Lenovo rolls out its new ThinkPads featuring Kaby Lake CPUs and Optane SSDs

Lenovo on Wednesday announced a smattering of new ThinkPad notebooks and accessories, some of which will ship with exciting new technology like Intel’s Optane solid state drives.

Lenovo has four new ThinkPad T-Series models in the pipeline – the T470, T470p, T470s and the T570 – as well as the budget-minded L470 / L570, the ThinkPad Yoga 370, the ThinkPad 13 and the ThinkPad X270.

All new ThinkPads will be offered with Intel’s new Kaby Lake family of Core processors and Windows 10 pre-loaded with a Microsoft Signature Image that ensures a bloatware-free start right out of the box. Each system will also support Microsoft’s Windows Precision touchpad drivers which should enable a consistent experience across all ThinkPad devices.

Select models like the ThinkPad T470 and the T570 can be configured with an Optane drive utilizing Intel’s highly anticipated XPoint technology.

Easily the most intriguing aspect of the new machines, the Optane drives Lenovo is using feature a capacity of just 16GB. Looking back at a leaked Intel roadmap, we see that these drives are likely codenamed Stony Beach which Intel described as a system acceleration product.

In other words, the first wave of Optane drives like the ones Lenovo is using will likely be used as a cache for slower yet larger storage devices. As the technology matures and prices come down, 3D XPoint-based drives will probably replace traditional SSDs, assuming of course that the tech is able to deliver on its performance promises and gains a large enough following.

Other noteworthy features on select systems include touch fingerprint readers and IR cameras to enable Windows Hello login as well as USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3. Design-conscious consumers will also appreciate the fact that Lenovo has added a new silver color option on select models.

Pricing and availability are as follows:

§  ThinkPad Yoga 370 – starts at $1,264 – available from March 2017

§  ThinkPad T470 – starts at $914 – available from February 2017

§  ThinkPad T570 – starts at $909 – available from March 2017

§  ThinkPad T470s – starts at $1,099 – available from February 2017

§  ThinkPad T470p – starts at $1,049 – available from March 2017

§  ThinkPad 13 – starts at $647 – available from January 2017

§  ThinkPad L470 – starts at $799 – available from March 2017

§  ThinkPad L570 – starts at $809 – available from March 2017

§  ThinkPad X270 – starts at $909 – available from March 2017

Lenovo also announced a new USB Type-C dock ($199.99 starting in January) and a Thunderbolt 3 dock ($279.99 come February) as well as a pair of new ThinkVision monitors, the ThinkVision P24h and the ThinkVision P27h priced at $259 and $329, respectively. Both will be available starting in March 2017.

Expect to see more from Lenovo in the lead-up to CES 2017 next week.