Lenovo’s latest form factors prove PCs can still be fun

Big corporations are not known for taking risks. This is as true as anywhere in the world of consumer hardware. Annual updates are largely incremental, with minor changes to things like screen resolution or image quality.

It’s a phenomenon that Lenovo is more than happy to show off the latest updates to its PC line every year. The offerings are usually some combination of products and ideas, the latter of which may never see the light of day, but they serve as a consistent reminder that it’s not yet possible for PC makers to think outside the box.

CES 2025 Marked the rollable laptop’s transition from concept to product. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 will arrive later this year, priced as low as $3,500. The centerpiece of the product is a display that mechanically expands to 16.7 inches. It’s not an instant transformation—in fact, the actual unrolling process is subtle. But you need to wait only 10 seconds to reach from point A to point B.

The simplest answer to the “why” of the product is “because it’s neat.” More realistically, however, is the ability to port around a significantly larger screen in a relatively small form factor. From that point of view, it’s like a foldable phone in principle.

A few other products on display at CES are still firmly in the concept stage but warrant a mention here. First is a large-screen desktop, which uses onboard motion tracking to follow the user. It adjusts height or moves left or right. It’s basically the desktop version of the running Auto Twist AI PC that the company showed off in September.

Notably, the system’s case and base were made from a combination of bamboo and corn, a move towards more sustainable hardware production. The system was on display with a wireless keyboard that charges exclusively using the monitor’s ambient light.