When is Thunderbolt coming to the X230 or X2... line?

[TheKeyboards]

I mean this is really the only thing holding me back from upgrading my aging X201, which is just shy of 3 years old. Is it in the cards?

[wolfman]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The only model in the Thinkpad line that I am aware of that has Thunderbolt are the Core i7 equipped T430s models. Unfortunately, Lenovo hasn't pre-announced specs for the upcoming models, so it's anyone's guess whether or not there will be an X series model with a Thunderbolt port.

[TheKeyboards]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The only model in the Thinkpad line that I am aware of that has Thunderbolt are the Core i7 equipped T430s models. Unfortunately, Lenovo hasn't pre-announced specs for the upcoming models, so it's anyone's guess whether or not there will be an X series model with a Thunderbolt port.

I see. Two questions then. When roughly do you think the new X models will arrive? And two, can someone confirm finally whether an NVIDIA equipped T430s with an i7 has Thunderbolt, or do you need to forego the NVIDIA option and order the T430s with the Intel HD 4000?

[wolfman]

To the best of my knowledge, the T430s with the Core i7 and Intel Integrated GPU will have the Thunderbolt port, but the same configuration with nVidia Optimus graphics will not.

It's tough to judge exactly when you will be able to order a Haswell based Thinkpad. Intel, in their 3rd quarter earnings release, said they'd be building Haswell inventory starting in Q4 2012 for a release in Q1 2013. It's likely to be later in Q1 and I'd be surprised if we saw Haswell based machines on the market before April, 2013 - but that is just a guess with no privileged information behind it... YMMV.