The Subsequent Technology of Modular, Repairable Laptops Might Have Extra Than One Display screen

The newest AssumeBook X1 Carbon, which Lenovo debuted with additional fanfare again at CES 2026, boasts additional repairability past another laptop computer within the firm’s ultraportable repertoire. However, that simply detachable keyboard and chassis have been constructed extra for the sake of educated technicians moderately than the lowly laptop computer person who simply desires to swap out their USB-C port for HDMI. Lenovo’s newest ThinkPad idea goes a step additional. It guarantees an entire new stage of modularity that’s much more bold than Framework’s present design. It’s solely held again by Lenovo’s want to hold on to too many proprietary parts.

This Modular AI Concept looks like an adaptation of so many opponents, corresponding to Framework and Asus. With the keyboard on, it resembles an everyday 14-inch AssumeBook laptop computer. The keyboard then comes off, revealing a platform the place you may stick in a secondary display screen. It ought to remind you of the Asus Zenbook Duo with comparable dual-screen performance. The modularity doesn’t cease there. That display screen may also connect to the rear of the laptop computer lid. In this mode, customers can mirror their display screen to indicate anyone on the surface what they’re engaged on.

That secondary display screen may also hang around as an exterior show due to an built-in kickstand. It’s not Bluetooth enabled, that means you’ll have to plug it into one of many AssumeBook’s out there USB-C ports. Taking a web page from Framework, two of the laptop computer’s 4 ports are detachable and swappable with—ostensibly—another number of port. If you realize you’ll be working with images, you could possibly change it for an SD card slot.

It simply wants an additional contact of Framework

I used to be beginning to really feel the thrill constructing. Finally, Lenovo was going full Framework and promising its business-class laptops may have the customizability we’ve longed for for therefore lengthy. Then actuality set in. Unlike the Framework 13, the AssumeBook idea makes use of a pin connection for its detachable ports. Framework, however, depends on a USB-C system that allows extra customers to put in any variety of port connections. That means the AssumeBook is much much less customizable for the DIYers who get pleasure from creating their very own modules for his or her laptops.

There’s so much to love in regards to the ThinkPad idea, besides maybe for the sturdiness. The pin part behind the monitor grew to become unglued as I eliminated it from the laptop computer. Lenovo fished me out a substitute so I may end testing it. Still, I’ll admit the concept behind this laptop computer is particularly engaging. The Zenbook Duo proved we are able to have a high-powered dual-screen laptop computer with robust battery life. Having one with much more modularity may make the ThinkPad design extra worthwhile past the usual enterprise laptop computer person. Lenovo simply must eschew the module’s pin connection and stick a giant pink TrackPoint “nipple” within the heart of the keyboard, and the ThinkPad Modular might be the one ultraportable laptop computer to rule all of them.

As with any proof of idea, you shouldn’t count on a finalized product. It’s Lenovo’s concentrate on proprietary ports that dampens my enthusiasm. We ought to all get pleasure from a extra modular, repairable design. We’d be higher off if Lenovo may belief its customers to do it themselves.

If you don’t care about modularity, how a couple of 3D display screen?

As if Lenovo didn’t have already got sufficient idea units in tow, it was additionally adamant I take a look at its Yoga Book Pro 3D idea. This machine is strictly what it seems like: an enormous, dual-screen laptop computer, with one display screen constructed for glasses-less 3D. Sure, it’s operating on an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor (Lunar Lake, not Panther Lake, sadly) and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 cellular GPU, however what you actually care about are these twin screens.

Lenovo has proven me earlier monitor ideas and prototypes, like its ThinkVision 2D/3D monitor and the same laptop computer with a 3D display screen. Those units make use of an hooked up webcam to trace customers’ eyes. Then, the display screen exhibits a special picture to every eye, making a stereoscopic impact that ends in customers perceiving a 3D picture. Samsung has this know-how in its Odyssey 3D gaming monitor and upcoming 6K-resolution 3D redux. The Yoga Book Pro 3D Concept is constructed extra for creators than avid gamers. It features a touchscreen on the underside that works with a stylus. Users can manipulate a 3D mannequin in a graphics app, then see the way it appears in 3D on the highest display screen.

If 3D screens take off—regardless of my enthusiasm for them, that’s a giant ‘if’—then all these units could turn out to be vital for creators and 3D modelers. The backside display screen additionally makes use of “pads” that react to the show, enabling a shade picker or a lighting adjuster. Believe it or not, it’s that small function that’s the least helpful of this extremely odd laptop computer.