Lenovo makes its push for PC reinvention with new lineup of ‘AI PCs’
The aggressive push around AI is part of PC makers’ efforts to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Lenovo is going all-in on artificial intelligence, as the company pins its hopes on cutting-edge technology for a PC revival.
At its Innovate event on Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand, the company unveiled a new lineup of Yoga laptops and gaming PCs, promising to bring about the next wave of innovation and offering people a whole new way to use their laptops, all powered by artificial intelligence.
The aggressive push around AI is part of PC makers’ efforts to differentiate themselves in a crowded market and to rev up excitement where innovation has largely stalled in recent years.
The Yoga Pro 9i laptop is aimed at creatives. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Lenovo showcased the Yoga Book 9i, a unique spin on laptops featuring two screens. When paired with its detachable keyboard and cover, you can bend the Yoga Book 9i not only into a traditional clamshell form but also into dual landscape or dual portrait mode, a tented set of displays, and side-by-side screens. The device is powered by an Intel 14th-generation Core i7 U-class CPU, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, up to 32GB LPDDR5X memory, up to a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, and a rotating Bowers & Wilkins sound bar. This high-end dual-screen notebook may remind you of the Microsoft Surface Neo, which never made it to the market.
Lenovo calls the Yoga Book 9i “the first full-size dual-screen OLED laptop.” (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
In addition to the Yoga Book 9i, Lenovo also revealed other laptops receiving AI enhancements, particularly aimed at creatives. Its new 16-inch Yoga Pro 9i laptop brings a new Intel Core Ultra processor and can be configured with up to an Nvidia RTX 4070 mobile GPU Both it and the 14-inch Yoga 9i also pack an AI chip (“Lenovo AI Core Chip”) to power AI-driven optimizations for performance, battery life, and cooling efficiency. The notebooks also come with something called Lenovo’s Creator Zone software, which heavily relies on generative AI to convert text prompts into images. Both it and the 14-inch Yoga 9i also pack an AI chip (“Lenovo AI Core Chip”) to power AI-driven optimizations for performance, battery life, and cooling efficiency.
Lenovo also announced more affordable options in the form of the 14-inch Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i and Yoga Pro 7, alongside premium gaming notebooks including the Legion 9i. Not only do these gaming laptops feature AI chips for improved speed and performance, but they also feature the company’s proprietary Legion Coldfront: Hypercooling technology that keeps temperatures low while ensuring the fans don’t get too loud.
An attendee looks at the new Lenovo Legion gaming laptop. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Even though AI isn’t new, brands like Lenovo, the world’s largest maker of personal computers by volume, hope to mainstream the technology in possibly the largest consumer push for AI PCs. The intelligent device group, which covers PCs, tablets, smartphones, and other devices, generates about 80 percent of Lenovo’s revenue.
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Lenovo has been struggling as global demand for PCs has fallen in recent quarters after record-high sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Lenovo was able to maintain a lead over its peers in the PC market, such as HP and Dell, by shipping 59 million PCs last year, its sales volume dropped by 13 percent. In fact, global PC shipments during the final quarter of 2023 fell to 67.1 million units, a 2.7% drop from a year ago, according to U.S. market researcher IDC. This marked the eighth consecutive quarter of contraction.
Despite all the uneasiness surrounding slowing PC sales, the industry sees a glimmer of hope in AI PCs. “AI” is the buzzword in tech; listen to any earnings call or watch any product announcement from major hardware or software companies.
No wonder AI is very much a part of PC makers’ overall strategy, and they are building it into the very fabric of their devices and services. Lenovo’s new AI PCs come with a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard for quickly accessing the chatbot, which draws on AI models from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the makers behind ChatGPT.
The new PCs feature a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard for quickly accessing the chatbot. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Each computer comes packed with an Intel Core Ultra processor containing a special neural processing engine, or NPU, which frees up the rest of the chip for other tasks. These NPUs on a PC not only enable faster responses and better security but are also optimized to run on-device generative artificial intelligence features. Intel wants its latest chips to be inside 100 million AI PCs by next year.
The writer is in Bangkok attending Innovate 2024 at the invitation of Lenovo Thailand.
