Lenovo quietly debuts Apple Mac Studio competitor with AI-enabled ThinkCenter Neo Ultra mini PC — but misses a trick by using only Intel Core processors
It can power an old CRT monitor though
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Originally unveiled at CES 2024, theLenovoThinkCenter Neo Ultra is the company’s first ultra small form factor desktop aimed at SMBs looking to harness the power of AI without spending a fortune.
Whenfirst announced, we knew the deice was packing anIntelCore i9 processor, but not which one, and that it would include anNvidiaRTX 4060 GPU and up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM.
Lenovo has now made the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra available to buy and filled in the gaps regarding specifications. Buyers can choose from a range of 14th Gen Intel processors, from the i5-14500 to the i9-14900T. Sadly, there’s noAMDvariant on offer.
Available now… in Australia
As you’d expect, the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra, which measures 195 x 191 x 108mm (3.6L), features a wide range of ports. On the front, it includes two USB-A ports (USB 10Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 2), one of which supports 5V@2.1A charging, a headphone/mic combo jack (3.5mm), and a USB-C port (USB 20Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 2x2) for data transfer only. The rear panel is equipped with two USB-A ports (USB 10Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 2), two USB-A ports (USB 5Gbps / USB 3.2 Gen 1), an HDMI 2.1 TMDS port, an Ethernet (GbE RJ-45) port, an HDMI 2.1a FRL port, and four DisplayPort 1.4a ports.
There are optional punch-out rear ports that can be configured with one of the following: VGA (dust off your old CRT monitor!), DisplayPort, HDMI, or USB-C with DisplayPort function for the first punch-out, and VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI, or 2.5GbE RJ-45 for the second.
It can be had with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 and comes with four M.2 slots - one for WLAN, one for an AI card, and two for SSDs. The system also includes up to four thermal fans to keep things cool, which is one more than the original specs indicated.
As of right now, the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra is only available in Australia, where the standard configuration, with an i5-14500 CPU, RTX 4060 GPU, and 16GB DDR5 RAM, will set you back3,299 AUD($2,223), which is roughly the same price as anAppleMac Studio with M2 Max. It will no doubt be made available in other territories in the coming months. Interestingly, this model is referred to as “Gen 1,” suggesting Lenovo is planning to roll out updated versions in the future.
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Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.
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