💻 Lenovo has announced two new concept laptops at IFA 2026
🤏 One of them tries to be as thin as possible while keeping things cool
🖥️ Meanwhile, the second wants to give you two types of displays in one
🤷 It’s not clear if either laptop will result in a real product down the line
🇩🇪 Both laptops are on display this week at IFA 2026
Lenovo has made a splash at IFA 2026 with two new concept laptops that seem way more practical than some of its previous concepts. At the big trade show in Berlin, the company has unveiled Project AeroBlade and Project Swan, two laptops that explore what the future of the category could look like. While it’s not clear if they’ll ever go on sale, it does give us an idea of where Lenovo’s mind has been lately.
🤏 Lenovo Project AeroBlade laptop hands-on
Project AeroBlade is one of the most impressive laptops we’ve seen from Lenovo to date. It’s one of the company’s thinnest that it’s ever showed off, all while maintaining high-end specs that you typically find in much thicker machines.
It’s all thanks to a new cooling system that Lenovo is showing off inside the laptop. Developed in collaboration with Frore Systems, Lenovo’s new Active Flow thermal system swaps physically-moving fans for a solid-state active cooling architecture with AirJet technology. What does all that mean? It should translate to the same cooling benefits as a real fan, allowing the laptop to significantly shrink in size without dealing with heat issues.
I’ve gotten to test a lot of laptops in my time as a tech journalist, some of which were impressively thin. However, the biggest issue that always plagues ultra-thin gadgets is how they handle heat, since there isn’t usually enough room for heat to dissipate and keep all the internals cool. Lenovo says this new solution will lead to more sustainable performance for normal tasks, AI processing, and more, all while remaining cool and quiet.
It was even able to cram in flagship-level specs that we typically see in Lenovo’s thicker laptops. There’s a 14-inch OLED display, an Intel processor, Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 7, all crammed into a design that measures under 10mm thick and weighs less than two pounds.
Ultra-thin technology needs to make a comeback, for the sake of all our backpacks, so here’s to hoping that Lenovo eventually ships a machine of this caliber in the near future.
🦢 Lenovo Project Swan laptop hands-on
Then there’s Project Swan. This concept builds off Lenovo’s expandable display laptops that it eventually released as a real product. But instead of expanding upwards, it expands outwards.
Open the laptop and you’re greeted by what looks like a typical 14-inch display. Press a button at the top of the keyboard, however, and you’ll watch it grow to a 17-inch panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This way, you get more horizontal screen real estate, something that could be valuable for productivity, gaming, or watching content.
Its design also manages to remain manageable despite the tech required to make it work. It’s relatively thin at 17.9mm thick, and it weighs about 3.5 pounds. It didn’t feel unwieldy or awkward to pick up when the screen was expanded, and it was far less top heavy than the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable, which expands upward.
It’s not clear if Lenovo intends to ever ship this laptop, either, but it’s another example of a practical concept. Many folks I’ve spoken to who have used the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable love the fact it feels like having two laptops in one. It enhances the convenience of carrying it around on the go, giving you more room to get your work done with the press of a button. Having a display that can expand outwards to give you more horizontal room could achieve the same feeling, so long as it eventually comes to market.
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Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut and co-host of The Shortcut Live. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.