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Does the ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 have 5G?
No, but it has 4G LTE. Both the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 4 and the ThinkPad X13 Yoga are listed as supporting 4G LTE WWAN. 4G LTE speeds are close to 5G, depending on your region. If you want true 5G, and you're in a city that has 5G cellular towers, you're probably better off using a 5G capable phone as a hotspot, and then selecting it as a network on Windows.
Does the ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 have Thunderbolt?
It depends on which model you buy. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports if you buy a model that has an Intel CPU. If you buy the model with an AMD CPU, you'll only get USB4 ports, which still have comparable speeds but lack some features. For example, Thunderbolt has PCIe signaling and unlocks the ability to use an external GPU with your ThinkPad for more intensive tasks like gaming, coding, or video editing. You'll also be able to use Thunderbolt-certified docks, SSDs, and monitors. With monitors specifically over Thunderbolt, you can connect to two 4K displays at 60Hz at once or one 8K monitor to boost your productivity. On the ThinkPad with USB4, you'll be limited to USB-C docks if you want that dual monitor support. USB4 only supports one display.
Does the ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 run Linux?
The ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 runs Windows 11 and isn't certified to run Linux. If you want to run Linux on this machine, you can try to dualboot it or replace Windows 11 using installation media, but with the risk of certain things like the trackpad or display not working. A much better solution is to virtualize Linux using software like Oracle Virtualbox or to run the Windows Subsystem for Linux on top of Windows 11.
AMD's 7*40U mobile CPU has been released for sometimes, I am surprised to see Lenovo hasn't released any X13 Gen 4 with AMD's processors.
What's going on? Chip shortage?
Any idea when will Lenovo release the X13 G4 AMD?
This got into my hands today, quite a bit earlier than anticipated. The factory provided SSD was quickly swapped with my daily driver Arch Linux drive with 6.5 kernel and Gnome, mainly to verify if this machine would be a worthy replacement for my X13 gen 3.
The model in question is marked as 21J3 / 21J4, detailed specs at https://psref.lenovo.com/Product/ThinkPad/ThinkPad_X13_Gen_4_AMD.
The SKU being shown here is designated by Lenovo as 21J3CT01WW, with Ryzen Pro 7480U Phoenix APU, 32GB soldered LPDDR5x-7500, 256GB SSD, 1920x1200 16:10 400nit low-power IPS panel, backlit keyboard, all packed up in the "deep-black" carbon fiber hybrid top cover chassis variant.
ThinkPad X13 Gen 4 AMDChassis
Compared to Gen 3, this is a completely new design. New generation chassis is about 5 millimeters less wider than the previous one, tad bit less deep and about 2 millimeters less "fat". New chassis design has all fan exhausts on the back side, the speakers are placed on both sides of the keyboard and the whole package seems to be lighter than the last generation.
X13 gen 4 AMD top coverBuild-quality wise, it does seem pretty solid, in spite of carbon fiber hybrid top cover (20% CF + 50% GF material, according to Lenovo's specs). The top surface material is made of what seems to be a reinforced aluminium, and the bottom cover is just an aluminium sheet - yet well made. This year most ThinkPads refreshes received a "notch" on top of their screens - this model is not an exception, and IMHO it actually fits very well in the overall design.
bottom cover removedOn the other hand, top and bottom of the chassis are a total fingerprint magnet, a proper hand hygiene is very welcome, if not required, when handling.
Keyboard & Touchpad
There is an update in the keyboard and touch-pad designs, and it seems to be for the better, compared to the previous generation. No significant flex was observed, the key travel depth seems to be unchanged from previous generation - yet the keys seem sturdier and do provide more firm feedback. Back-lit keyboard SKU here, pleasure to type with. The touchpad and its buttons do feel very robust, without rattle of any sort, in spite of being made of mylar.
Display
In my region only 1920x1200 16:10 panel options were available at the time of the purchase, and a 400-nit low-power variant I selected is pretty awesome. Very bright, probably brighter than rated, it is one of the the most impressive components in this little machine, a pleasure to look at it. EDID tool decoded it as AUO B133UAN02.4.
The bezels on this generation of X13 are somewhat thinner compared to the previous ones, leaving impression of those "premium" ThinkPads. X-series had never been so thin, and together with the reverse notch hosting the 5MP & IR cameras and microphones, it looks pretty cool, a design that is easy to like. With all the available ports and the new chassis design, X13 series becomes pretty attractive option when compared to "premium" Z13 series.
Performance & Temps & Cooling
This high-tier SKU comes with 8-core 16-threads 7840U Phoenix APU, based on Zen 4 architecture. Power limits seem to be set at around 13W in "power save", 24W in "balanced" and 28W in "performance" mode. In addition to that the machine can do a time limited boost of up to 30W. Performance is top notch, but in its highest tier mode the two little included fans are pretty aggressively tuned in BIOS (early v1.10), going over 6000 RPM. This does not allow APU temperature to go anywhere over 55 degrees Celsius (21C ambient). As a consequence of this weird tuning decision, this thing can get pretty noisy especially on very high loads. I hope this gets resolved by future BIOS and EC updates. Fans are not spinning at all at idle.
Furmark pulls up to 27W, but normally stays around 15W. Note the RPM count! Superposition 1.1 1080p Medium @ "performance" profile, note low tempsThere is one more weird thing with the included cooling solution - every time this machine is booted or awaken from sleep - the fans emit what seems to be a brief max spin buzz, producing pretty loud high frequency whirl that does not sound very reassuring.
mprime pulls up to 30W in performance mode Witcher 3 GOTY @ native 1920x1200, medium + ultra texturesInternals
Chassis internals can be accessed by unscrewing just 5 standard screws, and carefully un-clipping some soft clips around the non-display facing edges with a pry tool. This SKU came preinstalled with Samsung MZVL4256HBJD 256 GB M.2 SSD, Qualcomm NFA725A WiFi module and 4-cell 54.7Wh battery. Given how small these two fans are it is no wonder they spin very high, although not for the very good reason. X13 series is known for soldered RAM, and this is no exception, it comes with 32GB LPDDR5x-7500, although Lenovo claims it is only running at 6400MT/s due to "platform limitation".
X13 Gen 4 AMD internalsPort selection is as follows:
2x USB4 (40Gbps, PD 3.0, DisplayPort 1.4a)
2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 type-A (one of them is "always on" type)
1x HDMI 2.1, up to 4K/60Hz
1x Headphone / microphone combo jack (3.5mm)
This SKU is also equipped with a Smart Card reader, fingerprint reader and 5.0MP+IR camera.
Qualcomm NFA725A in actionThe BIOS menu is GUI only, it can not be switched to text mode at all. Usual options inside, no surprises, although "Absolute Persistence" was in enabled state by default (albeit not activated).
Battery
Don't ask me about it, I simply had no time to try it out, nor I will in any foreseeable future. For the record, it is rated at 15.48V 54.7Wh. Here is what Gnome power applet sais about it:
Battery runtime estimate - don't take it as a reliable indicatorLinux
Everything just simply works out of the box, even the included 5MP + IR camera and a fingerprint reader. This being a very new machine on a very early BIOS I guess the 6.5+ kernel helps a lot in that regard. Suspend and resume worked without a hiccup. Surprisingly, there was not even a single firmware bug warnings in the kernel log! This is the first time ever I encountered that with a new, straight from factory, ThinkPad. Is this as sign of hope that Lenovo had finally had figured out how to properly do Linux compatible BIOS release? Only time would tell...
General machine infoPrice
In my region, with generic "discounts" in place, I got this for what is equivalent of about 1285$ US, with 3 years send-in warranty included.