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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9

Lenovo's flagship 14-inch business ultralight for 2021: the first X1 Carbon with a 16:10 panel, 11th Gen Intel Core (Tiger Lake) processors, soldered LPDDR4x memory and a 1.13 kg carbon-fiber chassis. Aimed at executives and mobile workers who want Thunderbolt 4, optional 4G/5G and a long-running 57 Wh battery.

Memory

Configuration
8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB soldered to the system board; no slots, not upgradable
Type
LPDDR4x-4266, 8-channel
Max
32 GB

Storage

Slot
One M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4
Max
One drive, up to 2 TB
Offered
256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB PCIe NVMe Opal 2.0; Performance 512 GB / 1 TB / 2 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe Opal 2.0
Card reader
None
Optical
None

Graphics

Integrated
Intel Iris Xe Graphics (DirectX 12.1)
External displays
Up to 4 independent (panel + 3 external via Thunderbolt and HDMI); Thunderbolt up to 5K60, HDMI up to 4K60

Networking

WLAN
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201, 802.11ax 2x2, Bluetooth 5.1 (5.2 hardware ready)
WWAN (optional)
Quectel EM120R-GL 4G LTE Cat12 (with or without eSIM), Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Sub-6 GHz with eSIM, or WWAN-upgradable (antenna ready) models
Ethernet
None onboard; via optional Lenovo USB-C to Ethernet Adapter (bundled on some models)
NFC
Optional

Power

Adapters
45 W or 65 W USB-C (standard or 65 W slim, 2-pin or 3-pin), PD 3.0
Rapid Charge
80% in about 1 hour with the 65 W adapter (system off)
P-to-P 2.0
Both Thunderbolt 4 ports can charge another computer (needs Always On USB and Charge in Battery Mode enabled in BIOS)

Ports

Left
2 × Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 40 Gbps (PD 3.0, DisplayPort 1.4a; one is the power connector), 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.0
Right
Headphone/mic combo jack, nano-SIM tray (WWAN models), 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Always On), Kensington Nano Security Slot

Display

WUXGA IPS 400 nits
1920×1200, non-touch, anti-glare, 100% sRGB, 1000:1, low power, TÜV Low Blue Light
WUXGA IPS 400 nits touch
1920×1200, on-cell touch, anti-glare, 100% sRGB, 1000:1, low power
WUXGA IPS 500 nits Privacy Guard
1920×1200, on-cell touch, anti-glare, 100% sRGB, 1000:1, ThinkPad Privacy Guard
WQUXGA IPS 500 nits
3840×2400, non-touch, glossy, 100% DCI-P3, 1500:1, DisplayHDR 400
Camera
720p or 720p + IR hybrid, with privacy shutter

Battery

Capacity
Integrated 57 Wh Li-polymer
Rated life
Up to 21.3 h MobileMark 2014 / 16.7 h MobileMark 2018 / 26.0 h JEITA 2.0

Physical

Dimensions (W×D×H)
315 × 221.6 × 14.9 mm (12.4 × 8.72 × 0.59 in)
Weight
Starting at 1.133 kg (2.49 lb)
Case
Carbon fiber top (black paint or black weave), magnesium alloy bottom
Keyboard
6-row, spill-resistant, backlit, TrackPoint + glass touchpad
Audio
2 × 2 W woofers + 2 × 0.8 W tweeters, Dolby Atmos; quad far-field mics, Dolby Voice
Security
Discrete TPM 2.0, fingerprint reader in power button (match-on-chip), optional IR camera, optional Human Presence Detection, Kensington Nano slot
Durability
MIL-STD-810H tested
Machine types
20XW, 20XX

Management

vPro
Intel vPro or non-vPro depending on model
BIOS
Self-healing BIOS; power-on, supervisor and NVMe passwords
Announced
PSREF model announce dates 2021-03-02 to 2023-04-25
Status
Withdrawn (PSREF); end of support 2027-10-02

Operating systems

Preloads
Windows 11 Pro / Home, Windows 11 Pro downgrade to Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Pro / Home, Ubuntu Linux, Fedora Linux, Linux, no OS

Processors

  • Intel Core i5-1135G7
  • Intel Core i5-1145G7
  • Intel Core i7-1165G7
  • Intel Core i7-1185G7