Lenovo’s next laptop will turn its back on you, literally

By Moinak Pal Published December 25, 2025

Lenovo is gearing up for a massive 2026, and if the latest leaks are anything to go by, the ThinkPad lineup is about to get its most ambitious makeover in years. According to exclusive info shared with Windows Latest, Lenovo plans to use CES 2026 to show off a new fleet of laptops powered by Intel’s next-gen Panther Lake chips, along with a retail version of that wild “auto-twisting” laptop we first saw as a concept last year.

The word is that Lenovo isn’t playing around with the 2026 ThinkPad range – they are moving to Intel Panther Lake CPUs (Core Ultra Series 3) across the board. This includes everything from the standard models to the high-performance Core Ultra X7 and X9 versions.

One small but very welcome “quality-of-life” change? Almost every new model is reportedly getting an optional 10MP webcam. It’s a long-overdue upgrade now that high-res video calls are basically the office standard. The only one missing out is the “ThinkPad Rollable XD,” which apparently is staying in the “concept only” category for a bit longer.

The real showstopper, though, is the ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist. Remember that motorized concept from 2024 that could move its screen on its own? It’s finally becoming a real product you can buy. Sources say the production model has a much faster and quieter motor than the prototype, allowing the hinge to rotate the screen between laptop, tablet, and “sharing” modes entirely on its own.

Lenovo is clearly betting that weird, flexible designs can be more than just “CES eye candy.” The Auto Twist is designed to track your posture and adjust the screen angle automatically – or rotate to face someone else during a presentation.

It’s aimed at small businesses and pros who want a versatile machine that feels like a tool from the future. Crucially, Lenovo claims they’ve engineered the motorized hinge to be tough enough for daily work, so it shouldn’t feel like a fragile gimmick.

For those interested in the specs, the Auto Twist model is expected to feature a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display and front-facing Dolby Atmos speakers that actually rotate with the screen so the sound stays centered. To handle the extra power needed for the motors and AI tasks, it’s reportedly packing a solid 75Wh battery.

We expect Lenovo to pull the curtain back officially at CES 2026. If the rumors are right, we’ll see it hit shelves around June 2026 with a starting price of roughly $1,499. That is surprisingly reasonable for a first-generation motorized laptop. If Lenovo pulls this off, it could be one of those rare moments where a “crazy” concept actually changes how we think about business laptops.