Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13MSRP$2,719.00 Score Details The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 just might be the best ThinkPad yet.ProsExcellent build qualityIconic ThinkPad aestheticGood enough productivity performanceGood battery lifeSpectacular OLED displayConsVery expensiveNo haptic touchpadBattery life not as good as competitorsTable of ContentsTable of ContentsSpecs and configurationDesignKeyboard and touchpadConnectivity and webcamPerformanceBattery lifeDisplay and audioIs the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 worth it?Lenovos ThinkPad lineup has undergone a transformation in the last several years, with the company introducing newer versions that dont conform to the old-school ThinkPad aesthetic and design. The ThinkPad Z13 is an example of a laptop that drops most of the older cues and takes on a more modern look.Recommended VideosBut that doesnt mean Lenovo has completely abandoned the old-school ThinkPad. Its still around, with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 closely resembling laptops from a decade ago. Its a very nicely designed laptop built around Intel Lunar Lake, and has some improvements worth sticking around for. While it may no longer be one of the absolute best laptops, its still one of the best ThinkPads yet. Fans of the lineup should take a close look.RelatedLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13Dimensions14.37 x 8.08 x 0.56 inchesWeight2.17 poundsDisplay14.0-inch 16:10 2.8K (2880 x 1600) OLED, 120HzCPUIntel Core Ultra 7 258VGPUIntel Arc 140VMemory32GBStorage1TB SSD2TB SSDPorts2 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 42 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 11 x HDMI 2.11 x 3.5mm headphone jack1 x Nano SIMCamera1080p with infrared camera for Windows 11 HelloWi-FiWi-Fi 7 and Bluetoth 5.4Battery57 watt-hourOperating systemWindows 11Price$2,519+There are only two configurations of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, which is somewhat unusual for the lineup. More configurations might arrive at some point, but for now, the base model is $2,519 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a 14.0-inch 2.8K OLED display. For $2,719, you get a 2TB SSD. Thats my review unit.Those are expensive prices. You can get several other similarly configured laptops for closer to $1,500, such as the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 and the Acer Swift 14 AI. You really need to be a ThinkPad fan to spend $1,000 more.Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 bears a remarkable resemblance to the first generation, while simultaneously looking like a laptop made at the tail end of 2024. Thats a remarkable achievement, and anyone whos been a ThinkPad fan for years will certainly appreciate it. Its the same black-on-black aesthetic, red LED i in the logo on the lid, and red TrackPoint nubbin in the middle of the keyboard. Its instantly recognizable. The ThinkPad Z13 might be more modern, and the MacBook Air 15 more elegant, but the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a great-looking laptop in its own way.Its also solidly built from carbon fiber in the lid and magnesium in the chassis. The lid is a little flexible, something thats shared with some other well-built laptops like the MacBook Air 15, but the rest of the machine feels robust. Its built to meet MIL-STD 810H certification, as with many Lenovo laptops, and thats a testament to its durability and reliability.Its also remarkably light at just 2.17 pounds. Many of the best 14-inch laptops are well over 2.5 pounds, even including 13-inch laptops like the MacBook Air and the ThinkPad Z13. Youll immediately notice the difference when picking the ThinkPad X1 Carbon up off your desk. Its also easy to carry around, with thin bezels and an overall thinness that makes it a very portable 14-inch laptop. Theres just nothing to complain about with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13s design, and a lot to like.Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsThe keyboard is the old-school ThinkPad standard, with large sculpted keycaps and a bunch of key spacing. The switches are deep, and Ive used versions that were a bit too stiff for my taste. Thats not the case here. Theres plenty of travel, and yet the switched remain light and snappy enough for long-term comfort. I found the keyboard incredibly comfortable while I was typing this review, and I would be fine with it over my usual favorite, the Apple Magic Keyboard. Most people will love this keyboard.The touchpad isnt quite as good. To begin with, while the TrackPoint nubbin in the middle of the keyboard is great for people who like using it, it requires a set of buttons that take space away from the touchpad. In addition, the touchpad is mechanical, and while it has quiet, confident button clicks, a haptic touchpad would be a lot better at these prices.Lenovo sometimes has a haptic option, but I dont see it in any of the materials. The MacBook Air 15 has a much larger and much better Force Touch haptic touchpad, and some other 14-inch machines do as well. HPs haptic touchpad on the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 is one example.Connectivity is a good combination of legacy and modern ports. The only real complaint is that one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports is used for charging. Wireless connectivity is also good, with the latest standards. Theres an optional Nano SIM for cellular connectivity.The webcam is 1080p, which is the new standard. Some laptops have higher-res webcams, but this ones fine for most uses. The Intel Lunar Lake chipset has a fast neural processing unit (NPU) that runs at 45 tera operations per second (TOPS) and so exceeds Microsofts 40 TOPS requirement for its Copilot+ AI initiative.There arent a lot of AI features yet that can take advantage of the more efficient on-device NPU performance, but when they roll out, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 will be ready. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is an Aura Edition laptop, meaning if offers a variety of Intel-exclusive features like Shield for greater security, Collaboration for enhanced videoconferencing, AI-assisted power configurations, and more.Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsThe ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 uses Intels Lunar Lake chipset, which is aimed at efficiency over sheer performance. Its a 17-watt lineup that replaces the previous-generation Meteor Lake 15-watt Core Ultra S-series. All Lunar Lake chipsets are 8-core/8-thread parts running at various clock speeds, and they all use the latest Intel Arc integrated graphics. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon uses the Core Ultra 7 258V with Intel Arc 140v integrated graphics that falls somewhere between the previous generation and entry-level discrete GPUs.In our benchmarks, the ThinkPad is fast enough for productivity users but relatively slow for its class. Qualcomms Snapdragon X chipsets are faster while also being designed for efficiency. Apples M3 chipset, soon to be replaced by the faster M4 in the MacBook Air in early 2025, comes in the middle. Of these chipsets, the M3s GPU cores are the fastest. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13s Intel Arc 140V performance is the worst.If youre a gamer or creator, youll want to look elsewhere. But productivity users will find the ThinkPad X1 Carbon to be fast enough.Cinebench R24(single/multi)Geekbench 6(single/multi)Handbrake(seconds)3DMarkWild Life ExtremeLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)121 / 4472752 / 110961174771Acer Swift 14 AI(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)121 / 5252755 / 11138925294HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)116 / 5982483 / 10725997573HP Spectre x360 14(Core Ultra 7 155H / Intel Arc)102 / 4852176 / 1198093N/ALenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)109 / 6302485 / 10569885217Asus Zenbook S 14(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)112 / 4522738 / 107341137514HP OmniBook X(Snapdragon X Elite / Adreno)101 / 7492377 / 13490N/A6165MacBook Air(M3)141 / 6013102 / 120781098098Mark Coppock / Digital TrendsAs mentioned above, Intels Lunar Lake chipsets are aimed at efficiency over performance. While they perform well enough, theyre slower than both the Qualcomm and Apple chipsets theyre competing against. In most of our reviews so far, Lunar Lake laptops still havent been generally as efficient overall as Apples MacBook lineup, but theyre still much longer-lasting than previous generation Windows laptops.The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 has a 57 watt-hour battery, which is a little small for a 14-inch laptop, and it also has a hi-res OLED display running at 120Hz. Its not as strong a performer as some other Lunar Lake laptops with IPS displays or larger batteries. It falls well behind many of its competitors, including the strongest performer, the MacBook Air M3.Youll get most of a full days work on a charge. But there are other, longer-lasting laptops available.Web browsingVideoCinebench R24Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13(Core Ultra 7 258V / Intel Arc 140V)10 hours, 34 minutes15 hours, 58 minutes1 hour, 58 minutesAcer Swift 14 AI(Core Ultra 7 258V)17 hours, 22 minutes24 hours, 10 minutes2 hours, 7 minutesHP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14(Core Ultra 7 258V)11 hours, 5 minutes15 hours, 46 minutes2 hours, 14 minutesHP Spectre x360 14(Core Ultra 7 155H)7 hours, 9 minutes14 hours, 22 minutesN/ALenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition(Core Ultra 7 258V)14 hours, 16 minutes17 hours, 31 minutes2 hours, 15 minutesAsus Zenbook S 14(Core Ultra 7 258V)16 hours, 47 minutes18 hours, 35 minutes3 hours, 33 minutesMicrosoft Surface Laptop(Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100)14 hours, 21 minutes22 hours, 39 minutesN/AHP Omnibook X(Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100)13 hours, 37 minutes22 hours, 4 minutes1 hour, 52 minutesApple MacBook Air(Apple M3)19 hours, 38 minutes19 hours, 39 minutes3 hours, 27 minutesMark Coppock / Digital TrendsId reviewed several laptops with IPS displays before unboxing the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, and I was immediately struck by the colors and inky blacks displayed by its 14-inch 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED display. Those IPS displays werent bad, but OLED really is excellent technology.My colorimeter agreed. The display was very bright at 421 nits, and blacks were near-perfect with an extremely high contrast ratio of 29,400:1. Colors were wide at 100% of sRGB, 98% of AdobeRGB, and 99% of DCI-P3, and they were incredibly accurate at a DeltaE of 0.73 (less than 1.0 is indistinguishable to the human eye).This laptops isnt fast enough for creative work, but its display is more than good enough. And it makes for a great streaming media platform, with great high dynamic range (HDR) video. Audio was just OK with speakers hidden beneath the keyboard. Volume was fine and mids and highs were clear, but bass was lacking.The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 is a very good laptop and will be for just about anyone. Its incredibly thin, light, and well-built. Meanwhile, its performance is more than fast enough for demanding productivity users, and while its battery life isnt the best by contemporary standards, its much longer than previous generations of Windows laptops.But its also very expensive. That includes a spectacular OLED display, but other, less expensive laptops offer the same. Ultimately, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 should be on anyones list, but the price will mean that ultimately its ThinkPad fans who will appreciate it the most.Editors Recommendations

Mass Effect is a sci-fi epic in video game form, currently stretching across four games, with the fifth one coming at some point in the future. And based on a few cryptic social media posts, fans believe the creator might restore the original morality system that set the first game apart.Michael Gamble, director of the franchise, has referenced the Renegade/Paragon system of the original in recent posts on X, and thats led many players to speculate that he intends to bring back the system for the next game in the series. Mass Effect: Andromedawas met with a lot of criticism, with many players holding the belief that it doesnt fit into the overall franchise. Players have expressed a desire to recapture the magic of that first playthrough in the next title.Recommended VideosIf you didnt play the original game, the morality system allowed players to work toward being a Paragon a good player or a Renegade, an evil player. Each choice had immediate consequences, and many party members would react poorly to Renegade choices. However, the further you went down either path, the more dialogue choices opened (including the option to kick a reporter through the window at one point).Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe renegade/paragon system is absolutely returning for Mass Effect 5 https://t.co/4OY9iUD2Cs pic.twitter.com/htjke2gz1C Kala Elizabeth (@kalaelizabeth) January 3, 2025RelatedTo be clear, this is all speculation and, for now, wishful thinking. Little detail has been provided about the next Mass Effect game aside from short teaser trailers and promo clips, and it might not even release until 2029 or beyond. No, thats not a typo were looking at Bethesda-level development time. However, as Gamble points out in his message, the team developing the next game is the same team that worked to make the original trilogy such a smash hit.Yep, its been a long time. But, many of us who were leaders on the Shepard trilogy are leading this game. Mass effect runs in our blood. Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) December 31, 2024We cant say for sure when the nextMass Effect game will hit shelves (and by 2029, it might just be digital shelves), but after the success ofDragon Age: Veilguard, Bioware is in a prime position to release another mind-blowing RPG.Editors Recommendations

Elon Musk said Reform UK's Nigel Farage "doesn't have what it takes" to be the party's leader.It comes after Farage disagreed with Musk's support for jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson.Musk's comments came just hours after Farage called the Tesla CEO a "friend" in an interview.Elon Musk appears to have turned on Reform UK's Nigel Farage, the leader of the country's right-wing party."The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn't have what it takes," Musk wrote on X on Sunday.Musk has recently supported Reform UK as an alternative to the ruling Labour Party, primarily for its anti-immigration stance. Farage has welcomed that support and the two appeared to be forging a strong relationship. Farage recently visited Musk in the United States. And Musk was rumored to be lining up donations for Reform UK.But things took a turn after Musk called for the release of Tommy Robinson, a jailed far-right anti-immigration activist. Speaking at a Reform UK event earlier this week, Farage said Robinson was "not what we need," The Telegraph reported."There are people in Britain who think that Robinson is a political prisoner. That's the narrative that he's pushed out. That's how he earns his living but it isn't quite true," he said.On Sunday, Farage responded to Musk, calling the billionaire a "remarkable individual" but saying that he disagreed with his view on Robinson."Well, this is a surprise! Elon is a remarkable individual but on this I am afraid I disagree," he wrote. "My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles."Robinson is a controversial far-right figure in the UK who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October for contempt of court. Musk has repeatedly called for Robinson's release.Robinson is something of a third rail in the UK. Farage, who does not shy away from controversy, accused the activist during far-right, anti-immigration riots in the UK over the summer of trying to "stir up hatred.""As for the Tommy Robinsons and those that genuinely do stir up hatred, well, I've never had anything to do with them," Farage said in a video he posted at the time.Hours before Musk's latest comments, the Reform UK leader described the tech mogul as a "friend" in an interview on the BBC.Farage said the fact that Musk "supports me politically and supports Reform doesn't mean I have to agree with every single statement he makes on X."Business Insider has contacted Reform UK for comment.

Fans love fancasting, and they especially love doing it with Batman. While Robert Pattinsons still donning the cowl for Matt Reeves recently delayed crime saga, folks are waiting to see wholl play the Dark Knight in the also still-upcoming Brave & the Bold. If things went Bill Skarsgrds way, hed more than willing to play either Batman orJoker.During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the new Nosferatu expressed his interest in playing Batman (or at the very least, Bruce Wayne) for the new DCU, which doesnt have one yet. Braves status is currently in flux after director Andy Muschietti recently implied it got pushed back. While Skarsgrd knows as much about that movie as anyone who isnt Muschietti or James Gunnaka, not veryhes more than open to teaming with the director again after they previously collaborated on theItseries. Similarly, Skarsgrds confident theres a really cool fucking Joker in him, and thinks playing the Clown Prince would be pretty sick. That characters place in the DCU is a little more unclear at the moment, since he hasnt gotten a shoutout in Creature Commandosand the next major piece of Bat-media is 2026sClayfacemovie. But typecasting be damned, if anyone knows how to play a well-dressed murder clown, its this actor. Or maybe he can be Batman and Joker? Skarsgrds done some interesting genre work the past few years, and even when those movies werent entirely good, hes been fairly good in them. Thatd be a challenge, but an interesting one, and maybe hes got what it takes to pull off that weird swing. Its been a minute since one actors played dual roles in a movie, but if Sinnerscan do it, so can DC.[via Forbes] Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

It was only a matter of time before robot vacuums reached a new stage of evolution. Over the years, they have become faster, smarter, and can even climb. So, it should be no surprise to anyone here at CES 2025 that wed see one that can sprout a claw arm to assist in its cleaning duties.The Roborock Saros Z70 is a robot vacuum with a foldable arm inside its chassis. The OmniGrip mechanical arm can extend and twist to pick up small objects or bits of trash and drop them off at a designated area. The Saros Z70 will run its regular cleaning routine and note things it can pick up. Once the initial cleaning is finished, it will circle back to pick up the item and carry it away. If youre impatient, you can control the arm yourself via the app. A camera inside the arm makes picking up objects easier and gives it a fun carnival game vibe.The arm itself can only pick up items up to 300 grams. At a private demo, we saw the Saros Z70 attempt to pick up some balled-up socks to mixed results. Roborock said the bot was running off older software during the presentation; the claw arm struggled to pick up the loose sock on the first few tries and even refused to come out of its compartment during one test run, requiring a handful of hard resets. As you can see from the video, the AI-powered robot vacuum takes a long time to pick up and relocate the sock. However, if you run it overnight or when youre away, its probably not that big of a deal. In addition to socks, the Saros Z70 should be able to handle small toys, towels, and slippers and put them back where they belong. Roborock states that the Saros Z70 detects up to 108 items using machine learning. The app allows you to define and label up to 50 custom objects in your household. All the information is stored on the device, never in the cloud.Outside of being able to pick up your trash, the Saros Z70 offers everything youd expect from a high-end robot vacuum. It mops, cleans corners, and has a dock with fast-charge. It will also work with smart home ecosystems like Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.The Roborock Saros Z70 will launch later this year. Pricing has not been announced yet. Gizmodo is covering all the coolest and weirdest tech from the show floor at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. Follow our live coverage here.

House Studio in Castelo de Vide / Atelier LandauerSave this picture! Tiago Casanova, Alan LevittWorkshop, HousesCastelo de Vide, PortugalArchitects: Atelier LandauerAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:130 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Tiago Casanova, Alan LevittMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Located on the western edge of Portugal's Serra de Sao Mamede, the site offers a slightly overhanging view over the Alentejo plain. A flat alley set between two large granite massifs gives access to the house. It's extended by a natural ramp at the foot of an imposing rock. The house-studio is perfectly oriented on the North-South axis.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Built by local craftsmen, the walls are made of the same granite as the rock on which they stand. There are no lintels on the faades: for each opening, the walls are interrupted all the way to the top, revealing, at a constant height, the rim of the upper concrete slab. To preserve the protective presence of the stone, the pipes have been placed inside. Rainwater is collected in a cistern beneath the house.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The house studio has been designed as a group of rooms. Each of these rooms refers to a primitive archetype: a dolmen, a menhir, a megaron, a partially covered enclosure. The dolmen - a long, linear room - links the three other rooms. It has been compressed to its maximum width. Bordered by stones on both sides, the interstices between the rooms create an incompressible gap between the thresholds. Each time you move from one room to the next, you can also consider leaving the house.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Between the thick granite walls of each room, low-profile slabs convert the interstices into solar chimneys. Direct openings to these volumes of warm, west-facing air are provided at the top of the rooms. Adjustable louvers modulate the convective movement of the air entering through the northern faades. This principle is entirely passive and works even when the house studio is unoccupied.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeAtelier LandauerOfficePublished on January 05, 2025Cite: "House Studio in Castelo de Vide / Atelier Landauer" 05 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025250/house-studio-in-castelo-de-vide-atelier-landauer&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

In this tutorial, Ill show you how to dramatically speed up your level design process in Unreal Engine 5.5 using the Actor Palette Plugin! Learn how to quickly drag and drop assets directly from a showcase level into your main level, making level creation twice as fast. I'll also demonstrate how to dock the Actor Palette window for an efficient workflow, whether you have a single or dual-screen setup.The level featured in this video is from the stunning Egypt Ruins pack, which you can find here: Egypt Ruins Asset Pack: https://www.fab.com/listings/d6faf74f-a914-448d-bd50-4f3bb482fc85 Special thanks to the artist behind the incredible clothing assets featured in this scene! Check out their work here: Clothing Artist Portfolio: https://www.artstation.com/fahi_r If youre ready to unlock the secrets of faster level design, dont miss this video!

In "time expansion experiences," time typically appears to expand by many orders of magnitude.

Soulslike games have been on the rise for quite some time now, and 2025 is shaping up to be one of the genre's biggest years yet. Between ongoing franchises and newcomers alike, there is no shortage of major releases to look out for. If even half of these titles live up to their promise, fans of the Soulslike genre will be well-fed indeed.

Yukiko's Castle is the first real dungeon players will be exploring in Persona 4 Golden. While it's only seven floors long, players will experience a lot and learn about the ins and outs of the game while being eased into the combat.