You can now buy the 12th Gen Core i5 Lenovo ThinkPad C14 Chromebook

Lenovo is on a tear in the ChromeOS space as of late. After debuting one of the most unique and well-built ChromeOS tablets on the market, the PC giant recently followed up with a smaller Snapdragon detachable as a successor to the original Chromebook Duet. In the area of premium and more power, Lenovo announced a successor to the very popular Flex 5 Chromebook. The Chromebook Flex 5i features 12th Gen Intel CPUs and everything we love about this particular device line from Lenovo.

In the clamshell department, Lenovo recently debuted the all-new ThinkPad C14 Chromebook that also brings the very powerful 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs from Intel to the party. The MIL-Spec 180-degree clamshell is aimed at enterprise customers but it would make a formidable device for discerning ChromeOS users like myself. The 14-inch Chromebook is one of the most recent 12th Gen Chromebooks to officially make an appearance but now, it has become the first to actually be available.

You can already order HP’s ultra-premium Elite Dragonfly Chromebook but it still isn’t shipping until late summer at the earliest. Lenovo’s website is now listing the 12th Gen Core i5 ThinkPad C14 Chromebook with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and it says that it will ship within 10-12 business days. According to the listing, this model also comes with a built-in WWAN card for 4G/LTE connectivity. It isn’t clear if that is going to be locked down to a specific set of carries but it’s great to see this option available out of the gate. Here’s a look at the newly-available model of the ThinkPad C14.

Lenovo ThinkPad C14 Chromebook key specs

• ChromeOS
• 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1245U vPro 10 cores/12 threads
• 8GB LPDDR4X 4266 MHz RAM
• 256 GB PCIe SSD Gen 4
• 14″ Full HD IPS anti-glare display @ 250 nits
• 4G/LTE Fibocom L850-GL
• 1080p FHD webcam
• Fingerprint sensor
• Backlit keyboard
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2
• 1x HDMI, up to 4K/60Hz
• 1x microSD card reader
• 1x Headphone / microphone combo jack (3.5mm)
• Wi-Fi 6/Bluetooth 5.2 w/vPro
• MIL-STD-810H military test passed

We’re still waiting to get our hands on a review unit of the C14 but I’d wager that this is going to be a very solid device. The AMD-powered C13 model from last year was built like a tank and the design was top-notch. The only problem with that device was the processor. The C14 tackles that hurdle with the 12th Gen CPU from Intel. From what we’ve already seen, these CPUs are monsters. That leaves my only initial nit with this Chromebook being the 250 nit display. I really wish OEMs would start making 300 nits the bare minimum for brightness. Especially if they plan on marketing these things to premium users. A 250 nit display simply isn’t good enough. Anyway, the new Lenovo ThinkPad C14 Chromebook is available for order today for $1,019 and while that may seem a bit too pricey, this Chromebook will likely live up to that MSRP. Check it out at Lenovo.