ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition Update

Here is my first update on my experience with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura Edition for 2025.
-TDD

[ItsMeProday]

Perfect Ultrabook...only thing I'd like to see are usb-c ports on opposite sides (so one left and one right) and a bigger battery.

[PLANTROON]

I would still get a Mac I think (and I am not even an Apple user). I bought a Thinkpad Z16 recently and it had terrible problems with sleep mode in Windows 11 a year after release (of the laptop) and WiFi connection drops. The general consensus is that you need to replace the WiFi adapter in the laptop and I do not expect this from a 1500+ eur machine. At this point I am just afraid to get another thing from Lenovo.

I also had the pleasure of using X1C gen 12, and I hated the blue tint on the OLED option. I'd rather get an IPS at that point. At least I did not notice any other issues with the Carbon, but the quality keeps decreasing every year. Before that I had T14 Gen 3 (terrible battery life, by design), T470S (great laptop, sadly the CPU is not very usable past-2020), X390 (the best recent Thinkpad ultraportable imo), T420, T400 and X200 (GOAT). But seriously, it is going downhill. I used each of them extensively for work (in the office and out and about) with both Windows and Linux (and even macOS at some point). I won't even say that the keyboard got worse, it's down to preference (and actually the OEM of the keyboard itself), but it's still the best out of all the laptops out there.

I'd still prefer it over any other laptop but when the Macbook exists, it's a hard sell at these prices.

[TheMaerli]

I have been using it just recently, a big advantage for me is it’s lightweight 1kg, a very long battery life, beautiful mat screen (I really don’t like all these commercial shiny glare effects). Some comments from the community were - why it’s not 64 but only 32 capacity and why it’s not a touchscreen (I see that Lenovo is offering a customizable version with a touchscreen but it’s IPS and not OLED, I can’t comment on that, I have taken a readymade version without a touchscreen). I think a touchscreen makes sense if you’re a designer or digital picture creator but then you might be using an iPad or a tablet.

[danieloherrick]

Been using ThinkPads continuously since 1995 (760ED). Have never had another brand of Windows PC. Have never has a problem with the hardware and very few OS problems.

[stojanikl]

Get this Laptop with haptic trackpad and load it with Win 11 LTSC IoT or just LTSC. It's the best combo laptop/os i have seen in a very long time. PS: this combo i just wrote is what I did myself. Incredibly close to macos when it comes to fluidiness of the overall daily use and feel.

[OblivionPrime]

The best laptop i have ever used is the asus g14 its tiny and slim yet very powerful and still very good battery

[sharpsbattle]

I’m waiting for the price to drop. Still running my gen 5

[alexios]

Y el Macbook M4 Pro no lo consideras mejor?

[AlexLovesColour.]

I wish reviewers were more honest about the battery life of this machine. In real-world usage, even just web browsing and emails, it only gets around 3 hours. That’s with the screen dimmed and running only at 60Hz. If I could go back, I would have chosen the T14s and used the Snapdragon chip. Yes, you’ll have some compatibility issues, but you’ll have all-day battery life

[cheesychester]

Cool. I'm itching to upgrade my Macbook Pro. This could be the machine.

[sneu]

Linux support is still in development, I think?
Nice ThinkPad btw, I picked up an X1 Carbon Gen 6 and loved it.
Best feeling keyboard on a laptop I ever owned, sadly the performance can't keep up with my need and had to let it go.

[duanmcinnes]

What is the 'point' of the trackpoint? i had an earlier ThinkPad and always found the trackpoint and the positioning of the additional touchpad buttons off-putting.

[feroukkhan]

8:20 touchscreen is available (or will be available but 400nits as opposed to the 500) i had touchscreen on my previous carbon gen 8 and I almost never needed it

[stefanmodigh]

Wait what...did they switch the fn & ctrl keys? 😊

[feroukkhan]

1:16 the trackpad is haptic. I have one of these and when the laptop crashes (which it’s doing for me - currently speaking with Lenovo - the trackpad is not clickable at all)

[wgm]

Thinkpad x9 is similar but different, but close enough to be similar for comparison

[AmamraYahia]

can you show us the inside of the laptop if the ram and the WIFI card are upgradeable?

[TrungLe-lwzm]

To be fair, the battery life still suck compared to Apple M4 laptops. I know each to their own but my work does not require Windows software.

[samvieten_official]

The shortcoming is that they only offer oled Screens ... It degrades over time and does suck much more battery.

Thinkpads used to hold up decades. With the OLED screen, this won't be the case. You can see nearly all 6+ years OLED Screens getting dead pixels around the edges.

[Ben-kiin]

Sorry, but in an ideal world, all laptops would run on arm. These x86 cpus are so inefficient in comparison. Hopefully Windows on ARM will catch up soon.