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| The Lenovo ThinkCentre X AIO Aura Edition has been spotted online |
At CES 2026, Lenovo turned heads with a parade of quirky prototypes – including a rollable laptop that seemed to bend the rules of physics. But one of its more quietly intriguing announcements was the ThinkCentre X AIO Aura Edition, an all-in-one desktop that defies convention not with moving parts, but with a screen resolution that makes you do a double‑take. Now, thanks to an official listing on Lenovo’s Japanese website, we finally know how much this unusual machine will cost – and the number is raising more than a few eyebrows.
If you were hoping Lenovo would undercut Apple’s iconic iMac, think again. According to the product page that went live this week, the ThinkCentre X AIO Aura Edition is listed for ¥792,000 including local taxes. As of April 21, 2026, that converts to roughly $4,980 USD. To put that in perspective: a fully tricked‑out 24‑inch iMac with Apple’s M4 chip, 24GB of unified memory, a 2TB SSD, and four Thunderbolt ports retails for $2,500. That’s nearly half the price.
And the comparison gets even more uncomfortable when you dig into the specs. Lenovo’s own promotional materials at CES touted the ThinkCentre X as supporting up to 64GB of RAM. Yet the Japanese listing confirms a configuration with only 32GB of LPDDR5x memory. For a machine knocking on the door of five grand, that’s a head‑scratcher – especially when you consider that Apple’s $2,500 iMac offers “only” 24GB, but at a fraction of the cost. Meanwhile, the listing remains frustratingly vague about storage: Lenovo’s page doesn’t specify how much SSD or HDD space the PC will actually ship with.
So what exactly are you getting for that $5,000? The centerpiece is undeniably the display – a 27.6‑inch IPS LCD panel with a truly bizarre resolution of 2,560 x 2,880 pixels and a 16:18 aspect ratio. Yes, you read that right: nearly square. Rotate the screen 90 degrees, and you get a portrait‑oriented canvas that’s taller than it is wide – a dream for coding, vertical document editing, or social media dashboards. But for everyday media consumption or traditional productivity? That’s a niche taste, and a pricey one at that.
Under the hood, Lenovo has packed Intel’s latest Core Ultra X7 358H “Panther Lake” CPU, paired with a 12 Xe3 Arc integrated GPU. Early benchmarks suggest solid integrated graphics performance, but we’re talking about a $5,000 AIO that relies on an iGPU – no discrete graphics option has been announced. For creative pros who might otherwise consider a Mac Studio or a high‑end Windows workstation, that’s a notable omission.
Why the Hefty Price Tag? Blame the Weird Screen – and Maybe Japan’s Market
At first glance, $5,000 seems impossible to justify for a machine with 32GB of RAM, no dGPU, and an unconventional display. But Lenovo’s Japanese listing includes local consumption tax (10%), and the company has historically priced niche products higher in Japan due to distribution, certification, and support costs. Even after removing tax (roughly ¥720,000 before tax, or ~$4,530), the ThinkCentre X is still nearly double the cost of a comparably equipped iMac.
There’s also the “Aura Edition” branding – Lenovo’s line of premium devices with extra software polish, AI‑driven optimization, and often exclusive design touches. Whether that justifies a $2,500 premium over Apple’s best‑in‑class display and M4 efficiency is another question.
For those who want to dive into the raw specs themselves, Lenovo’s Japanese product page is now live. You can find the full technical breakdown here:
👉 Lenovo ThinkCentre X AIO Aura Edition official specs (Japan)
Meanwhile, Japanese tech site GDM was first to spot the listing, and VideoCardz quickly picked up the story for the English‑speaking audience. Their coverage adds useful context about the Panther Lake CPU and the odd 16:18 panel:
Availability: Japan First, Then… Who Knows?
For now, the ThinkCentre X AIO Aura Edition is only listed in Japan. Lenovo has not announced a US or European release date. Given the current global memory shortage – the same crunch that likely forced Lenovo to ship 32GB instead of the promised 64GB – it’s entirely possible that other regions will see delays or different configurations. The company might also adjust pricing outside Japan, but don’t hold your breath for a dramatic drop.
If you’re a collector of weird, wonderful tech or a professional who absolutely needs a 16:18 rotating canvas for your vertical workflow, the ThinkCentre X might be your dream machine. For everyone else? The iMac remains the value king, even at its own premium tier. And that’s before you consider building a comparable mini‑PC plus a high‑resolution 4K monitor – which would still leave you with enough change for a nice vacation.
Lenovo proved at CES that it can still surprise us. But with a $5,000 price tag and a spec sheet that raises more questions than answers, the ThinkCentre X AIO Aura Edition might be one surprise that stays on the shelf. We’ve reached out to Lenovo for comment on international pricing and the missing 64GB option – and we’ll update this story if we hear back.
Would you pay nearly five grand for a square‑screen AIO? Or is Lenovo living in a different reality? Let us know in the comments – and keep an eye on this space for more CES 2026 follow‑ups as products actually start shipping.