My God they screwed this up. What was the point of all the surveys? All they've done is stick lipstick on a T470. And all that wasted space under the screen?! I know Lenovo are partial to lousy displays, but couldn't they have used Microsoft's 3:2 supplier?

So Lenovo startet serveral surveys in 2015 in order to get the proper feedback of real Business and ThinkPad-Users. And you have finished with an article with results of these surveys. And you pictured an example of these results even you they did not included to wished hinge design as in the T420 or currently the L570.

2 years after this survey. Lenovo just came out and literally ****** the whole community again. They have not included the wished and prefered features which used to be original ThinkPad features.

You literally just changed the keyboard and the front base cover on an T470.

No 16:10 which the community used to comprimise with, because of the lack of ability to use 3:2 or 4:3 which were originally wished

No VGA which ich commonly used in companys, public sector, schools and college

No ThinkLights in order to use an antimicrobial keyboard which stops keys of "melting" or getting these ugly blurs

No Displayhinge as in the T420 or L570 which enabled to use an extended battery which comes out behind the display. This enabled to have a tighter grip with one hand while holding der fingern on the base.

I bet you have used the same carbage FHD IPS display panel models you always used. 250 cd/m^2, low color range, 16:9.
Lenovo did even included high quality panels on the T440s in 2014(!). +310nits, good color range, FHD IPS und no or low screen bleeding.

Some might argue that 250 nits is enough for indoor usage. Baseless statement. Go to the store, look for an 250 nits display und wonder why this panel is so dark indoors in an store with normal lighting. Companys and institutions use mostly daylight lighting imagine to work with this dark 250 nits in this enviroment. Notebooks were create for mobile usage. Hell even think about using this thing in the train or while sitting in the cafeteria inside or outside. No-go. Even if some panels because of using atleast 4 different model reach 270. Not enough. Lenovo still even disable the oppertunity of the user to buy another better display by whitelisting panels (FRU).

Dissapointing that ThinkPad under IBM were such great models and Lenovo came and butcherd that thing and it's users by forcing them to addapt to changed things even they have not complained.

In the four Lenovo Retro surveys the original userbase got the chance to communicate their complains, ideas and wishes for the "Retro" since Lenovo butcherd the IBM ThinkPad. Lenovo even presented the results of the surveys and presenten a pictured prototyp of these ideas even they did not include the hinge design of the T420 like wished. They have not implemented the ideas, wished and hopes based on the complains of real ThinkPad users.

I really hope that any notebook company will come out and include the basic fuctional features of a real IBM ThinkPad (16:10, 4:3 or 3:2, keyboard with function keys and trackpoints with trackpads and seperate mouse buttons, ports like VGA, functionality over slim design, robustness, repairbility....) with the abilites of today technology like +310nits FHD-IPS display panels, color rate, maybe thunderbolt 3 for the people who cried about it.....)

It's also time that the processor is not soldered to the motherboard in ordern to replace just the motherboard if it fails for less money. Motherboards soldered with CPU are very expensive because the CPU is expensive which mostly even did not break. Even if some might say that Intel will not cooporate on that feature. I think AMD is someone who worked with many companies for many years and might cooporate on this feature.

It is frustrating that Lenovo tries to dress an T470 as an ThinkPad "Retro". By the way I do not agree with the name because some might refer this to old. But the wished features are not old because they are outdated. They are only old because they are only found on older ThinkPads since Lenovo beheaded the basic functionalites of an original IBM ThinkPads

I do not have any hopes for this ThinkPad and the ThinkPads in the next generation. How can I or we if Lenovo did not even implemented clear feedback of real ThinkPad Users or enthusiasts.
Nothing changed except the keyboard and the new needed front base cover.
The whole faked hype staged by David Hill.
An T470 dressed as an ThinkPad "25 Retro"
It will probably cost more money than the T470 at it's beginning even the tho the technology in this thing is almost an year old (7th generation Intel CPU, graphicscard may be even older if 940MX)

Lenovo could just have selled us mods for the keyboard including a new front base cover.

And I really hope that there are some people out there besides Lenovo who will create "third party" mods for a 7 row keyboard and maybe 16:10 display for a few new ThinkPad models. Some people already do new mainboard and display mods for older ThinkPads. But they only do small quantities and high prices (reasonable for the situation).

R.I.P ThinkPad (IBM)

@rareware,

I doubt Lenovo will release a updated version of this anytime soon. After all, this model was created for the special occasion of the anniversary. Maybe if its a success Lenovo would do something like this again in the future, but considering the technology-roadmap and development cycle, the regular successor to the T470 (which will likely be called T480) is already finalized.

I honestly think the MX150 and Coffee Lake cpu's came out too late for Lenovo to have implemented them in this design. The roadmap dates for this laptop's design and the release date's for the above chips might have missed each other.

But still, if the competitors can already release their ultrabooks with upgraded specs then this shows a bit of laziness on Lenovo's part. Almost the whole design is based on the older T470 (which is not a bad thing since it has an internal battery as well). But they had enough time to redesign the T470 and stick the new specs in. I was dreaming of this laptop but now I have to keep dreaming in hope for them to revise it with better specs. The performance jump from kaby to coffee lake and maxwell to Pascal is simply too great to miss out on. For now this laptop is a big no go.

I agree man, a 1440p matte panel with 90+% Srgb like the one found in the Lenovo's own T470P would've been ideal. I am absolutely in love with the oldskool IBM keyboard and aesthetic look of the laptop as well. But why why why oh why Lenovo, do you throw in such old specs??? The 8600u can be almost twice as fast in certain render applications, the same can be said for the mx150 and it's games performance. What a blunder imo, I hope they can easily stick the new chips in there since the tdp is the same but I doubt the motherboard is instantly compatible with the chips. Sigh, the wait for the perfect Lenovo continues...

I went back just to be sure, yes, the keyboard is the ugliest change Lenovo's made to the Thinkpad series. The rounded gummy-shaped keys remind me of One Laptop per Child, not a business machine. But of course, basically every straight edge Lenovo took off of the Thinkpad turned into a cheapish ugly curve. They just don't have the touch for this. The leaked design does seem much more aesthetically pleasing reverting to IBM's design style, but I also agree with everybody else that the specs are outdated. Not just the CPU and graphics card, the screen with only 61% sRGB is also bad enough to be an issue.

One area Lenovo should have not gone vintage is the hardware specs.  Why still dual-core 7000-series CPU and 940MX ?  There is no doubt in my mind that Lenovo is going to charge a premium for the Retro edition, even with older hardware inside. 

Also, why will Lenovo not offer 16:10 ratio screens ?  Those were wonderful on the T60s back in the day, which were coincidentally my last ThinkPads.  Once Lenovo started really cheaping out on the ThinkPads, I gave up on them.

As others have said, this thing would really do well with newer CPU+GPU combos.

RRP... and let's see then how we'll go from there. If it starts from anywhere between $900 - $1000, then eff that am placing an order for that X62 instead.

I agree that choosing the 7500u and the 940mx instead of the 8550u and the mx150 was a bad move. The laptop looks very cool, I am loving the combination of the layout of the keyboard and the great build quality. But if Lenovo is just a tad bit smart they have to update their specs. This goes for the whole lenovo laptop line actually. They are late by not upgrading their specs yet, especially for the price you pay for these things!!!

16:9 ratio? Unbelievable that it is a "retro" thinkpad.
Hope this is only a mistake.

Frankly, I wish Lenovo used better displays for their T thinkpads. That's the biggest problem with T470's, not the keyboard. 

should've included a 28W 8550/8660u and a MX150. Those are the true budget future proof specs.

I really hope this will be easily available for purchase and I could buy it in Poland, because I've never been so excited in my life about an item as I am about this laptop. Unfortunately, it's supposed to me "limited" and only available to purchase online via Lenovo website, and they don't sell anything online in Poland... this is frustrating, I hope they do decide to just sell it as all other Thinkpads.