The Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition being showed off at CES 2025 lacks the iconic TrackPoint nub in a nod to a new, modern design that includes Lenovo AI Now.
A few years ago, Lenovo released some Thinkpads without the three buttons above the touchpad. After a lot of pushback, they stopped making those. They also tried using Linux-hostile components for a while. My impression is that Lenovo is on an inexorable enshittification trajectory, but backs off a bit when pressured, only to make some other stupid decision next time.
They are back with the “no buttons” design. People swear the haptics make it better, but it doesn’t. My work gave me one and the touchpad gets phantom taps and now the pad “clicks” when it hasn’t even been touched sometimes and there’s nothing that can be done.
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I use the “control nipple” occasionally, but I use the physical mouse buttons every day always.
Even though they’re slightly oddly positioned to use with the touchpad, they’re a million times better than not having any buttons at all.
A few years ago, Lenovo released some Thinkpads without the three buttons above the touchpad. After a lot of pushback, they stopped making those. They also tried using Linux-hostile components for a while. My impression is that Lenovo is on an inexorable enshittification trajectory, but backs off a bit when pressured, only to make some other stupid decision next time.
They are back with the “no buttons” design. People swear the haptics make it better, but it doesn’t. My work gave me one and the touchpad gets phantom taps and now the pad “clicks” when it hasn’t even been touched sometimes and there’s nothing that can be done.