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Obviously these are just benchmarks, so aren't _necessarily_ reflective of actual improvements. Regardless, the numbers are impressive, and reflect 4 years of technological progress. The SSD improvement across reads and writes is startling, as I didn't know PCIe 3.0 -> PCIe 4.0 would make such a difference! I was mainly just looking forward to 1TB, since 500GB was getting a little cramped. Sequential writes apparently benefited most from the upgrade, with an absurd +1820%.
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More realistic however are the 3DMark improvements, which should be fairly close to real world performance. Both widely used tests agree on a 70-80% improvement in performance, which is enough to go from an unstable FPS playing games at high quality at 4K resolution, to an actually enjoyable experience.
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### Real world comparisons
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| Benchmark | ThinkBook 16p Gen 2 | ThinkBook 16p Gen 6 | Improvement |
[^jekyll]: When deploying locally, the main process is generating the posts themselves, which includes a "done in X.XX seconds." output. The first start is usually slower, with subsequent rebuilds (not incremental) being quicker. Incremental builds vary a lot depending on what has changed (and are 1-2 seconds), so would be hard to compare.
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[^fh5-method]: High graphics preset, with all AI-y anti-aliasing turned off, at my monitor's native 4K resolution.
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[^fh5-results]: I play with VSync enabled, but FH5 doesn't support my monitor's actual refresh rate (75) so it's locked to 60. As such, whilst the Gen 2 (at 99%+ GPU the entire time) 55 FPS is accurate, the Gen 6 (at 50-60% GPU) is closer to 105 FPS. In this scenario, "Sim" is the game simulation FPS, "Render" is the game rendering FPS, and "GPU" is how many frames the GPU is actually able to output, basically the frames per second.
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[^startup]: Informally measured by recording time between pressing power button and Windows login screen appearing.
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## Photos
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Obviously all of these are benchmarks, so aren't _necessarily_ reflective of actual improvements. Regardless, the numbers are impressive, and reflect 4 years of technological progress.
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Overall, the Gen 6 clearly feels both more modern and more premium. Edges tend to be sharper, there are far fewer curves, and it gives off a bit of a "Cybertruck" vibe. The position of the "ThinkBook" and "Lenovo" branding also seems to have swapped around, who knows why.
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- SSD: The SSD improvement across reads and writes is startling, as I didn't know PCIe 3.0 -> PCIe 4.0 would make such a difference! I was mainly just looking forward to 1TB, since 500GB was getting a little cramped. Sequential writes apparently benefited most from the upgrade, with an absurd +1820%!
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Additionally, the ports are better placed, ventilation seems significantly better, and there seems to be a heavy MacBook inspiration on the keyboard. It's clearly the same family of products, but reflects a few years of design improvements.
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##Real world comparisons
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### Edges
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| Benchmark | ThinkBook 16p Gen 2 | ThinkBook 16p Gen 6 | Improvement |
| Front |[](/assets/images/2025/thinkbook-edges-1.jpg)| The Gen 6 is notably "chunkier" here, along with the "Magic Bay"[^magic-bay] connector. |
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| Back |[](/assets/images/2025/thinkbook-edges-2.jpg)| The Gen 6 is very different here, with absolutely massive air vents, and the very sensible decision to have an HDMI connector here instead of 2x USB, and move it further away from the proprietary power port since it was extremely easy to confuse them (they look identical at a glance!). |
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| Left |[](/assets/images/2025/thinkbook-edges-3.jpg)| The Gen 6 has kind of "swapped" left and right, with the 3x USB-C & 2x USB-C ports now being entirely on the sides. Interestingly, the side vents have disappeared, presumably because of the giant rear vents. |
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| Right |[](/assets/images/2025/thinkbook-edges-4.jpg)||
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| Front 2 |[](/assets/images/2025/thinkbook-edges-5.jpg)| Side by side, the _chunky_ Gen 6 clearly has far more space for hardware inside! It is slightly elevated due to the "Magic Bay"[^magic-bay] keeping it off the table, but there's still a distinct difference. |
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[^magic-bay]: Lenovo's very underused [modular connector system](https://www.lenovoshowcase.com/popup/ces/accessories/magic_bay.html), with only a webcam, light, or light available, all of which could be used with a USB port instead!
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### Top-down
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In these photos, the Gen 2 is **on the left**, therefore the Gen 6 is **on the right**.
| Top || A fairly similar design (besides the branding swap), although as a running theme the Gen 6 looks more modern. |
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| Top (Partially open) || The keyboard is mostly the same, but the clutter above the backspace has been replaced with a sensible Home / End / Delete / brackets, and additional Page Up / Down buttons have appeared next to the arrow keys. I don't use the keyboard much, but I approve of the utility keys replacing gimmicky shortcuts (except the Copilot key!). |
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| Top (Fully open) || No additional comments, note that the pattern in the speaker is just a reflection. |
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| Normal view || The Gen 6 screen is noticeably higher (a bit better for posture), otherwise about the same. |
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| Bottom || The Gen 6 footpads are noticeably larger, and the vent shape has changed. I would guess this is to avoid dust blocking the vents. |
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## Additional comparisons
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- Webcam slider now magnetised
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- Keyboard buttons much more modern
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- Charging & ventilation improvements, now fits under desk
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- USB ports now accessible
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## References
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- Gen 2 tech spec: <https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkBook/ThinkBook_16p_G2_ACH/ThinkBook_16p_G2_ACH_Spec.pdf>
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- Gen 6 tech spec: <https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkBook/ThinkBook_16p_G6_IAX/ThinkBook_16p_G6_IAX_Spec.pdf>
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