Thinkpads Forum

Hi there! I’m strongly considering purchasing a ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 as my first ThinkPad, and I have what may be a bit of a stupid question: If I were to opt for the lower resolution, non-touch screen initially, would there be anything preventing me from upgrading it down the road? I’m guessing the casing is identical, but is there any sort of difference with the motherboard and connectors between the configurations, or is everything identical and it just be a matter of swapping the screens?

Welcome to the Forum.

That's a brand new model, about which there is not (yet) much known.
Read this Notebookcheck review.

Why not order one with what you consider the best screen?
Saves you the hassle of locating a new screen later on, as well having to take the machine apart while it might still be under warranty.
If you 'screw up' you might even lose that warranty!

Thank you for the welcome and information! I figured it might be too soon for that info to be out there, but figured I’d try here just in case.

The main reason I’m looking to configure it without the OLED screen to start is that Lenovo currently has some nice deals on the T14 Gen 5 AMD models on their site (47% off), but they only apply to the preconfigured models, none of which include an upgraded display. I’m pretty confident in my hardware repair/maintenance abilities, so I figured if I got one on sale without the display I really want now, I could grab the better one later and install it myself.

Thanks again for the reply!

Here's a vote for taking the savings and being done with it. 10 years ago the IPS screen offered now would have been one of the best on the market. If you get the Intel model with the IPS LCD and you're just surfing, watching a vid or typing a doc, will it seem all that different? It's good to be confident in your abilities, but the probability that everything will go as planned is never 100%. You could wait too. Prices can fluctuate, at times significantly, so some patience may net you the savings you want. Check the outlet too if you don't mind a return.

Looking at many PSREFs, Lenovo will not have the best LCD options on the AMD machines.
I think its intentional bc Intel pays off most companies for their systems to have the best, or even only options.
However I am not sure if it will be BIOS locked or whitelisted to your LCD if its not available on AMD at the time.

Saucey wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 21, 2024 3:08 pm

Looking at many PSREFs, Lenovo will not have the best LCD options on the AMD machines.
I think its intentional bc Intel pays off most companies for their systems to have the best, or even only options.
However I am not sure if it will be BIOS locked or whitelisted to your LCD if its not available on AMD at the time.

Here's an interesting case: the T14 Gen 1/2 AMD (as well as the earlier T495) only have FHD screens, while their Intel counterparts go up to 4K. As it turns out, Lenovo didn't install capacitors on half of the eDP lanes on the AMD machines, while keeping them fully populated on the Intel ones. This means that it's possible to upgrade the AMD models to 4K by adding the missing capacitors (thus completing the connection) and getting the correct LCD cable.