Sometimes, the tech world gives us something that’s conceptually very cool — unless you think about it for more than five seconds. That’s exactly what Lenovo did at MWC 2024.
The folks behind the ThinkBook brand showcased a fully transparent laptop at the Barcelona-based tech show. Referred to as the “Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop” (catchy name), it’s exactly what it sounds like: a laptop with a display that you can fully see through.
And see through it, you absolutely can. I got to put my eyes and hands on the concept device and I can safely report that it is, indeed, a transparent laptop. But it left me with more questions than answers.
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For transparency’s sake
From the side.
Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
But first, let’s talk specs. Lenovo didn’t give us a full spec sheet for the device, probably because it’s a concept that is explicitly not meant for any kind of mass production. However, there are a few things to chew on.
First, it has a very large 17.3-inch microLED display with up to 1,000 nits of peak brightness. It also has 55 percent light transmittance from behind. In other words, you can see about half the amount of light from the other side that you can see from the front.
YouTube video playing on Lenovo’s transparent laptop
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
It also ran Windows 11. There’s also a camera running along the base of the laptop that faces away from the screen, rather than a traditional user-facing webcam. Lenovo gave us a quick demo where the camera was able to look at a flower and use generative AI to give us flower facts.
Here’s what the Windows 11 desktop looks like on Lenovo’s transparent laptop.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
The two most interesting things about the Transparent Display Laptop are (of course) its transparency and its keyboard. Yes, you can fully see what someone is doing on the screen from the other side of the device. There is no privacy to speak of — by default. Lenovo told us there’s a privacy filter that makes the other side of the screen opaque, but that feature wasn’t shown in the demo.
It’s also worth mentioning that literally any other existing laptop already does that by virtue of not being transparent.
You can watch videos on the screen, but the transparency is still very noticeable.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
As for the keyboard, it isn’t the traditional, tactile one we’re all used to. Instead, it has a digital interface. Although it’s kind of cool in that it looks like Tron, the adjustment period for such an untraditional keyboard will take some time. It’s not my preference, personally. However, one cool thing you can do is turn off the keyboard and turn the bottom half of the device into one giant touchpad.
But still, the transparency is the thing that matters most here. Lenovo’s Transparent Display Laptop is impressive from a tech standpoint — and it’s neat that there’s a real device (albeit one that’s not for sale) that looks like it came from Mass Effect. However, as it stands now, there isn’t an obvious use case for it. I just don’t think anyone out there is really yearning for a laptop that offers zero privacy by design.
An app launched on Lenovo’s ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
Still, tech trade shows are great for seeing wacky concepts like this. We’re on the ground at MWC 2024. Stay tuned for other wild tech that stem from the Barcelona-based showcase.