Lenovo's new ThinkPad E14 and E15 pack AMD's powerful Ryzen 4700 chips
The company also plans to release laptops with AMD's new Ryzen Pro 4000 CPUs.
With how many laptops it announces in any given year, it can be tricky to keep up with Lenovo's ThinkPad output. But the company's latest two models, the updated ThinkPad E14 and ThinkPad E15, may pique your interest based on the fact both include AMD Ryzen 7 4700U processors.
The 15W chip features an 8-core, 8-thread design with a base clock speed of 2.0GHz, and is currently one of the faster laptop CPUs on the market. Besides a new chip, the updated E-series adds a refreshed design with an 85 percent screen-to-body ratio. Lenovo has also outfitted the computers with new security features, including a capacitive fingerprint sensor. For even more security, you'll be able to configure the laptops with optional infrared cameras that can lock the E14 and E15 when you step away from them.
With video calling now a daily fact of life for most people, Lenovo has added dedicated hotkeys to launch Microsoft Teams or Skype for Business, as well as dual-array far-field microphones. Rounding out the list of improvements is optional support for WiFi 6 connectivity.
You'll be able to purchase the ThinkPad E14 and E15 in June starting at $639. Additionally, Lenovo detailed availability for its upcoming T14s, T14, X13, L15 and L14 laptops. The company plans to release those in June as well. What's interesting about these devices is that they'll include AMD's new Ryzen Pro 4000 series processors, which the chipmaker announced today.
In all, the lineup features three new CPUs: the Ryzen 7 Pro 4750U, Ryzen 5 Pro 4650U and Ryzen 3 Pro 4450U. They'll replace AMD's current Ryzen Pro 3700U, 3500U and 3300U processors when they make their way to market. All three are 7nm chips based on AMD's Zen 2 architecture.
Performance, as you might imagine, is a big draw with these processors. For instance, the top-of-the-line 4750U is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a boost clock speed of up to 4.1GHz. Even the entry-level 4450U looks like it will be a decently fast chip with its 4-core, 8-thread design and boost clock speed of up to 3.7GHz. Battery life is another strength of the new processors, with AMD claiming 4750U devices can deliver up to 20 hours of uptime on a single charge in some instances.
That said, the Pro series' new security features are likely what's going to get companies excited about computers that feature these CPUs. All three chips include functionality that matches some of Intel's big-ticket vPro features. To start, they include a dedicated security processor, which, in conjunction with Microsoft's secure core technology, can prevent kernel-level attacks. They also make use of AMD's Memory Guard encryption feature, which can prevent someone from accessing your data. However, most notably, the chips include AMD's suite of Pro Manageability features that allow IT admins to manage, update and repair Ryzen Pro 4000-equipped devices remotely. The first systems to feature AMD’s new Ryzen Pro 4000-series chips, including the Lenovo laptops mentioned above, will arrive later this year.
