The ThinkPad X13s with Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 has finally arrived in Lenovo's online shop in Germany. However, the Arm notebook is not only being launched three months late, it also costs over 300 euros more than planned. In addition, the ThinkPad X13s is anything but “always connected” ex works.
Always Connected PC, ACPC for short, is what Qualcomm has been calling the class of notebooks powered by its own Snapdragon chips for years. The background is that these devices can go online not only with WLAN, but also via mobile communications – or rather could. So far, all manufacturers have dispensed with the suitable modem from Qualcomm in the basic configuration and are thus taking the device class ad absurdum. Even the absolute flagship, the new ThinkPad X13s, the world's first and so far only arm notebook with Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, has to be upgraded with 5G for a proud 230 euros.
Modem is the most expensive special equipment
And that despite the fact that the notebook already has a very high starting price of 1,719 euros. Lenovo had promised the notebook at the MWC at the end of February at prices starting at 1,399 euros. The manufacturer starts the notebook with Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which offers four Cortex-X1 and Cortex-A78, 16 GB LPDDR4X-4266, 256 GB PCIe 4.0 SSD and Windows 11 Home. The Full HD display in 16:10 format has a maximum of 300 cd/m², the announced 400 nits option is still missing or costs from 2,000 euros in online retail.
According to the configurator, 32 GB RAM costs 40 euros more, a 512 GB or 1 TB SSD is 50 or 140 euros, and a touch display costs 40 euros. Windows 11 Pro, on the other hand, costs 70 euros. By far the most expensive option is the Snapdragon X55 modem for 230 euros. This increases the total costs to 1,949 euros.
An ACPC requires mobile radio ex works
The high sales price for the modem shows once again how high the purchase prices for Qualcomm components must be. With this strategy, the company puts obstacles in its own way and prevents the success of a self-created product category. An Always Connected PC requires WLAN and mobile communications at fair prices ex works and not optional mobile communications at horrendous prices.
Anyone who buys this poor notebook from Lenovo will be pretty poor pretty quickly dran.
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