on a nice Thinkpad X1 carbon, and decided to give windows a try after abstaining for many years. [...] It would blast the fan for seemingly no reason, the task manager would slow down, the laptop would overheat. [...]

[...] I could keep using it with Linux instead of MacOS, but I think almost a decade of use is plenty of value for me. [...] I had a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon with the HiDPI screen that was absolutely awful, requiring replacement multiple times. [...]

I hate the keyboard in the photo (ThinkPad Aura Edition). [...] It has no Right Ctrl, which I use frequently for keyboard shortcuts, especially because I use Dvorak (e.g. [...] For reference, I own and use the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 for many years, and the ThinkPad X220 for many years before that. The keyboard layout on both of these are more agreeable to me, albeit not perfect (e.g. [...] I detest the 20-year-long trend of computer manufacturers messing with laptop and desktop keyboard layouts, chasing after sleekness or the latest fashion trends to the detriment of typists. I love laptop keyboards that differ from desktop keyboards as little as possible. I love standard 104-key keyboards on desktop and hate anything that messes this up. [...] Back to the article though, I used TrackPoint a lot on X220 because it functioned better than the touchpad. The X1C7 has TrackPoint but the motion feels unnatural to me, so I end up using the touchpad instead (which has improved over the X220). I was able to use the center button as middle click on X220 but there is no software to support that feature on the X1C7; maybe this is related to the TrackPoint vendor changing from Synaptics to Elan. Either way, I wish Lenovo made a ThinkPad that has both a good TrackPoint and a good touchpad; they were clearly capable of doing it in the past but have regressed.

Gamers and power users of course shunned them for so long saying, "you could get a better laptop for half the price!" but it's a testament to how good the build quality was that the full force of tech enthusiasts telling everyone not to buy it wasn't enough to sway people away. I've had two Intel MBP cook themselves to death within two years. The best laptop I've ever used was an Thinkpad X1 Carbon and I'll die on that hill - I find that Apple's build quality for a lot of stuff is ridiculously overrated and on-par with PCs that cost similarly. [...] Obviously plenty of people get real work done on them, but I'm not sure that they're actually more reliable for the price.

[...] I have a gen 9 thinkpad x1 carbon. [...] Every time you mess with the hinge, the whole laptop would immediately lose power and wouldn't turn back on or even charge. [...] While my laptop was under warranty, Lenovo replaced the motherboard THREE times. [...] Anyways, its been a year or two since my laptops warranty ran out but i reached out to Lenovo cause the issue was never resolved and apparently they're replacing my gen 9 laptop with a gen 14 one. [...] Only thing I don't like about the new one is the camera bump, but apart from that I have no complaints. [...]

[...] I replaced the battery a year or two ago. [...] Though the XPS machines bought new were fine aside from the annoyingly brief battery life. Currently using a Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 13 under Linux for work stuff and I like that (much lighter) so if I can get one second hand with enough memory I might choose that when/if the Dell eventually feels too slow.

[...] However my firefox stopped working (no response for toolbar menu items and buttons). The work around is to reset your display. [...] note: failed only my intel nuc, but not on thinkpad x1 carbon.

I just got a new work laptop: the ThinkPad X1 Carbon gen13. It's gorgeous: weighs a bit over 900 grams, has an amazing matte OLED screen, Intel Lunar Lake that sips power (1-2W idle) and is fast enough to compile Rust if needed, amazing keyboard, touchpad is great but I just use the trackpoint, everything works from the box on Linux (they even deliver it with either Fedora or Ubuntu, but I installed CachyOS). [...] Battery life: great, the whole day. Wifi: works always, connects fast, works fast. The build quality is really nice, especially the carbon fiber body that doesn't feel so cold/hot to touch.

[...] They're often time a great value and within three years old. [...] I replaced the entire keyboard on my ThinkPad X1 Carbon and it was perfectly fine. [...] On a Dell Latitude, it refused to charge my non-OEM battery replacement. [...]

[...] In my case, I had a ThinkPad X1 Carbon with a new, whiz-bang 4k screen that needed warranty service due to a faulty panel. Lenovo sent out a Unisys contractor who botched the repair—cracked the screen bezel, and somehow left the machine unable to boot. [...] You can take a broken machine to a store, talk to someone who can usually solve your problem, and almost always walk out with a solution. [...]

I switch between daily driving my M1 Mac and a Thinkpad X1 Carbon running Hyprland on Arch. [...]

While the similar does not happen for me anymore with my TB3 docks or displays-with-built-in-docks like Dell U3219 or Thinkvision T32p, back in the Mac M1/M2 days (2023?), my work laptop would turn the display into a state where I'd have to power-cycle it by physically disconnecting the power and then back on. Never had that with Linux on Thinkpad X1 Carbons (or one T14s with Ryzen I had in between). [...] Even today, my USB audio device connected through my TB3 dock (behringer UMC22) usually does not show up on my Mac. Sometimes it does, but I do not bother figuring out why that happens, and resort to built-in speakers and microphone instead of my nice desktop monitors and pencil microphone pointed at me :) My point being that similar stuff happens with Macs, just depends on your "luck" — I am sure there is other hardware that still fails with the latest Macs. [...] I've only used Macs for the last 5 years or so professionally, but hitting all the issues, I was mostly like: where is that supreme experience? [...]

I bought a thinkpad X1 carbon refurbished for about $300. [...] Trackpad on X1 carbon is definitely not as good, battery life not as good. And opening the lid momentarily reveals what you were on before the lock screen comes on. This last one tastes more like a software issue. [...]

[...] It was as inconsistent as GNOME (which I mainly use), and sometimes more so (though this could be my personal bias, since I've used GNOME since before 2.0 days, so 2003 or so -- though, I'd note that 2.x series was significantly more consistent, especially with Sun-contributed GNOME HIG, than 3.x still is). Not to even mention hardware support, as I had a lot of issues with Realtek external USB network devices randomly disconnecting (and they are in many USB-C hubs, including inside USB-C monitors), with no such issues under Ubuntu. [...] I do like their performance and battery life, but the "shells" it's stuck in also sucks (until recently, only glossy screens; shallow keyboards with sharp palmrest edges; either heavy or passively cooled; no touchpad buttons...). Putting some of this hardware into a new Thinkpad X1 Carbon case would be amazing, though I'd want to run Linux on it.

I daily drive an M1 MacBook Air and a Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 11 running Arch/Hyprland. Software-wise I absolutely adore the latter, but hardware-wise it falls short of the Mac on nearly every level. Battery life is horrendous (despite extensive tuning). The speakers are complete crap (despite using Easy Effects). [...] And of course the Thinkpad's keyboard is fantastic. Honestly the one thing I simply can't look past are the speakers. I work from home so battery life isn't a massive issue for me. [...]

I’ve had multiple Thinkpad X1 carbon laptops with whatever the most recent Ubuntu LTS version. The hardware is well supported by Ubuntu, however I have experienced a few bugs with Gnome and the keyboards on newer X1 carbons are not as reliable. Since much of what people do these days is in a web browser, the difference between operating systems is not as meaningful these days.

On a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8, it's easily possible record video with the webcam LED off. I did not verify newer generations of the X1 Carbon. [...] I discovered this accidentally yesterday while toying with a X1 Carbon... [...]

Obviously, it's not all about the power: I see a lot of comments here about heat, fans and comfort. And everyone is comparing against old Intel Macs, but if that's what you cared about, the benchmark must have been the Thinkpad X1 Carbon. And Macs still can't match that with their crappy keyboards, case strength and ergonomics (no sharp edges), spill-protection and non-glossy screens (remember, these are laptops to be used out and about — though I've only used M1/M2 Airs, M1 Max Pro 14 and M2 Pros 13/14, so maybe the newer ones are better). X1 Carbons have mostly moved to higher performing Intel chips, and thus lost those silent & cool characteristics, but other than the obvious (performance vs comfort), they are still my preferred choice in laptops.

The laptop is awesome in all departments - webcam, sound, amazing ports, modular space frame design, and crazy light weight. I just wish we got X7 with lower price... [...] The price bump is horrible.. [...] Andrew, new linux kernel has been released, so please update the usb live. [...]

I'm typing this on Fedora 41 (Gnome 47, the latest drop, totally stock no extensions) on a nearly 10 year old 8GB/i5 Thinkpad X1 Carbon and it works just fine. If anything it feels like Gnome has gotten faster with the last few releases.

I got this laptop through Lenovo Outlet a year ago. Core Ultra 268v, Arc 140v graphics, 32gb ram and 1tb, with the 2k IPS touch display. It was a steal for $930 before taxes.

[...] Even long-post Lenovo acquisition my ThinkPad X1 Carbon 3rd Gen, which I bought new in 2015, is doing great. [...]

Well 8 months later, it now supports Linux natively and is significantly cheaper. It also has an option for a haptic touchpad now. Base price with the (anemic) Intel 226v and your choice of Linux is 1543. How I would spec it, with the 258v and OLED screen is 1865. The choice in trackpad or haptic touchpad is a 0 dollar option and up to you.

You know what I thought to myself tonight, as I discover a dead pixel on the screen of my ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th gen that I bought in 2018? I thought, "Got'damn, I've never had a computer last 7 years before!"

[...] That T60 was reliable and sturdy and never let me down when I needed it most. Fast forward a decade later and I’m doing alright, drive a Maybach and am building a home in Tahiti. [...]

Thank you Josh. You are constantly confirming my understanding of the laptop market, and that is reassuring. Given up on Linux might be Lenovo's new strategy. It would be a shame, I have depended on their Linux compatible laptop for over ten years now. Having switched ftom Dell.

I've been using X1 Carbon for the last 6 years and I really want to buy the latest version but the cost and battery and performance of the latest macbook air lineup is making this really difficult. If Apply comes out with an OLED screen its basically a done deal. The absolute best thing about the carbon laptops is their weight and keyboard, mat screen, and previously, their Linux support. [...]

I tried for 1.5 years to use my iPad as laptop replacement, but for this trip I just grabbed a 6+ years old Thinkpad X1 Carbon, and I have to say: It is really nice to have a regular OS again etc. The battery life sucks, and I wish there was a good ARM Linux laptop, but for the moment, this will do

I'm a habitual device-swapper and I'm staggered by how... satisfied I am with my 8 year old Thinkpad X1 Carbon with Fedora KDE on it.

I'd say my Thinkpad X9's glass haptic touchpad is as good as my Macbook Pro's. Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen13 has a great optional haptic touchpad at almost no added cost, which makes the years of negligence even more insulting. [...] No, it's not expensive. But we had to choose what to copy-paste from Apple this time around, and a haptic touchpad was $2.93, whereas hating our customers was free!"

We are lucky in that we can choose our machines (within reason, and no real support if things get broken) and run an arch flavour. I use thinkpad x1 carbons and have nearly 0 issues. The hardware is not quite as nice as a macbook but it does the job and is nice enough.

[...] Still, for me, at 13/14", portability and battery are most important, so I am going with Thinkpad X1 Carbon atm (next gen should again allow 64GiB of RAM).

[...] I was forever complaining about wall gardens and yet was too 'comfortable' with my macbook-pro as it was the best laptop period. I switched to a thinkpad x1-carbon and popos and never looked back. Sure I would love 10 hour battery life, but it's not THAT big of deal (for me) to carry a charger.

I have an oled thinkpad running fedora that has never had a sleep issue. Excellent touchpad as well. Thinkpad X1 Carbon.

Old Thinkpads are great! I used to have a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 6 with Intel Core i7 8640U, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB SSD. I installed Arch Linux on it with Sway.

[...] I'm typing this from a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 running Void Linux, and UPower is reporting 99% battery with 15h left. [...] It's a new laptop with a fresh battery, so that plays a big role as well. This might not be as good as the battery life on a Macbook, but it's pretty acceptable to me. [...]

[...] Right now my non-work daily driver is a Thinkpad X1 Carbon because I fell for the Thinkpad meme, but it's honestly pretty terrible all things considered. Battery life sucks, touchpad sucks, the shell is plasticky and weird. [...]

Thinkpad X1 Carbon gen 13 here. [...] I do not see any flaws, decent battery lifetime. [...] I think its worth it. But there are many other less expensive Lenovo configurations. [...]

[...] I was about to order a new MacBook recently, but there’s been a lot of small issues annoying me over the past few years and Liquid Glass was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. [...] Ended up ordering a Thinkpad X1 Carbon instead, and am planning to throw Fedora on it.

[...] Coming from an old Thinkpad X1 Carbon gen 3 I got used after a few years. [...]

[...] My two favorite laptops are the 14" MacBook Pro I use for work now, as well as my personal 14" Thinkpad X1 Carbon. They have the best combination of performance and size, for me at least. I get as-close-as-makes-no-difference desktop performance out of something with a days worth of battery that can fit into the small backpack I use for bike commuting.

[...] My ThinkPad X1 Carbon (gen 7) BIOS supported choosing Windows 10 or Linux sleep mode - I switched to "Linux mode" and now I have S3 sleep. [...] The prospect of having my laptop be and stay charged is exciting.