Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 laptop battery will charge fast, last three times as long

To compete against the laptops likes of the MacBook Air and the Samsung Series 9 laptops, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 forthcoming ultraportable needs to do something a little different, that difference appears as a new battery tech called RapidCharge.

Compared to older ThinkPad batteries, Lenovo claims the X1’s RapidCharge version will last three times as long. In addition, the RapidCharge battery will charge to 80 percent capacity in a mere 30 minutes (working out to charging 2.5 times as quickly as previous ThinkPad batteries). The bad news is that the X1’s battery will be sealed, meaning you won’t be able to replace the battery yourself.

In terms of specs, this 0.84-inch-thick notebook will come with an Intel Core i5-2520M processor, 8GB of RAM, 160GB SSD, and a 13.3-inch display made of Gorilla Glass and with a 1,366×768 resolution. The only price and release date info thus far is courtesy of a Swiss retailer, and it looks like the X1 will cost the equivalent of a whopping $2,900 and available on May 20.

If that price holds in the U.S., the X1 will be more than twice as expensive as the base 13.3-inch MacBook Air and more than 1.5x the cost of a 13.3-inch Series 9 model. That’s a pretty premium for a new battery tech and some extra RAM.