Lenovo X1 Carbon

2025-01-15T17:35:08Z

Secaucus: Create page, outline WWAN card lockout practices

This article outlines the various anti-consumer measures used in the Lenovo X1 Carbon series of laptops. Some concepts may overlap with Lenovo's general practices.

=== Hardware Vendor Lockout (BIOS Whitelist) ===
Some (most) models of the Lenovo X1 Carbon will fail to POST if the user changes their WWAN broadband card to a WWAN card that is not on the Lenovo Vendor Whitelist<ref>https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/ThinkPad_mobile_Internet</ref>. If a user intends to use a WWAN card manufactured by another company, which are typically cheaper than the Lenovo factory-installed WWAN cards, the computer will not boot until the user removes the card. Evasion of these whitelists has been outlined in the ArchLinux wiki, but success is very limited. The intent behind this vendor-lockout is ambiguous, and not well-documented officially by Lenovo. Lenovo currently charges $298 USD to install a Quectel RM520N-GL 5G Sub6 from the factory<ref>[[File:Lenovo store screenshot.png|thumb]]
</ref>. Some used options of similar modems can be purchased for $150 USD<ref>[https://www.ebay.com/itm/296886818084?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Zmer97QERgG&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY https://www.ebay.com/itm/296886818084]</ref>. 4G modems can be purchased for even less<ref>https://www.ebay.com/itm/196914042141</ref>.

File:Lenovo store screenshot.png

2025-01-15T17:30:31Z

Secaucus:

A screenshot of the Lenovo store on 1/15/2025, showing the "Build Your PC" selections available for the X1 Carbon Gen 12.

Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Lenovo X1 Carbon

File:Lenovo store screenshot.png