On Oct. 5, 1992, IBM unveiled the first-ever ThinkPad laptop, its tiny TrackPoint nub later becoming one of the most recognized icons in computer design. Exactly 25 years later, Lenovo is releasing ThinkPad 25, a modern ThinkPad with a classic, boxy design that screams nothing but "Retro!"
Lenovo Goes Retro With The ThinkPad 25 For The Laptop's 25th Anniversary
Granted that nearly every ThinkPad iteration looks somewhat retro, the 25th-anniversary model is basically taking the word retro and underlining it three times. To be clear, though, it looks more like a somewhat upgraded ThinkPad T470 model.
"Devoid of superfluous ornamentation, ThinkPad is the enemy of trendiness, design clichés, fleeting fashion, or competitive emulation," said David Hill, Lenovo's VP for Think Design and User Experience. "Instead, it is the embodiment of an original and authentic idea."
One would be surprised to know that the original ThinkPad, designed by Richard Sapper, was inspired by the Japanese bento box, the country where the device was engineered in. Lenovo has borrowed plenty of these classic elements and integrated them into ThinkPad 25, complete with rubberized coating, a backlit seven-row keyboard, blue key accents and a blue enter key, a rainbow-colored ThinkPad logo, and — most especially — a classic TrackPoint nub.
Lenovo first announced plans to create a retro ThinkPad more than a year ago, asking fans what they would want to see on such an iteration. Now, it has delivered on that promise. However, despite its retro look, the ThinkPad 25 has of course been updated with modern gear.
Lenovo ThinkPad 25 Specs
The 14-inch screen has a 16:9 ratio with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, which may disappoint many fans who wanted a more classic 3:2 screen, but that's not a problem. The laptop still looks as retro as it can get.
Underneath, there's a 7th-generation Kaby Lake i7-7500U processor, 16 GB of RAM, GeForce 940MX graphics, and a 512GB PCIe SSD for storage. What makes this laptop even more retro is the smattering of parts available, including Thunderbolt 3, Ethernet port, HDMI port, SD card reader, and three USB 3.1 gen 1 ports. There's also a fingerprint reader built-in, but facial recognition is also available.
It's not cheap. The ThinkPad 25 retails for $1,899, and Lenovo is only going to produce a limited amount of them, so if those of you want to nab this baby should go to Lenovo's online store and buy it immediately.
Thoughts on the ThinkPad 25? Are you going to buy one? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
