Not Too Different: Living With the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 (2023)

pcmag.com:

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 8 is effectively the two-in-one version of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11, with a hinge that lets you rotate the screen completely and a built-in small stylus. Just as with previous Gen 7 version of the X1 Yoga, the hinge lets you flip over the screen so that it works like a tablet (with the keyboard hidden underneath) or use it in “tent” mode for presentations. I think such convertible or two-in-one machines can be useful for people who do a lot of presentations, and maybe for those who watch videos on their laptops on planes.

This year’s version, like that of the X1 Carbon, hasn’t changed much from last year’s except for an upgrade to the 13th Generation Intel Core processors. The machine I tested had an Intel Core i7-1355U (Raptor Lake) processor with 2 performance cores (each offering two threads each) and eight efficient cores, thus a total of 10 cores and 12 threads. This has a base power of 15 watts, with a maximum frequency of 5GHz on the performance cores. Compared to the machine I tested last year, which had an Intel Core i7-1260P (Alder Lake) processor, it has two fewer performance core and thus four fewer threads, along with less cache (12MB vs 18 MB), lower base power, but a faster turbo for the CPU–up to 5GHz. The processor is manufactured on the same Intel 7 process and has the same Iris Xe graphics with 96 execution cores and vPro support for enterprise manageability. In other words, the basic processor isn’t much different, but it has fewer cores running at higher speeds. My model had 16GB of memory along with a 512GB SSD, the same as last year.

The X1 Yoga Gen 8 looks virtually identical to last year’s model, with a 14-inch display in a “Storm Gray” casing of brushed