The Thinkpad X1 Extreme was released in 2019 and is notable for being the first laptop to offer a 15″ touch screen, OLED display, Nvidia RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU. It’s successor will be releasing in 2020 with Intel Core i9 processor and an even more powerful GPU.
The “thinkpad vs macbook pro reddit” is a debate that has been going on for years. The 2020 MacBook Pro will be released in 2020 and the Thinkpad X1 Extreme was released in 2019.
In terms of performance, display quality, price, battery life, portability, and more, we put the Apple MacBook Pro (2020) up against the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme.
The rankings with test results can be seen above, while the in-depth reports of the two Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops can be found below.
Apple MacBook Pro comes in first place (2020)
- For mobile Work Stations, the best performance is suited for workload-intensive applications.
- Long-lasting battery
- Redesigned keypad and large, high-resolution display (very comfortable)
- pricier than the ThinkPad X1 Extreme
On closer examination, what seemed to be a step backwards when Apple debuted the MacBook Pro in a 16-inch shell in November turned out to be the apparently superior way.
The primary objections of the 15-inch predecessor, the size and weight, are mitigated by a reworked keyboard and a novel cooling approach. We examined the 16-inch MacBook Pro more closely, focusing on its performance as a workstation.
Hardware & Design
According to Apple, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is the new mobile workhorse with macOS, and it will be released with the new Mac Pro, which is designed for stationary usage. Apple’s current mobile options include an eight-core CPU, up to 64 GB RAM, an 8 TB SSD, and AMD’s Radeon Pro 5500M graphics card.
Much more cannot be crammed into a casing with a height of just 16.2 mm, despite the fact that the width (357.9 mm) and depth (245.9 mm) for a 16-inch device are similarly large (357.9 mm) and deep (245.9 mm). Despite this, Apple manages to maintain the weight close to 4.4 pounds. Thus, if the performance rates fit in the end, the balancing act of mobility and performance may be considered successful.
If you almost solely use your MacBook for mobile work and don’t need such high performance when on the go, the 16-inch MacBook Pro may be a little too much for you, and you’re better off with the smaller 13-inch model, albeit Apple hasn’t yet employed the new keyboard here. We’ll go through this in further depth later.
But first, let’s look at the most crucial technical information. The 16-inch MacBook Pro comes equipped with a six-core Intel Core i7-9750H CPU and an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M graphics card with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory. It also has a 512GB SSD and 16GB of DDR4-2666 RAM. This model costs $2200 from Apple.
The second basic model has an eight-core Core i9-9880H processor, an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics card with 4 GB of GDDR6, and 16 GB of RAM, but it also has a 1 TB SSD.
Both configurations may be enlarged if desired. As a result, a Core i9-9980HK with eight cores, but a higher single core and boost clock, may be installed.
You’ll have to spend an extra $200 if you want to utilize an AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8 GB of graphics RAM. The cost of 32 or 64 GB RAM (always DDR4-2666) ranges from $400 to $800.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro sported an eight-core Core i9-9880H processor, 16GB of RAM, a Radeon Pro 5500M graphics card with 4GB of graphics memory, and a 1TB SSD.
So, if you have a certain level of component choice, which is obviously restricted by your budget, the other equipment choices for all variants of the 16-inch MacBook Pro are similar.
Display
Aside from the technical characteristics, the 16-inch display with a resolution of 3,072 × 1,920 pixels at 226 ppi is one of the highlights. The previous 15-inch model had a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels at 220 pixels per inch. The small frame (some manufacturers have gone even thinner), but most importantly, the brightness of up to 500 nits, are alluring.
There are models with greater brightness, but the display of the 16′′ MacBook Pro is a compelling model in the laptop market thanks to its homogeneity of over 95 percent throughout the whole screen, DCI-P3 color space coverage, and excellent black values.
The usage of a reflective surface for the display has been a source of controversy, particularly in the creative industry. Apple provides an extra covering for the Pro Display XDR, but it comes with a $1,000 price tag. The 16-inch MacBook Pro does not have this option. With the great brightness, you can surely combat the reflections. However, the exhibition will irritate many people.
In conclusion, Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro has a very nice display that more than satisfies the rigors of mobile usage. The display rates are barely faultworthy; at most, the white point of 6,900 K is possibly a little cold. True Tone technology, on the other hand, has made a lot of friends in the meanwhile.
Apart from the display, there are no differences in connection. On the right and left, there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports. Unlike the 13-inch MacBook Pro, they are all linked in the same way and can potentially achieve 40 GBit/s. The right-side ports on the 13-inch model aren’t entirely connected, so it’s a little sluggish. The 16-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, does not have this limitation, and it may be charged at any of these ports. On the right, there’s also a jack connection.
As a result, everything stays the same: all external devices must be connected through type C, with Thunderbolt 3 or maximum USB 3.2 Gen2 as options. As a result, even a USB stick with a type A port will not work.
Everything, including Ethernet adapters, USB ports, and card readers, must have a USB C connector or be linked through an adaptor. You’ll have to live with the adapters in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, too, whether you’ve already made substantial modifications to your environment, utilized a dock at a fixed workstation, or just grown accustomed to them.
Sound, Touchpad, and Keyboard
Apple installs the new Magic Keyboard for the first time on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which replaces the butterfly mechanism with the “classic” scissor mechanism. Of fact, reverting to older technologies does not have to be a negative thing – on the contrary, it may be beneficial.
Since the advent of keyboards with butterfly mechanisms, Apple has had troubles. They attempted to salvage the butterfly keyboard in various ways, but their efforts were futile, as shown by the fact that all MacBooks with this keyboard are susceptible to prolonged maintenance or warranty extensions.
Apple refuses to acknowledge the Butterfly one-way street. There is no mention of malfunctioning Butterfly keyboards in the official press release. Instead, several research have been conducted to reevaluate the needs and desires of professional users, and a new keyboard has been discovered. This is a little too much of a good thing, since Apple should have realized the Butterfly keyboard was a mistake years ago.
A professional user just cannot afford this form’s unreliability. We’ll have to wait and see if the new/old keyboard is indeed more dependable.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro’s keyboard, on the other hand, isn’t a total return to the previous keyboard, but rather a type of intermediary step with various enhancements. You can replicate the sense of typing on an Apple external keyboard to the keyboard of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The stroke of the keys is increased from 0.7 mm to 1 mm by Apple, which obviously advantages regular typists. The individual keys have a decreased surface area, however it is hardly noticeable. The keyboard is no longer a two-dimensional blind flight since Apple was able to significantly expand the spacing between the keys.
The arrow keys in an inverted T-arrangement should also be discussed in this context. These are also far easier to identify blindly than the old method, which had the shift key at full height and the two up and down keys in half height each.
The typing experience has been restored, the arrow keys have been improved, and the ESC key has returned in physical form. This is also one of the keyboard’s major advantages, and Apple claims to have conducted extensive research in this area. However, given the many complaints about the Touch Bar’s ESC key, Apple has most likely already learnt from its own staff that many users struggle to manage with the lack of an ESC key. As a result, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is another step in the right way.
This is likewise true of the Touch ID key, which has been deleted. Above the keyboard, the touch bar is therefore segregated from the other input choices. It’s another question if you can now incorporate them into your workflow in a sensible way. However, the ESC and Touch-ID buttons are significantly easier to locate and are less often pushed by accident.
The redesigned mechanism, the dedicated ESC key, and the sensible layout of the arrow keys – the keyboard is more than simply a cosmetic upgrade. Why Apple is just now implementing the necessary modifications, and therefore implicitly admitting that the butterfly keyboard was not the best option, is likely a well guarded secret of the Cupertino company.
The issue now is when the new keyboard will be available for other MacBooks, since none of the other versions can be suggested except from the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, Apple has been silent on the subject. However, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is expected to be redesigned in the spring, and it remains to be seen if the MacBook – the major reason for the Butterfly keyboard – will have enough area.
The Force Touch trackpad on the 16-inch MacBook Pro is 160 x 100 mm, the same as on the 15-inch model. The image above displays a comparison with the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which has a somewhat smaller trackpad (135 x 83 mm). However, even on smaller MacBooks, the trackpad is still a reference in this sort of input. Many other computer makers, it seems, are still struggling to produce such a trackpad. Many mobile users no longer utilize a mouse because of multi-touch and pressure gestures.
The built-in loudspeakers are probably not the most significant criterion when choosing a laptop, but they are vital enough. Apple has also made several advancements in this area. In the data sheet, Apple advertises Dolby Atmos capabilities, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro does indeed have a spatially firmly separated surround sound system.
For this, Apple installs six loudspeakers. Three speakers, one on each side of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, serve as woofers. These woofers may counteract, balance, or reduce each other’s vibrations to avoid cabinet shaking and vibration.
Even a large space may be filled with sound at full level, however extra speaker systems may be required depending on the purpose. Streaming a movie on the couch or in a hotel room, on the other hand, is always conceivable with the new speakers.
Performance
The inadequately sized cooling system in the high-end equipment is a major flaw in the 15-inch MacBook Pro. In practice, this means that the hardware’s potential isn’t completely realized, resulting in lower performance. The CPU and GPU heat sinks are expected to be 35 percent bigger. The two fans should be able to circulate 28 percent more air, allowing the hardware to function to its full capacity.
The hardware clocking and cooling operate somewhat differently depending on the load condition. A brief load of up to half a minute on all cores is readily absorbed by the new cooler, resulting in around 90 W of waste heat being produced by the CPU. This is absorbed by the heat sink, which gradually releases it.
The fans only become loud and revolve faster after more than 30 seconds of full load. However, since the cooling system absorbs and releases waste heat with some inertia, it takes some time for stability to be achieved. Under full load for extended periods of time, the processor is permitted to produce roughly 65 W of waste heat constantly, and the clock rate stays constant at 2.45 GHz for hours – a temperature of 89 °C at a temperature of 21 °C.
However, you should allow the 16-inch MacBook Pro to breathe. MacBook should be put on a table or stand under these settings, not on your lap or on a soft surface, which might trap heat.
Of all, given these circumstances, you can’t expect a laptop to work silently. Under modest load, the fans already whirl at 2,000 revolutions per minute, and the user may hear them in a calm setting. We’re talking about roughly 5,500 revolutions per minute while the CPU is fully loaded, which corresponds to a noise level of about 50 dB(A) at a normal user’s distance.
However, if you want to edit your 8K film on such a thin laptop, you should be aware that performance is always accompanied by waste heat, which must be dissipated. In this form factor, silent operation is just not feasible. Despite the ostensibly high level, the fans’ noise is nonetheless pleasant and not at all bothersome thanks to particular frequencies.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is therefore once again a true workhorse, if the cooling requirements are met.
Benchmarks
For the 16-inch MacBook Pro, we didn’t utilize our usual benchmarks. Instead, we used Final Cut Pro X, DaVince Resolve, and Blender to compare the new MacBook Pro against its immediate predecessor, the 15-inch MacBook Pro, and a 13-inch MacBook Pro. Additionally, there is a compilation benchmark in Xcode, which will undoubtedly be of interest to Mac users.
The speed gain between generations is readily noticeable in the single-threaded test. Because the 15-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros share the same chip, performance is almost comparable in this area. In the multi-threaded test, this is not the case. Due to improved cooling, the new 16-inch MacBook Pro also boasts more processing power, which it can retain throughout the test run (we did several runs in a row).
We created an example file named The Junk Shop in Blender version 2.81. Initially, we merely utilized the processor. Even while the rendering only takes a little more than two minutes, the new 16-inch MacBook Pro seems to be ahead of the game. This lead should be increased even further for lengthier projects.
GPU rendering is also possible in Blender. A portion of the computation is subsequently delegated to the graphics card. The Radeon Pro 5000M in the 16-inch MacBook Pro has an obvious advantage over the Radeon Pro 560X in the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The GPU of the 13-inch MacBook Pro is incompatible.
Hardware support for a built-in graphics card is also available in Final Cut Pro X. We took two 8K movies for the benchmark, chopped them together, applied crossfades, and then exported them. Background rendering was turned off. Rendering takes roughly 24 minutes on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and well over 26 minutes on the 15-inch MacBook Pro. With almost 43 minutes, the 13-inch MacBook Pro falls far behind, but it also has just half the processors and no dedicated GPU.
While editing the video, we didn’t detect any significant delays in the chronology. The 16-inch MacBook Pro allows you to scroll through the timeline with the least amount of movement imaginable. This isn’t always achievable with the 15-inch MacBook Pro, since the GPU’s performance is noticeably lower. Editing 8K video on the 13-inch MacBook Pro is almost impossible.
For the Handbrake measurement, we re-exported the previously exported movie in 1080p. The codec utilized was H.264. The two huge MacBook Pros are fairly close together here, and the 13-inch model, of course, can’t keep up.
We utilized the two 8K example files in DaVince Resolve to add different effects to it. It takes a certain length of time to compute the changes if they are used. The two large MacBook Pros are almost level once again.
Finally, we used Xcode to create an example project. The processor’s performance is critical in this case. The 16-inch MacBook Pro can maintain its maximum clock speed for a longer period of time. The benefit of enhanced cooling seems to be visible once again. The 15-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is just marginally slower.
Life of the battery
A few remarks regarding battery life before we get to the end. In average office usage, the battery on the 16-inch MacBook Pro lasts roughly 10 hours. This indicates that the battery has a big 100 Wh capacity. You can go through a complete work day without having to go to a power outlet if you do some picture editing, office work, audio streaming, and so on.
The battery only lasts around 70 to 80 minutes under full load in 3D rendering, which is not very long. This seems to be the same for video editing and exporting. Videos, on the other hand, may be altered for three to four hours if they do not need to be exported.
Verdict
In many respects, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is an upgrade over its predecessor. For many potential customers, the new or redesigned keyboard is the most crucial feature, since if there’s one thing that professional users can’t use, it’s faulty hardware, which may lead to the device being abandoned entirely because it needs to be fixed.
Aside from the keyboard’s supposedly improved dependability, many people like the dedicated ESC key. The keystroke has been lengthened, which is beneficial for frequent typists. The placement of the arrow keys and the isolation of the touch ID button complete the keyboard’s improved feel. In some ways, Apple takes a step back, but that’s not a negative thing in this situation — rather the contrary.
Aside from that, the enhanced cooling is a benefit. This guarantees that the eight-core processor’s performance is maximized. The CPU is also throttled, but within a reasonable range, since the temperatures no longer operate at the limit of throttling.
Under load, the two fans are obviously noisy, although this is true of any laptop during a video export or 3D rendering. The 16-inch MacBook Pro’s full potential is realized when combined with the built-in GPU, which provides an additional speed boost. This MacBook Pro is the transportable workhorse – if it has to be a Mac – if you travel a lot. In the laptop sector, Apple’s performance is the best it can get.
The display is likewise faultless and in keeping with the rest of the equipment. The appeal of such a huge retina display is that it provides a lot of working area when on the go. In this manner, the display’s technological characteristics assist the creative user as much as possible.
However, in a professional situation, the white point is somewhat different (too cold) from the ideal display with 6900K. In stationary usage, the new Pro Display XDR may be attached to the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
However, there are a few areas where Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro continues to tease. Most users can get by with four ports and the appropriate adapters, even if this means keeping the adapters in your baggage at all times. A dock may be the best option for stationary usage.
Once you’ve picked on a certain model of 16-inch MacBook Pro, you must stick with it. Memory and SSD aren’t changeable or extendable either. Of course, the same can be said about the battery. Everything is soldered or cemented in place.
As a result, the costs are fairly expensive, although one has become used to this. If you want to utilize macOS applications and require this level of speed, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is a must-have.
Since the most serious flaws, such as the keyboard and cooling, have been addressed, one can at least suggest the new MacBook Pro without reservation and without needing to offer a caution.
In this shape, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is the hardware one would anticipate. Because Apple didn’t exactly deliver a masterpiece with macOS Catalina, the software now has to be brought up to par. Meanwhile, the most serious flaws have been addressed, and with a 16-inch MacBook Pro, you’re stuck with the most recent macOS.
The new Mac Pro, the Pro Display XDR, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, all wow with their outstanding performance, which is why the Apple MacBook Pro 2020 comes out on top over the ThinkPad X1 Extreme.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme is ranked second (2020)
- Good overall performance and best keyboard for lengthy writing sessions
- After calibration, the 4K display has a vibrant color palette and excellent picture quality.
- Price is lower than the MacBook Pro 2020.
- CPU performance is worse than before.
Can a Thinkpad with a 15.6-inch screen be useful? The X1 Extreme is proof of that! The laptop impresses in the test with its customary high quality and the tried-and-true Thinkpad keyboard. The slow cooling, on the other hand, is a hindrance to excellent performance.
Ports & Design
Lenovo’s Thinkpads are available in a variety of sizes: 14-inch laptops, such as the T480s and X1 Carbon, are popular. However, there are smaller variants like as the X270 and even smaller models such as the now-discontinued Thinkpad X121e. The Thinkpad X1 Extreme is the polar opposite of the Thinkpad X1. Although it is a 15.6-inch laptop, it retains the series’ spirit.
The standard Thinkpad keyboard, the subtle Thinkpad logo, the standard slightly rubberized and matt black chassis, several ports, and the red trackpoint are all present. The dedicated Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, which Lenovo included in the chassis, is an unusual feature. In the test, the mixture proves to be a very excellent product. However, we would choose for an alternative setup.
It should be noted that individuals who dislike big laptops in general will find the Thinkpad X1 Extreme to be a disappointment. With dimensions of 36.2 x 24.6 x 1.8 inches, the notebook weights 4.02 pounds and won’t fit in every travel bag.
However, when compared to other notebooks of its size, it has turned out to be pleasantly slender. The quality of the chassis in particular impresses us. The huge 15.6-inch screen can be turned up to 180 degrees, and the rubberized surface feels high-quality. The hefty glazed touchscreen is securely held in place by the hinge.
The X1 Extreme is considerably more understated than the other Thinkpads, which are already understated. The lettering on the Thinkpad is black rather than silver. The new design is based on the X1 carbon devices, which are smaller. This variant additionally has a red status LED on the lid. The use of the word “extreme” seems nearly out of place. Because Thinkpads were never flamboyant and gaudy, we admire the delicate understatement — a trend that our test sample continues.
When it comes to connectivity options, the X1 Extreme’s spacious chassis offers a number of benefits. Two USB A 3.0 ports and two Thunderbolt 3 connections are available. A HDMI 2.0a connector, a full-size SD card reader, and a smart card slot are also included.
A proprietary mini-ethernet connector may be seen on the left side, which we’ve seen on earlier X1 models. The notebook comes with an appropriate adapter. We’re still perplexed as to why Lenovo didn’t just utilize a standard RJ45 connector. There is still some room in the case.
For quite some time, many Thinkpads have lacked a proprietary docking connector, and the X1 Extreme is no exception. Lenovo, on the other hand, provides Thunderbolt 3 compatible docking stations. We believe this is a positive step forward.
Touchpad & Keyboard
You should seek at another product if you want the X1 Extreme’s keyboard layout to revolutionize. The notebook’s keys are identical to those on every other Thinkpad: they’re 1.6 cm wide and have the same feel and pressure point as previous models.
The customary excellent quality is provided to users here. We like typing on the keyboard a lot. The combination of a trackpoint and the three mouse buttons above the touchpad is also featured, allowing us to operate the mouse cursor while keeping our fingers on the keyboard.
The touchpad is excellent in and of itself. The sensor surface has a rubbery feel to it, comparable to the lid of the laptop. When clicking or tapping on the touchpad, we don’t see any difference from a Thinkpad 480s.
Lenovo seems to have just crammed the input components from prior Thinkpads into a bigger case. This creates an unusually big gap – around 3.5 centimeters – between the keyboard and the case’s edges.
A few extra keys, or perhaps a number pad, would have been welcome additions. Some keys, however, would be smaller and hence less accessible as a result. It’s reasonable to go without a number pad, but we think it’s a shame.
Display
As soon as we open the X1 Extreme, we notice a significant difference from many other Thinkpads: Instead of the normal matt screen, a reflective touchscreen display is used. Furthermore, the 15.6-inch display boasts a 3,840 x 2,160-pixel UHD quality. This is unquestionably advantageous. For this, though, we will have to do without an anti-glare display.
The light reflections begin to bother us inside after a short period. That’s despite the fact that the screen’s brightness levels aren’t too poor.
The gadget achieves an average of 402 candelas per square meter, keeping the stated 400 cd/m2 on the data sheet. This is an excellent value in and of itself, but ambient light reflects excessively, which sometimes bothers us.
As a result, it’s great that Lenovo also offers a laptop with a darker, non-reflective Full-HD display and no touchscreen for a lesser price. If the gadget is used outside of the desk, this arrangement is recommended.
Performance
The X1 Extreme has excellent performance, particularly in productive workloads. The Intel Core i7-8750H, which has six cores and twelve threads, is responsible for this. The CPU may boost the base clock rate of 2.2 GHz to 4.1 GHz.
The X1 Extreme clock rate averages 3.2 GHz under full load in Adobe Premiere Pro CC v13 video transcoding. The YouTube preset for 2160p with H.264 codec uses both the integrated Intel graphics unit and the dedicated Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q.
As a result, the notebook’s processing performance is extremely impressive: it takes just 8:08 minutes for the notebook to convert one episode of the Techtestreport Weekly Review (WR-KW1018). As an example: With 7:57 minutes, the 95 watt desktop CPU Intel Core i7-8700K with a Geforce 2080 Ti isn’t much quicker. This job takes just under 10 minutes on a prior generation Core i7-7700K with the identical graphics card.
Other programs run quickly on the Thinkpad X1 Extreme. With Adobe Photoshop CC, even high-resolution source material may be edited without jerking. The 16 GByte DDR4 RAM comes in handy for such operations. Lenovo has a Samsung PM981 NVMe SSD installed, which is a big plus. Sequential reading and sequential writing data speeds are both 3,412 MByte/s and 1,921 MByte/s, respectively.
The laptop also performs well in the Cinebench R15 multi-core CPU benchmark: It is over 15% quicker than a PC with a Core i7-7700K, with 1,097 points. However, we’ve already seen some unusual behavior, which we ascribe to the slow cooling system.
A powerful CPU and a specialized graphics unit, such as the Geforce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q, entice you to attempt one of the games. Our measured frame rates, on the other hand, aren’t compelling, particularly in this subject. In games like Destiny 2, Kingdome Come Deliverance, PUBG, and CSGO, we should at the very least drop the resolution to Full-HD. Even then, consistent frame rates are very impossible to achieve.
On medium details, we can already see this in the older shooter CSGO: roughly 80 frames per second are still doable. During the game, the frame rate drops to about 65 fps. That’s because the CPU becomes too hot and slows down till it’s only running at 1.8 GHz per core instead of almost 4 GHz at the start.
Destiny 2, on the other hand, does not seem to be impacted in any way. In Full HD resolution, the laptop achieves at least 45 frames per second at medium detail level. When there are a lot of adversaries and other items on the screen, this always occurs. Indoors, we got up to 80 frames per second.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance and PUBG in Full HD are both too much of a good thing for the X1 Extreme: We measured 24 frames per second at low details in medieval role-playing games, with some visible visual dropouts. With 26 frames per second and extremely poor details, PUBG is hardly playable. On a work trip, users of the Lenovo computer should stick to titles that aren’t too taxing.
During gaming, we find that the notebook’s slow cooling has a significant influence on performance under constant stress. On the CPU, we measured a maximum temperature of 97 degrees Celsius. It’s no surprise that the CPU slows down. Even though we can plainly hear the two little fans, they are very quiet for a workstation of this kind. When writing or surfing the web, the system is not audible.
Upgradability
When it comes to accessing the hardware, the X1 Extreme is in no way inferior to other Thinkpads. Only seven screws hold the bottom case shell together, and none of them can fall out. There are two RAM banks within, one of which is filled by a 16 GB module.
Fortunately, the gadget can also accommodate a second M.2 drive. Intel’s ac-9560 WiFi card is relatively new. The 22 gadget supports 802.11ac in two bands and Bluetooth 5.0. However, we are unable to locate a vacant space for a mobile phone module.
The screwed-in, yet removable battery takes up a lot of room in the casing. It has an 80-watt hour capacity and enables the X1 Extreme to have good, if not exceptional, runtimes. The productivity setting of the runtime test, Powermark, which mimics office work, online surfing, and video chat, took 8:04 hours. 4:34 hours are still achievable on the more rigorous PCMark8, which includes casual gaming among other things.
We set the display brightness to roughly 200 cd/m2 for both test. In many 15.6-inch laptops with a dedicated graphics unit, these speeds are frequently lower. In this regard, the X1 Extreme is an excellent mobile gadget. It’s a shame Lenovo doesn’t have a battery that can be removed from the exterior of the laptop.
In our Thinkpad X270 review, we enjoyed this option a lot. Many other laptops in the series, on the other hand, no longer feature a pluggable battery, which is becoming increasingly common in this device class.
Verdict
Although the addition of Extreme to Lenovo’s 15.6-inch laptop may be overstated, it is still a well-made notebook that may capitalize on the series’ strengths. This is due, in part, to Lenovo’s usage of the same excellent keyboard and trackpoint combo. It’s a lot of fun to type lengthier sentences on it.
At the same time, the casing is finished to a high standard. The design isn’t outrageous, but it does adhere to the Thinkpad ethos of a rubberized lid and subtle black product insignia. The device contains enough ports for USB-A, two Thunderbolt 3 connectors, HDMI, an SD card reader, and the unique Ethernet port from the X1 Carbon, which can only be utilized with an adapter purchased separately.
The 15.6-inch 4K touchscreen display is a feature of our test sample. It has a good brightness of 402 cd/m2 but is very reflecting. A less bright, but anti-reflective Full-HD display without touchscreen is also available. This is also reasonably priced.
The X1 Extreme excels with high-volume applications like video transcoding in Adobe Premiere Pro CC v13. In little over eight minutes, the Intel Core i7-8750H and Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q generate an episode of Techtestreport’s weekly review. That’s just a smidgeon slower than the Core i7-870095 K’s watts. The computation is aided by the inbuilt Intel graphics unit and the Nvidia GPU.
In games, the notebook is less convincing: Even on modest settings and Full-HD quality, we only get 26 frames per second in the role-playing game Kingdom Come Deliverance. However, we observe that the CPU throttles down after a time in the team shooter CSGO, and the recorded frame rate decreases from 80 fps to 65 fps in medium details.
One of the flaws is the notebook’s cooling system, which is quite quiet but sluggish. Especially in games, the hardware hits its limitations. On the CPU, we’ve seen temperatures as high as 97 degrees Celsius.
The battery life of the X1 Extreme is adequate for a device of this size. It’s also convenient because the laptop may be quickly fastened on. Hardware may be swapped out, and there’s even space for another RAM module or M.2 drive. The battery is secured with a screw and may be changed if required.
The X1 Extreme is an excellent choice for those that need a Thinkpad for more than just writing. Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme trails the MacBook Pro 2020 by a little amount, but it is also less expensive, so if you want to save money while still getting a wonderful laptop, grab the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme!
The “lenovo x1 extreme gen 2 vs macbook pro” is a comparison of the 2020 models of the Thinkpad X1 Extreme and the Apple MacBook Pro. The article includes specifications, benchmarks, and prices.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lenovo better than MacBook Pro?
Whats better ThinkPad or MacBook?
A: It is a personal preference, but I personally prefer the MacBook.
Are Macbooks better than Lenovo?
A: Its hard to say about the general sense of quality in objects, but there are strong arguments for both sides.
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