Lenovo Announces ThinkCenter Neo Ultra Compact Desktop, its Mac Studio Competitor

[btarunr]

Lenovo announced the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra, a compact high-performance desktop meant for power users and creative professionals. This desktop is larger than what would qualify as a mini-PC, with its 3.6 L volume, but is significantly smaller than a tower. Despite its compact size, it comes with a full-featured I/O. The desktop is powered by Intel's 14th Gen Core vPro "Raptor Lake Refresh" platform, and uses a custom form-factor desktop motherboard based on Intel Q670 chipset that supports various commercial desktop features under vPro. The processor and memory are socketed and hence user upgradeable.

Processor options range from the Core i5-14500 (6P+8E), going all the way up to the Core i9-14900 (8P+16E), including vPro and regular SKUs; and energy-efficient "T" SKUs. Memory options range from 16 GB (1x 16 GB) up to 64 GB (2x 32 GB) DDR5-4800. The sole graphics option is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 desktop GPU, all four of its display connectors are directly wired out on the rear I/O. There are two M.2-2280 Gen 4 slots, storage options range from 1x 256 GB Gen 4, to 2x 1 TB Gen 4. Networking connectivity include 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6E. USB ports include a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen2x2 type-C on the front-panel, two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2, and four additional USB 3.2 type-A ports at the back. The case measures 195 mm x 191 mm x 108 mm, and depending on the configuration, can weigh around 3.5 kg.



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[Deleted member 97545]

"Lenovo Announces ThinkCenter Neo Ultra Compact Desktop, its Mac Pro Competitor"
Even VideoCardz said Mac Studio...

 

[Wirko]

Is the GPU also "socketed and hence user upgradeable"? That seems to be the case.

 

[Daven]

"Lenovo Announces ThinkCenter Neo Ultra Compact Desktop, its Mac Pro Competitor"
Even VideoCardz said Mac Studio...

Yes this is a competitor to the Mac Studio. The title is incorrect.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Why do PC companies try to make Mac competitors? Windows will never have the tight integration of OSX and Apple products.

 

[Daven]

Why do PC companies try to make Mac competitors? Windows will never have the tight integration of OSX and Apple products.

Plus you can't compete with Apple M silicon unless you tightly integrate a discrete class GPU, high core count CPU and RAM on a single package. AMD will have something like that soon but the Intel-Nvidia solution presented here is laughable.

 

[Wirko]

Windows will never have the tight integration of OSX and Apple products.

The number of people who don't want to stay in the tight, tightly integrated pen is considerable.

Of course Windows also could have far better integration with phones and other electronics but it's made by Microsoft, the company that never understood basic things such as the difference between desktop and mobile UI.

 

[Alan Smithee]

It has only 1GbE and no USB4/Thunderbolt so you can't add a 10GbE adapter, are they completely insane? It doesn't even include the 2.5GbE that comes basically free with the Intel chipset. The mind boggles. What possible decision-making at Lenovo could have led to this. The Mac Studio includes standard 10GbE. Even cheap off-brand NUCs have 2.5GbE, sometimes dual.

The only conceivable reason is that Lenovo has deliberately handicapped this machine to avoid cannibalizing ThinkStation sales.

 

[sLowEnd]

The MegaNUC!

 

[enb141]

Plus you can't compete with Apple M silicon unless you tightly integrate a discrete class GPU, high core count CPU and RAM on a single package. AMD will have something like that soon but the Intel-Nvidia solution presented here is laughable.

Price wise, this is a bargain in comparison to an equivalent Mac (Mini / Studio) with similar specs, specially in RAM and storage.

 

[Crackong]

I think you need at least one 10GbE port to be qualified as a mac studio competitor.

 

[Daven]

Price wise, this is a bargain in comparison to an equivalent Mac (Mini / Studio) with similar specs, specially in RAM and storage.

Its $2200 entry versus $2000 entry for the Mac Studio and as others have pointed out its missing some crucial components.

 

[Minus Infinity]

It has only 1GbE and no USB4/Thunderbolt so you can't add a 10GbE adapter, are they completely insane? It doesn't even include the 2.5GbE that comes basically free with the Intel chipset. The mind boggles. What possible decision-making at Lenovo could have led to this. The Mac Studio includes standard 10GbE. Even cheap off-brand NUCs have 2.5GbE, sometimes dual.

The only conceivable reason is that Lenovo has deliberately handicapped this machine to avoid cannibalizing ThinkStation sales.

This is why I call them Lenoblo. Would never touch their hardware for their third rate QC alone. But laughably stupid to only offer garbage class 1GbE in 2024.

 

[Wirko]

Lenovo announced the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra

It's ThinkCentre, spelled in Queen's English.

And, as others have pointed out, it only comes with gigabit Ethernet. At least 2.5 GbE is an option.

 

[phints]

Pricey though. I would avoid Intel 14th gen like the plague, it's just 5 years of TDP bumps and ancient lithography. These will be much more interesting next-gen with Intel 15th as they should have a large performance per watt increase with the new architecture and lithography. They should make a scaled down model too with N100 and two i226-Vs would be great too to use as a router (OpenWrt or other).

Just specced one out on their page i7-14700, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, RTX 4060 - $4800 lol what? Are they out of their minds? A small ITX desktop with these specs would only be like $1,200.

 

[Caring1]

It's ThinkCentre, spelled in Queen's English.

And, as others have pointed out, it only comes with gigabit Ethernet. At least 2.5 GbE is an option.

Correct, it's spelt that way on the front fascia of the case too.

 

[Juventas]

It has only 1GbE and no USB4/Thunderbolt so you can't add a 10GbE adapter, are they completely insane?

I started with the third photo and saw zero USB-C ports, so I figured this was something from 2019. Nope.

 

[toooooot]

I wonder what kind of cooler and fan this 4060 has. I would assume a quiet 120 fan and a fairly small heatsink

 

[ypsylon]

Like how you can even Think p) about releasing MacStudio competitor without at least 2 TB4 ports, even better 4. Like WTH is this?! 2016 called.

On paper it's interesting idea (can expand RAM/storage on you own without ludicrous Apple TAX on options), but it's seriously flawed on the I/O side and knowing Lenovo, straight out of factory installed system will be loaded with all kinds of malware, but then you can use your own drive(s) unlike AMS where everything is soldered together. 5/10 in current state.