Inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen – disassembly and upgrade options
The 9th Generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a super-thin, light, and versatile machine. However, upgradability is not among its strong points.
Check out all Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.
1. Remove the bottom plate
To take this laptop apart, you need to undo 5 captive Phillips-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool and remove it from the chassis.
2. Battery, memory, and storage
This device is powered by a 57Wh battery pack. And if you want to remove the battery, you need to undo a total of 6 Phillips-head screws before being able to lift it away. Unfortunately, the memory here is soldered to the motherboard. On the bright side, the largest configuration available comes with 32GB of RAM working in quad-channel mode. As for the storage, there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot placed just above the battery.
3. Cooling system
Lastly, there is the cooling. It comprises a single heat pipe, a heat sink, and two very small fans. Additionally, two tiny heat spreaders manage the thermals of the VRMs.
Check out all Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 9th Gen prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (9th Gen, 2021) in-depth review
In 2021, the ThinkPad X1 series has become one of the largest ones on the market. It was thanks to the inclusion of the Fold, Nano, and Titanium offerings. But is this expansion going to cannibalize the ThinkPad X1 Carbon that we all love? It might, but it won't be soon.The main reason for that can be seen in the fact that Lenovo brought some good improvements with the 9th generation Carbon device. Aside from the obvious Tiger Lake architecture, you get a display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and up to a 4K resolution. The manufacturer even goes as far as to say that the latter covers 100% o[...]
Pros
- More than 13 hours of Web browsing on a single charge
- Great input devices
- 99% DCI-P3 coverage and accurate color representation with our profile
- 4K panel has high maximum brightness and 16:10 aspect ratio (AUO B156HAN13.1)
- Supports PCIe x4 Gen 4 drives
- Two Thunderbolt 4 connectors (both can be used for charging)
- Wi-Fi 6 support plus optional IR face recognition, fingerprint reader, and 5G support
- Quad-channel memory
- No PWM
Cons
- Lacks an SD card reader
- Memory is soldered to the motherboard