Lenovo has lifted the lid on the latest addition to its portfolio of ThinkPad business laptops, the X13s.
Launched at MWC 2022, the ThinkPad X13s is the first ever laptop powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 chipset - and also the first ever ThinkPad powered by an Arm-based chip.
The new laptop supposedly offers a whopping 28-hour battery life, courtesy of a few clever optimizations at the SoC level, and also benefits from 5G mmWave connectivity for rapid speeds when working on the move.
Lenovo doesn’t have a presence at MWC this year due to the pandemic, but we got hands on with the new machine at the Qualcomm booth.
(Image credit: Future)
First impressions: Lenovo ThinkPad X13s
We only had a few minutes with the ThinkPad X13s, so bear that in mind. But that said, it didn’t take long for the quality of the device to become apparent.
This laptop is extremely light and thin, weighing in at just over 1kg, but at the same time feels sturdy in the hands. It’s also fanless, which means the machine should be practically silent, even under load.
Almost everything about the build feels premium, from the recycled magnesium shell to the matt finish that prevents the hands slipping as you type. And although the keyboard is perhaps no nicer than any other, the touchpad is lovely and smooth and the mouse buttons deliver a satisfying thunk.
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SPECS
Display: 13.3-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS Screen brightness: 300 nits Processor: Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Memory: Up to 32GB LPDDR4x RAM Storage: Up to 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD Battery life: Up to 28 hours (of 1080p video playback) I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2, headphone jack, SIM slot Webcam: 5MP RGB Weight: 1.06kg Dimensions: 13.4mm x 298.7mm x 206.4mm
Long-time ThinkPad fans will be relieved to hear the TrackPoint nipple has made it into the X13s, so look forward to using that once for the novelty and never again.
The so-called communications bar protrudes slightly at the top of the screen, but not in an unattractive way, housing a 5MP webcam that supports Windows Hello and intelligent framing.
And the low-power screen seemed plenty bright too, even in the harsh lighting conditions of the Fira exhibition center in Barcelona.
Naturally, the small footprint necessitates compromises, particularly from a ports perspective. The X13s features two USB-C ports, a SIM slot and a headphone jack, but nothing else; there’s no USB-A, HDMI, or storage expansion ports. It’s clearly designed to be used in combination with a docking station, and without any peripherals when on the move, so maybe the lack of ports will only be an issue for some.
Long story short, we wouldn’t mind one ourselves. For anyone that can convince their IT department to shell out, the X13s will no doubt be an attractive option.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13s will hit the shelves in May, starting at $1,100/€1,399, and TechRadar Pro will publish a full review at a later date.
MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest showcase for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting on the show all week. Follow ourMWC 2022 live blogfor the very latest news as it happens and visitour dedicated MWC 2022 hubfor a round-up of the biggest announcements.
Disclaimer: Our flights and accommodation for MWC 2022 were funded by Huawei, but the organization had no editorial control over the content of this article.
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The government is urging households across England to set up a direct debit with their local council so they can receive a £150 council tax rebate that can be used to help with rising energy costs.
Who will receive the £150 rebate?
It’s expected that around 20 million households in council tax bands A-D (which includes 95% of rented properties) will benefit from the council tax rebate, which is costing the government £3 billion. The rebate will come in the form of a one-off payment that doesn’t have to be repaid.
In addition to this, an extra £144 million is also being given directly to councils. This money will be used to provide discretionary support to vulnerable households who do not qualify for the rebate. It’s expected most of this money will be provided to families on low incomes who live in properties in council tax bands E to H.
How will the rebate be received?
People who pay their council tax via direct debit will see the £150 rebate go directly into their bank account from April. Anyone who does not pay via direct debit will be contacted by their local council and will be asked to make a claim.
As a result, those who set up a direct debit will receive their rebate far quicker than those who do not. They will also benefit from receiving the payment directly, rather than having to make a claim.
Is any other support available?
The council tax rebate is a central part of the government’s £9.1 billion support package.
From October, every household in the country will also receive a further £200 rebate on their energy bills. However, this rebate actually comes in the form of a loan. From April 2023, households will pay £40 per year in repayments for a period of five years. It’s expected that global wholesale gas prices will have started to come down by this stage, so repayments will become more affordable.
Finally, the government is also expanding the Warm Home Discount Scheme. This will mean that nearly 3 million low-income households will benefit from a £150 discount.
Why is all this help needed?
The government is stepping in to help vulnerable households because energy bills have risen sharply over the past 12 months.
On top of this, earlier this month, energy regulator Ofgem announced that it is increasing the energy price cap (which restricts how much a supplier can charge) by almost £700 from 1 April. This means the price cap will rise from £1,277 to £1,971 per year, on average.
This sharp rise in energy bills has been caused by a number of factors, including huge spikes in wholesale prices, supply issues and rising demand for gas following the pandemic.
But, even though the price cap is rising, customers are being urged to ‘do nothing’ instead of running an online energy comparison. This is because the best energy deals on the market from the UK’s best energy suppliers are still unable to beat the price cap.
Instead, it’s hoped that the government’s package of reforms will help prevent households from being plunged into fuel poverty.
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The government has announced it will make a new £6.7m fund available to 24 UK projects that are working on developing new green energy storage technologies.
Each project will be able to enjoy a share of the fund, which comes as part of the government’s continuing commitment to help reach the nation’s net zero targets.
This is also claimed to be only the first phase funding through the ‘Longer Duration Energy Storage competition’, which in total will see upwards of £68m being awarded to similar projects in the long term. In addition, any successful projects from this first round could be eligible for further financial support in phase two.
Helping to store ‘intermittent’ green energy
One of the current issues with our production of renewables is the intermittent nature of when it is created.
We can often see increased creation of green energy when it isn’t needed – such as extended periods of sunshine or stronger than expected winds. But with more effective storage, we’ll be able to hold on to this energy for longer periods to then better manage changes in supply and demand.
The additional benefits from this would be that more energy would be available for households, which in turn would bring down wholesale costs and our energy bills. This would also significantly help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and would make the transition to a cleaner energy infrastructure much easier.
Furthermore, creation of the new energy storage technologies would boost employment in this sector and see our levels of domestically produced energy notably increased.
Speaking about the potential of the fund, Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Hands said:
"Driving forward, energy storage technologies will be vital in our transition towards cheap, clean and secure renewable energy.
"It will allow us to extract the full benefit from our home-grown renewable energy sources, drive down costs and end our reliance on volatile and expensive fossil fuels. Through this competition we are making sure the country’s most innovative scientists and thinkers have our backing to make this ambition a reality."
A variety of innovative new projects
Some of the new creations from the 24 projects includes ‘new energy storage technologies that can utilise stored energy as heat, electricity or as a low-carbon energy carrier like hydrogen’.
A few specific examples include:
Sunamp’s EXTEND project, East Lothian, Scotland – which is developing the storage duration of their thermal batteries.
Cheesecake Energy’s FlexiTanker project, Nottingham, England – which is developing their thermal and compressed air energy storage technology to integrate more renewables into the grid.
B9 Energy Storage’s Ballylumford Power-to-X project, Larne, Northern Ireland – which is looking at storing green hydrogen in underground salt caverns.
How soon will we see the effects of these projects?
The current timeline for net zero means we should expect to see developments in green energy within the next decade, but if the first phase proves successful it may well be sooner.
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Windows on Arm has had a rough go of it for the last couple of years, but Lenovo is hoping to turn that around this year with the new Lenovo ThinkPad X13s.
This isn't Lenovo's first foray into Windows on Arm, but earlier efforts were held back by issues with the OS itself, including lack of compatibility with major apps like Adobe Photoshop.
Windows on Arm has come a long way since then. With Windows 11 on Arm, it's ripe for a breakthrough – one that Lenovo is positioning itself for with its popular ThinkPad line.
Powered by the 64-bit, 5nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 compute platform and running Windows 11 Pro, the ThinkPad X13s offers a slim and light form factor (about 2.35 lbs. and 0.53 ins thick) thanks to a fanless design that only ultra-efficient Arm chips are really capable of these days.
That efficiency also promises not just all-day but multi-day battery life, rated up to 28 hours. In our experience, Windows on Arm devices regularly hit 20+ hour battery life, so 28 hours isn't at all out of the question, especially with a 49.5 WHr battery.
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You'll also get up to a 400-nit 13.3-inch WUXGA (16:10 screen ratio) display with 100% sRGB coverage, up to 32GB LPDDR4X RAM (soldered), and up to a 1TB PCIe SSD.
Throw in 5G connectivity, initially through AT&T and later this year with Verizon, and Wi-Fi 6E and we might be on the cusp of that always-on-always-connected experience that we've been promised over the years but have never quite been able to achieve.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx compute platform also features several enterprise-level security features and AI-powered acceleration. All together, the new Qualcomm platform is about 85% faster than its generational predecessor, with a 60% boost in GPU performance.
Whether these stats bear out remains to be seen once we actually get our hands on the ThinkPad X13s in a few months. Set for a May 2022 release in the US, the ThinkPad X13s will start at $1,099, with availability and pricing in other regions to come later as we get closer to launch.
Analysis: will we finally get a decent Windows-on-Arm laptop?
We have to admit, we haven't been all that impressed by Windows on Arm. The devices running what was once considered a mobile-only platform tend to be poor performers overall, with their battery life being the only real saving grace.
A lot of the compatibility issues that they've had in the past have been worked out, however, and the success of the Apple M1 chip and the M1 Pro and M1 Max has demonstrated that the problem isn't with the underlying Arm architecture, but with its implementation and the OS software that runs on it.
Hopefully, Windows 11 on Arm will prove to be a different animal than its predecessor, and we'll see that long-hoped-for all-day performance.
All of that rests on how well the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 performs.
And given the generally high-quality product that Lenovo consistently puts out with its ThinkPad line, we can't wait to get our hands on the ThinkPad X13s.
MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest showcase for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting on the show all week. Follow our MWC 2022 live blog for the very latest news as it happens and visit our dedicated MWC 2022 hub for a round-up of the biggest announcements.
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We're likely to see an iPhone SE 3 come out at some point, as it's a phone convention Apple seems to be continuing with, and reports suggest it could arrive as soon as March 8.
Rumored iPhone SE 3 features
- Might land on March 8
- 5G could be the main addition
- A similar design to the last model is likely
- The screen could either stay the same or grow
- A powerful A15 Bionic chipset
- A 12MP camera with a new sensor
Whenever it comes out, the iPhone SE 3 probably won't be called that, and it'll likely follow the iPhone SE (2020)'s naming convention with the year of release in the title, so perhaps we'll actually see the iPhone SE (2022). Then again, a recent leak suggests it could actually be called the iPhone SE Plus 5G.
But while the name is slightly unclear, some of the specs and features are starting to become more so, as there are various leaks and rumors about this upcoming phone, with more rolling in all the time. We've collected them all below, and we'll update this article whenever we hear anything new.
Latest iPhone SE 3 news
Feb. 27: A cheaper price? One analyst suggests the starting price of the iPhone SE 3 could drop as low as $300 in the US.
Feb. 5: A March launch? We weren't expecting the iPhone SE 3 until April or May 2022, but according to Bloomberg the device will be unveiled alongside the iPad Air 5 on Tuesday, March 8.
iPhone SE 3 price: Pricing is unknown, but the iPhone SE (2020) started at $399 / £419 / AU$749. Prices could well be similar for the upcoming phone, although there have been whispers that it could get even cheaper.
Design: The iPhone SE 3 is rumored to look much like its predecessor, with big bezels and a home button, housing a Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
Display: The iPhone SE 3 will likely have a 4.7-inch LCD screen, just like the last model. That said, some reports point to it launching as the iPhone SE Plus 5G and having a larger 5.7-6.1-inch display.
Camera: There might not be many camera changes, with the iPhone SE 3 thought to have the same 12MP snapper as the iPhone SE (2020). However, the actual sensor might be new.
Specs: 5G support is likely to be the big addition with the iPhone SE 3. Beyond that, leaks point to an A15 Bionic chipset - the same as the iPhone 13 range.
Battery: We don't know anything about the iPhone SE 3's battery yet, but it's likely to be similar to the 1,821mAh one in the iPhone SE (2020).
iPhone SE 3 release date
We thought the iPhone SE 3 might land at Apple's Spring Loaded event in April 2021 - after all, that would be a year after the iPhone SE (2020) launched, but it was a no-show. Nor did it appear at the iPhone 13 launch in September.
But there may well be one in 2022 at least, because it's also rumored that there won't be an iPhone 14 mini - meaning Apple might rely on the SE line for fans of smaller phones.
Trial production is also apparently about to start (as of December 2021), further suggesting it's coming soon.
That said, we've elsewhere heard that the iPhone SE 3 might have been delayed until 2024, so there could be a long wait.
And there’s also the iPhone SE Plus to consider. This was rumored to land sometime after the iPhone SE (2020), and while we haven’t heard much about it lately, Ming-Chi Kuo (an analyst with a good track record when it comes to Apple) claimed back in April 2020 that the iPhone SE Plus might not land until 2022.
So this might land instead of the iPhone SE 3 – or maybe we’ll get an iPhone SE 3 and an iPhone SE 3 Plus. It's hard to say at this point.
iPhone SE 3 price
As for the price, the iPhone SE (2020) starts at $399 / £419 / AU$749, so the iPhone SE 3 is likely to have a similar price – Apple tends not to change around its pricing too much between versions.
One analyst has suggested the iPhone SE 3 could come in at $300 in the US, a drop of 25%, but that hasn't been verified yet. It would certainly help the upcoming handset compete better against cheap Android phones.
The iPhone SE 3 might have a similar price to its predecessor (above)(Image credit: Future)
iPhone SE 3 design and display
The biggest iPhone SE 3 leak so far has revealed a number of the possible specs, including that it might be visually similar to its predecessor, with the same bezel-heavy design and 4.7-inch LCD screen.
We've also previously heard that it might have a 4.7-inch LCD screen, so that aspect is looking likely. More recently a third source has weighed in to say the design and screen size won't change with the next refresh.
That said, another source claims that actually it will have a 5.7-6.1-inch LCD screen. This is something we've now heard more than once, and it could be accompanied by a name change to the iPhone SE Plus 5G. So we're not sure which of these is right. It's possible that eventually we'll get both phones.
Elsewhere we've heard that Apple could bring Face ID to a future iPhone SE model. That would likely mean a substantial change to the design, with no more home button and a notch instead. However, given that the leaks above suggest a similar design for the iPhone SE 3, this change might be further out (if it happens at all).
In fact, one source said an iPhone 11-like design was on the cards but then backtracked and said that Apple had decided to stick with the iPhone 8-like look for 2022. The source also said that the company plans to use the iPhone 11-like look on the iPhone SE (2024).
iPhone SE 3 specs and features
According to a big leak, the iPhone SE 3 will have an A15 Bionic chipset (the same as in the iPhone 13 range) and support 5G, while another leak says it will also have 3GB of RAM like its predecessor.
Another source agrees, saying that an A15 chipset and 5G will be added, with a third source also pointing to 5G - so that upgrade looks very likely.
Elsewhere, a leak says it will also have 3GB of RAM, like its predecessor. So that aspect might not be upgraded.
There's also another report that echoes all of the above, but adds that the iPhone SE 3 might stick with a 12MP camera like the iPhone SE (2020), but with a new sensor.
What we want to see
As good as the iPhone SE (2020) is, there’s always room for improvement, so here’s what we want from the iPhone SE 3.
1. A modern design
The iPhone SE (2020) has a rather old fashioned design, and certainly an older design than the rest of the current iPhone range. So we’d like to see things brought up to date for the iPhone SE 3.
By that we mean get rid of the home button and the big bezels above and below the screen, for a more modern look. Doing this would also allow Apple to increase the screen size without increasing the overall size of the handset - or alternatively keep the screen the same size and shrink the phone even smaller.
2. An OLED screen with a higher resolution
The SE (2020)'s screen doesn't overly impress(Image credit: Future)
The iPhone SE (2020) has an IPS LCD screen with a 750 x 1334 resolution, neither of which are exactly cutting edge.
Now, there are of course limits to what can be done with a mid-range phone, but when you consider that the similarly priced OnePlus Nord and Google Pixel 4a both manage a higher resolution and OLED technology (which typically delivers better contrast and other improvements versus LCD), it’s hard to see how Apple could justify omitting these things from the next iPhone SE model.
That said, we wouldn’t count on getting either – Apple rarely competes with Android phones on pure specs.
3. Better battery life
The iPhone SE (2020) has a small 1,821mAh, which might seem reasonable given the phone’s compact size, but we found it didn’t go far, lasting around a day.
That’s not terrible, but it’s certainly not impressive, so we’d like much more from the battery in the iPhone SE 3, whether that’s achieved through increasing the size or making things more efficient.
4. Keep it small and affordable
The iPhone SE (2020) stands out through both its small size and its relatively affordable price, and we want both of those things to remain for the iPhone SE 3.
There aren’t many compact phones anymore – certainly not ones with good specs, and nor are iPhones known for being affordable, so the two things make for a great combination.
5. More cameras
The iPhone SE (2020) has just one rear camera, which isn't really enough(Image credit: TechRadar)
The iPhone SE (2020) has just one camera on the back and one on the front, and while they perform reasonably well, they don’t give you the versatility that you can get with more lenses.
Of course, with even the iPhone 13 only having a dual-lens snapper we don’t expect too much more from the iPhone SE 3, but when you consider that rivals like the OnePlus Nord and Moto G 5G Plus have four cameras on the back and two on the front, you’d think an extra lens or two wouldn’t be too much to ask for.
6. 5G
Apple has now embraced 5G on its flagship range, and we really hope the company lets the tech filter down to the iPhone SE 3, as it’s already available on some of the SE (2020)’s key rivals, notably the aforementioned OnePlus Nord and Moto G 5G Plus, among others.
7. A higher refresh rate
Another feature offered by a number of rivals now is a high refresh rate. The iPhone SE (2020) has a 60Hz refresh rate, which until relatively recently was what all handsets other than gaming phones offered, but now numerous mainstream phones have refresh rates of 90Hz or 120Hz.
It’s a feature that the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max offer, but we’re not optimistic that Apple will bring it to the iPhone SE 3, since it's only on Pro models so far, so Apple is likely to keep the tech as a premium feature for a while.
But it would be great if the company did start including this as a standard feature – it could still differentiate by giving its flagships a 120Hz (or higher) rate, and the iPhone SE 3 a refresh rate of 90Hz.
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