If the CES 2024 event taught us anything, it was that transparent technology was the way forward this year, making the rumors of Lenovo’s transparent laptop an unsurprising update. While official sources have been silent on how true these rumors are, we have leakers surmising that Lenovo at MWC 2024—Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona between 26-29 February—could present a transparent laptop, showing its own investments in see-through technology. The Lenovo concept laptop was first announced by Windows Central a few weeks ago and since then, we’ve seen more images leak out onto the internet. There are no specific specs or details out about Lenovo’s transparent laptop, with the images being the extent of what we know so far.
Image: Evan Blass (@evleaks on X/Twitter)
Is the Lenovo Transparent Laptop the First to Hit this Milestone?
During the CES 2024 event, Lenovo showcased more than 40 new AI-powered devices across their sub-brands like Lenovo Yoga, ThinkBook, ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, and Legion, ensuring a diverse range of debuts to cover all its bases with its customers. Despite the extensive list of announcements and releases, the company was a little overshadowed by the more novel releases from the event such as the Rabbit R1 device and the transparent screens announced by Samsung and LG. It seems that the Lenovo MWC 2024 announcement will be more eye-grabbing, taking trendsetting to the realm of PCs.
This clearly won’t be the first time we’ll be seeing transparent tech. Samsung announced a transparent OLED screen that could be incorporated into other devices but did not mention exactly how the company was planning on using it. LG made a more direct transparent screen announcement, debuting a gorgeous 77-inch signature OLED TV. If not transparent, we’ve seen the popularity of a semi-see-through aesthetic too with the Nothing smartphone series. Lian Li’s transparent gaming desk allows you to look through the surface into the PC builds comfortably nestled, a feature for hardcore gamers who want their tech fully on display. Samsung even presented a transparent concept laptop at CES in 2010 but we never saw that emerge as a fully-fledged product. We seem to quite enjoy seeing inside or seeing through our technology, and the Lenovo transparent laptop appears primed to capture the market in this regard.
Would You Consider Buying the Lenovo Transparent Laptop?
According to the leaks, Lenovo transparent laptop concept images indicate a bezel-free transparent screen, with the keyboard also featuring a transparent design. It’s hard to understand the design of the keyboard and whether the images represent some form of digital keys. That does seem like it would take some getting used to. We spend hours listening to ourselves type every day, so it’s odd to think of having to slide our fingers around on a screen instead. Images from leaker Evan Blass on X/Twitter show a stylus next to the device indicating that a major touch-based element to the Lenovo concept laptop. We can see one laptop through the screen of the other laptop so it genuinely seems to have been designed to be as transparent as possible.
Here’s another look at that transparent laptop concept Lenovo’s bringing to MWC. pic.twitter.com/uH2g98q64Q
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 15, 2024
While it’s a very exciting idea, we’re failing to see who might be able to use the device and what purpose it would serve. A TV remains stationary so it’s a little easier to build a setup around it and ensure that nothing obstructs or distracts your view from behind the screen. With a transparent laptop, you’ll likely be using the laptop in various locations, the setting likely limiting how comfortably you can use your device. What happens when you have to use it in a bright setting or the contents from behind your laptop are interfering with your clarity? It is difficult to estimate how long the novelty will last after which the inconveniences of using such a laptop make you regret the purchase.
There is also the more pressing matter of privacy. Does it show someone what you’re looking at from the other side as well or is this a one-way viewing experience somehow? You may work with sensitive data or even hope that your email account is not on display to the whole coffee shop when you open it up. Your team may not need to learn how many tabs you have open on your device but there may be little you can do to stop it. There’s no evidence of how the Lenovo concept laptop hopes to address these aspects that might cause customers to hesitate to buy such technology.
Still, at the end of the day, all these points are just questions and assumptions. Lenovo likely thought of all these elements already and has a way to address these concerns—but not before an official release. The Verge hypothesizes that we may see the Lenovo concept laptop disappear from the public eye entirely after the initial showcase, much as the Lenovo rollable laptop that was announced last year did, with no mention of it again, and it might just pan out that way. Considering that the Lenovo Transparent laptop will be exactly on trend this year it might not be the case.
