Home Consumer Lenovo Refreshes ThinkStation and ThinkPad Workstations

Lenovo Refreshes ThinkStation and ThinkPad Workstations

by Charles P. Jefferies
Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra

Lenovo took the wraps off its latest crop of ThinkStation desktop and ThinkPad mobile workstations, which feature the latest Intel processors and NVIDIA professional graphics.

Lenovo took the wraps off its latest crop of ThinkStation desktop and ThinkPad mobile workstations, which feature the latest Intel processors and NVIDIA professional graphics.

These workstations expectedly offer ISV certifications for popular creative and design apps, Intel vPro remote management, and comprehensive security, including TPM 2.0 and a self-healing BIOS.

We’ll start with the powerful ThinkStation workstations.

ThinkStation P3 Tower

Lenovo’s mid-tier desktop workstation, the ThinkStation P3 sits below the ThinkStation P5 and top-end ThinkStation P7. This refreshed model gets an expanded chassis that supports power supplies up to 1,100 watts and 26TB of internal storage.

Lenovo ThinkStation P3

Its basic technical profile includes:

  • 13th Gen Intel Core processors up to i9 (Intel W680 chipset)
  • Windows 11 Pro / Ubuntu Linux / Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Intel UHD Graphics 770 up to NVIDIA RTX A5500 24GB VRAM
  • 128GB DDR5-5600 (4 UDIMM slots)
  • 6 storage drives
  • 500W/750W/1100W 92% efficient power supplies

ThinkStation P3 Ultra

The ThinkStation P3 Ultra (see our review of the previous generation ThinkStation P360 Ultra) offers impressive potential in a four-liter chassis, making it an ideal solution for hybrid or remote work. Like the other workstations here, it gets an upgrade to Intel’s “Raptor Lake” processors and the latest NVIDIA RTX professional graphics.

Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Ultra

Despite its small size, this little workstation still has four So-DIMM slots supporting 128GB of RAM. Naturally, it uses mobile graphics cards since the chassis is too small for full-size cards.

The P3 Ultra’s specifications are as follows:

  • 13th Gen Intel Core processors up to i9 (Intel W680 chipset)
  • Windows 11 Pro / Ubuntu Linux / Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Intel UHD Graphics 770 up to NVIDIA RTX A5500 mobile 16GB VRAM
  • 128GB DDR5-5600 (4 UDIMM slots)
  • 3 storage drives
  • 170W slim/230W/300W 90% efficient power supplies

ThinkStation P3 Tiny

Lenovo’s smallest workstation, the ThinkStation P3 Tiny, has just a one-liter chassis yet still offers dedicated NVIDIA graphics and supports six displays.

Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny

Expansion options include two So-DIMM slots and two M.2 slots. Graphics top out with the NVIDIA T1000 8GB. Its specifications include:

  • 13th Gen Intel Core processors up to i9 (Intel Q670 chipset)
  • Windows 11 Pro / Ubuntu Linux / Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Intel UHD Graphics 770 up to NVIDIA T1000 8GB VRAM
  • 64GB DDR5-5600 (4 UDIMM slots)
  • 2 M.2 storage drives
  • 170W slim/230W/300W 90% efficient power supplies

Next up are the four new ThinkPad mobile workstations.

ThinkPad P16 Gen 2

The ThinkPad P16 series is Lenovo’s flagship mobile workstation. (See our review of the ThinkPad P16 Gen 1.) It uses Intel’s desktop-like Core HX-class processor, this time the 13th Gen “Raptor Lake” version that should offer noticeable performance improvements over the previous generation.

Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 2

This Gen 2 model also gets upgraded to the NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation graphics cards, maxing out with the RTX 5000 Ada Generation 16GB. The memory ceiling is also higher, now supporting 192GB of DDR5.

  • 13th Gen Intel Core HX-series processors up to i9
  • Intel UHD integrated graphics to NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation 16GB
  • 192GB DDR5 (4 So-DIMM slots)
  • 2x M.2 slots
  • 94Whr battery
  • 16-inch 16:10 screens including UHD+ (3840×2400) OLED touch options
  • Optional WWAN
  • Starting weight: 6.5 pounds

ThinkPad P1 Gen 6

The ThinkPad P1 series is a premium thin and light mobile workstation. Compared to the ThinkPad P16 Gen 2, it uses less power-hungry Core H-class processors, lower wattage graphics, and tops out at 96GB of RAM. It still supports two storage drives and offers 16:10 displays.

Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 6

Unlike the ThinkPad P16, it also offers consumer-grade NVIDIA GeForce graphics. (See our review of the ThinkPad P1 Gen 4.)

  • 13th Gen Intel Core H-series processors up to i9
  • Intel UHD integrated graphics to NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation 16GB or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 16GB
  • 96GB DDR5 (2 So-DIMM slots)
  • 2x M.2 slots
  • 90Whr battery
  • 16-inch 16:10 screens including QHD+ (2560×1600) 165Hz and UHD+ (3840×2400) OLED touch options
  • Optional WWAN
  • Starting weight: 3.92 pounds

ThinkPad P16v i

ThinkPad mobile workstations with an “i” suffix sit between entry-level and high-end workstations. The 16-inch ThinkPad P16v offers powerful Intel Core H-class processors and tops out with NVIDIA RTX A2000 graphics. (We don’t see any NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation GPUs in the spec sheet, though.) Display resolutions top out at 2560×1600.

Lenovo ThinkPad P16v

  • 13th Gen Intel Core H-series processors up to i9
  • Intel UHD integrated graphics to NVIDIA RTX A2000 8GB
  • 96GB DDR5 (2 So-DIMM slots)
  • 2x M.2 slots
  • 90Whr battery
  • 16-inch 16:10 screens including QHD+ (2560×1600) non-touch
  • Optional WWAN
  • Starting weight: 4.85 pounds

ThinkPad P14s i Gen 4/ThinkPad P16s i Gen 2

These “s” ThinkPads are Lenovo’s thinnest and lightest mobile workstations, using Intel Core P-class 28-watt processors and optional NVIDIA RTX A500 4GB graphics. Memory options top out at 64GB of soldered LPDDR5x. They have room for only one storage drive. The 14-inch P14s Gen 4 has an optional 2.8K OLED screen while the 16-inch ThinkPad P16s Gen 2 gets a 2560×1600 IPS option.

Lenovo ThinkPad P14s i Gen 4

  • 13th Gen Intel Core P-series processors up to i7
  • Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics to NVIDIA RTX A500 4GB
  • 64GB LPDDR5x (discrete graphics) or 48GB (integrated graphics)
  • One M.2 SSD
  • Battery options:
    • P14s Gen 4: 39.3Whr or 52.5Whr
    • P16s Gen 2: 52.5Whr or 86Whr
  • Screen options (16:10):
    • P14s i Gen 4: 14-inch up to 2.8K OLED
    • P16s i Gen 2: 16-inch up to QHD+ (2560×1600) non-touch
  • Optional WWAN
  • Starting weight:
    • P14s i Gen 4: 2.97 pounds
    • P16s i Gen 2: 3.76 pounds

Pricing and Availability

These updated Lenovo ThinkStation and ThinkPad workstations will be available starting May 2023. See Lenovo’s site for pricing information (which is not yet available).