T490: out, T16 Gen3: in

[dr_st]

I've recently traded in my corporate T490 (Whisky Lake Core i7-8665U) for a T16 Gen3 (Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 165U).

The T490 was almost never used since I got it. I much preferred the Thinkpad 25 for its keyboard, despite its bigger bulk and having half the cores. The T490 retains the mechanical side-dock compatibility of the T480, but otherwise made a few changes to shrink the chassis and reduce weight. Only one RAM slot (and one soldered) and a single internal battery instead of an internal and a external. It is a bit more compact than the 470/480/25 generation, and lighter too. I weighed it at 1.475kg with the 50Wh battery. It's quite a nice lightweight machine.



I never owned a 15.4" or 16" Thinkpad with a numpad, and decided to give it a shot, rather than getting yet another 14" model. I have been following Thinkpads with very little interest between the T490 generation and the current offerings, so I am probably not up to speed on all the developments and little gen-to-gen changes, but here's what I observed:

The T16 Gen3 went back to the fully black color scheme, rather than the weird in-between colors. I like that.
The logo and hinges are now fully black, like was first introduced on X1 Carbon. The model name is not written on the LCD bezel, but on this special part on the top of the lid. Maybe so that people opposite you can read it. But it's black too, and barely readable. Can't say I care much about any of this.
We lost the keyboard layout war after the TP25, but keyboards keep on getting shallower too. The T16 Gen3 feels worse than T490, never mind the layout.
There is a full-width rubber strip at the back instead of two rubber feet. I think it may be better, as it will wear out less? The front still has two feet.




The port selection of the T16 Gen 3 is almost on par with the T490. Two USB-A (one on each side), two USB-C (left), HDMI, Ethernet, combo audio. The micro-SD slot is gone (now it's just a nanoSIM). A bit disappointing to have worse port selection on a bigger chassis.

Another victim of the endless march towards zero-thickness machines - the RJ45 Ethernet port on the T16 Gen3 is not a full-height one. It is one of those designs that extends a little bit when you connect the cable. Can't quite understand why - there is vertical space on the chassis to put a full-size port. Something must have been using that space internally (speakers? LCD driver?).



The T16 Gen3 is compact and lightweight enough for a 16" screen. I weighed it at 1.94kg and that's with a 86Wh battery. Quite impressive. I still remember when 15" laptops were almost 3kg with similar batteries.

The Thinkpad 25 still feels quite usable to me as a primary corporate laptop, but I have a feeling that once I actually try using the newer machine, I will not be able to go back easily. Maybe I'll continue using both for a while - the T16 Gen3 at the office for heavy computing stuff (compilation, etc.), and Thinkpad 25 at home and on the road, as long as it keeps on ticking.

The T16, from its very first release, dropped the compatibility with the side-mount mechanical docks. It's only USB-C and Thunderbolt now. Fine by me, since I would need a dock like this anyways if I want it to support both my Thinkpad 25 and a newer machine.



Click on thumbnails for bigger pictures.

[Ibthink]

Note that the T16 Gen 3 (like all other newly redesigned models) has moved the fan exhaust to the back instead of the side as before. This is the reason for the long rubber strip instead of two separate rubber feet in the back. That rubber strip creates a separation between the fan intake on the bottom and the fan exhaust on the back, and thus prevents the device from taking in the hot air that is exhausted out the back.

Also, compared with the T490, this one has two SO-DIMM slots again, like the smaller T14 Gen 5. Might be the last hurrah for SO-DIMM though, as the industry has developed the CAMM2 / LPCAMM2 standards to replace it and SO-DIMM is limited to the current DDR5 speeds by design. The new ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 is the first laptop to use the new LPCAMM2 standard, delivering upgradable LPDDR5X memory for the first time.

[dr_st]

That rubber strip creates a separation between the fan intake on the bottom and the fan exhaust on the back, and thus prevents the device from taking in the hot air that is exhausted out the back.

Clever! Thanks for this piece of info.

[TPFanatic]

I'm just going to say it right now the top-notch is ugly and I hope Lenovo figures out how to go back to a rectilinear design in future iterations. They can surely afford the materials cost to make the case and screen bezels a little bigger.

[dr_st]

I'm just going to say it right now the top-notch is ugly and I hope Lenovo figures out how to go back to a rectilinear design in future iterations.

Reminds me of the bump to accommodate the WWAN antenna on the T60/Z61 series.

[TPFanatic]

I see what you mean. I find it’s ugly on those laptops too.

[dr_st]

One thing I didn't mention re: the T16 Gen3 - it is the first generation of Thinkpads where Ctrl/Fn were swapped by default like on most other manufacturers' keyboards.

I, however, prefer the Fn to be the outermost key on my laptop keyboard. Fortunately, not only is the swap function still present in the BIOS (alongside the the Fn-lock for F1-F12), but the keycaps for Fn and Ctrl are physically the same size.

I was a bit wary, as I found no instructions online for prying keys off this particular keyboard (too new I guess), but the instructions for previous generations (stick something thin between the key cap and the hinge mechanism to hold it down) worked, and I was able to carefully remove and swap the caps without breaking anything and without the hinge coming off the backplate.

[mikemex]

Is the case metallic?

[mikemex]

Might be the last hurrah for SO-DIMM though, as the industry has developed the CAMM2 / LPCAMM2 standards to replace it and SO-DIMM is limited to the current DDR5 speeds by design.

A good move. LPDDR improves battery life significantly and it's still modular. Win-win.