Large corporations aren’t known for taking risks. This is as true in the world of consumer hardware as anywhere. Annual updates are largely incremental, with small changes to things like screen resolution or image quality.
It’s a phenomenon that Lenovo is more than happy to buck when it showcases the latest updates to its PC line every year. The offerings are generally some combination of product and concepts, the latter of which may well never see the light of day, but they serve as a consistent reminder than it’s still possible for PC makers to think outside the box.
CES 2025 marked the rollable laptop’s transition from concept to product. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 will arrive later this year, for the low, low price of $3,500. The product’s centerpiece is a display that mechanically expands as large as 16.7 inches. It’s not an instant transformation — in fact, the actual unrolling process is subtle. But you’ll only have to wait around 10 seconds for it to get from point A to point B.
The easiest answer to the “why” of the product is “because it’s neat.” More pragmatically, however, is the ability to port around a significantly larger screen in a relatively small form factor. From that standpoint, it’s similar in principle to foldable phones.
A few other products showcased at CES are still firmly in the concept phase but warrant mention here. First is a large-screen desktop, which uses onboard motion tracking to follow the user around. It adjusts height or moves to the left or right. It’s essentially the desktop version of the moving Auto Twist AI PC the company showed off in September.
Notably, the case and base of the system were constructed out of a combination of bamboo and corn, in a bid to move toward more sustainable hardware manufacturing. The system was on display with a wireless keyboard that exclusively charges using the monitor’s ambient light.