When Lenovo announced the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga 2020 in January, a lot of people were disappointed. Both were such small updates that people had trouble finding the differences to the older 2019 X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga. Since these are the flagship devices of the ThinkPad line, expectations for innovations are higher.

A recently spotted GitHub driver page has revealed that Lenovo might be planning to extend the ThinkPad X1 family beyond the current models: Two completely unknown ThinkPad X1 devices, the ThinkPad X1 Nano and the ThinkPad X1 Next, are listed there.

At this time, we do not know anything about these devices, neither positioning, specs or pricing. Naturally, this leaves some room for speculation.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano: Successor to the X1 Tablet?

The word "Nano" might imply an especially small and compact ThinkPad X1 device. While this definitely could mean that Lenovo is planning a smaller version of the X1 Carbon with something like an 11 inch or 12 inch screen, we think that this device could be a successor to an already existing X1 ThinkPad: The ThinkPad X1 Tablet.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet came out originally in 2016. The last major update to this device was released in 2018 with the ThinkPad X1 Tablet Gen 3. Since then, there is no sign of a new version. However, Lenovo also has not discontinued the ThinkPad X1 Tablet. The X1 Tablet 2018 with Intel Kaby-Lake-Refresh is still in production.

While it is possible that the ThinkPad X1 Fold announced at CES could take over the position of the ThinkPad X1 Tablet, a smaller ThinkPad X1 Nano might be the true successor.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Next: The future of the ThinkPad X1 line?

The name "ThinkPad X1 Next" is even more mysterious. Compared with "X1 Nano", "X1 Next" gives little to no hints what this PC could be.

One thing seems logical with such a name though: Could the ThinkPad X1 Next be the successor to the X1 Carbon/X1 Yoga - literally the "Next" thing for the ThinkPad X1 brand?

After all, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is already in production since 8 years now, ages in the world of technology. It has evolved quite a bit since then, of course, but the core idea of the product has not changed. Maybe Lenovo feels like it has to take the next step - the small ThinkPad X1 Carbon update this year could be hint that Lenovo is looking beyond the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

Whatever these two ThinkPads turn out to be (and if they come to market at all), we are anxious to see what Lenovo has planned.