Lenovo’s codename Flip is another wild take on a flexible-screen laptop
Lenovo hasn’t even released its . But that hasn’t stopped the company from taking that notebook’s core components and remixing it into a whole new thing at MWC 2025.
Officially called the ThinkBook codename Flip AI PC Proof of concept (yes, that is its official name and it’s a real mouthful), the laptop uses the same flexible OLED featured in its rollable sibling, except this time instead of disappearing inside its chassis, the display folds outwards. This allows what is normally a 13-inch panel to double in size to 18.1 inches at a moment’s notice. Notably, because the Flip’s screen bends instead of sliding in and out of the bottom half of the system, Lenovo can utilize the panel’s full area unlike the ThinkBook Rollable, which can only extend up to 16.7 inches.
In its vertical mode, this provides a ton of extra space for documents or multitasking. However, the screen can also be folded back into tablet mode or something akin to a 2-in-1’s tent mode for times when you might want to share your display with someone on the other side of the table.
Somewhat impressively, a fancy monitor isn’t the only trick the Flip has. Down below, Lenovo created what it calls a Smart ForcePad, which features a three-layer illuminated dashboard that adds customizable controls and icons to its surface. It’s a neat trick that expands what a basic touchpad can do, though it’s not exactly a huge leap from what we’ve seen on rival machines from and others. Finally, on the inside, the Flip should have solid performance thanks to the inclusion of an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 32GB of RAM and PCIe SSD storage.
As a fan of anything with a flexible screen, it’s fascinating to see how quickly Lenovo was able to take the components used in the ThinkBook Plus Gen6 Rollable and turn them into something else. That said, as this was a very early prototype (a Lenovo representative said it was only one of two in the world at the time), there are some obvious issues that need to be ironed out before this thing ever gets close to an official release.
The first is that for a system with a screen this tall, its hinge wasn’t fully up to the task of keeping everything stable, as even a light tap would cause the whole panel to sway back and forth in a disconcerting way. The model I used also lacked that kickstand that appears in some of Lenovo’s promotional images, which would have further increased its sturdiness.
However, the biggest potential problem with the Flip may be difficult to address because it’s inherent to its core design. When the laptop is collapsed down into a clamshell for traveling, the way its screen folds exposes the flexible display to items that might scratch it. And while it’s possible to get around this by using a form-fitting laptop sleeve, that seems a bit too dangerous, even for someone like me who’s been using foldable phones for half a decade. Upon further consideration, I wouldn’t be surprised if this design challenge is a big reason Lenovo decided to bring the ThinkBook Rollable to market instead of the Flip.
Currently, Lenovo has no plans to bring the Flip to full production, but even so, it’s nice seeing what a company can come up with when it’s not scared to show off unfinished devices.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at
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2025-03-02 23:00:51
