Lenovo ThinkPad T490 comes with an Intel Whiskey Lake processor. Users can choose Intel UHD 620 or NVIDIA GeForce MX250 discrete graphics card according to their needs, it supports up to 32GB (16GB expandable +16GB onboard) memory, and 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD.
ThinkPad T490 features a ThinkShutter, which can physically close the camera. The Infrared camera and fingerprint recognition module are also optional.
The laptop supports up to 14-inch WQHDIPS screen, and covering 100% Adobe RGB wide color gamut, with IPS wide viewing angle technology, even in bright light can see the content. The frame on both sides of the screen has a thickness of 8.6mm.
Lenovo ThinkPad T490 weighs of 1.49Kg and has a thickness of 18.9mm. It supports fast charging technology and charging 80% in 1 hour, the battery lift up to 13.6 hours.
I have seen a lot of users have gotten and upgraded the memory and SSD for their T490, here to share with you the experience of upgrading memory and SSD.
The first thing to do is unscrew the screws that secure the bottom cover, and then insert a thin plastic tool under the bottom cover. The bottom cover has many hidden latches fastening it to the palmrest. You need to move the thin plastic tool along the side and unfasten all latches.
With the bottom cover removed, you can get access to the battery, SSD, CMOS battery, RAM slot, cooling fan, heatsink, and motherboard.
ThinkPad T490 comes with an 11.52V, 4345mAh, 5Wh Li-ion battery. The part number is L18M3P73, 02DL008. The most significant difference between the ThinkPad T490 and the ThinkPad T480 is that the T490 cancels the external battery and retains the built-in battery.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T490 comes with 8GB memory onboard and has a free RAM slot. This slot can support up to 16GB DDR4 2400 MHz memory.
The laptop comes with a Samsung 256GB PM981A PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. Of course, you can replace the SSD by a big capacity SSD. It supports up to 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD.
Here’s the WWAN 2242 M.2 slot of the T490. I saw that someone installed a PCIe SSD to this slot, but the system does not recognize it. This is very regrettable.
Of course, this can be solved by updating BIOS. I hope Lenovo will update BIOS to make ThinkPad T490 support 2242 SSD.
Related Parts
Original WQHD LCD Screen 00NY679 00NY680 01YU646
Genuine US Backlit keyboard for Lenovo ThinkPad T490
Genuine FHD IPS Screen for Lenovo ThinkPad T490 T490s – 01YN154 01YN155 01YN156 01YN157
Genuine Touchscreen for Lenovo ThinkPad T490 T490s – 01YN150 01YN151 01YN152 01YN131
Original LCD Cable for Lenovo ThinkPad T490 T495 – 02HK975 02HK989 02HK974
“This is the WWAN 2242 M.2 slot of the T490. I saw that someone installed a PCIe SSD to this slot, but the system does not recognize it. This is very regrettable.”
I will not buy this laptop if L. does not deliver this functionality. ThinkPads have constantly lost product quality, features and service quality, and now ThinkPads are mostly regular business laptops, which can increasingly easily be replaced by other products.
Lenovo should not be so silly to think that people are going to accept any sort of mediocre product for big money only because there is a “ThinkPad” written on it.
Is possible to disable the mx250 when it’s not needed? Just to have better battery life
You can go to the BIOS to disable the graphics card or disable it in the device manager.
I believe the max ram is wrong. If the laptop comes with 8GB soldered onboard then it supports a maximum of 40GB by adding a 32GB module. If it comes with 16GB onboard then it supports 48Gb by adding a 32GB module.
I’m confused (and disappointed) over this too. When I customise on the Lenovo web site, the permanent soldered module is 8GB but it max to 48GB so that sole slot has to accept a 40GB module. What an oddball design.
There is a 16gb option for the onboard
I can double that: I’ve replaced 8Gb module with a 32 Gb module, it works without problems, moreover, in dual-channel mode (probably up to 16 Gb, I would guess).
Is it possible to add the MX250 later on? In other words, is it possible for a user to add the dGPU as a DIY upgrade?
+1, would be cool to know!
Yes, mate. I saw some model machine that does not have the MX250.
There is a 16gb option for the onboard
The WWAN 2242 M.2 slot only supports SATA protocol SSD. putting a NVME SSD in there will of course not work, even if the SSD supports both protocols. its SATA only.
This laptop has only one RAM slot?
If I understand correctly, If I buy a laptop with 16GB ram, this memory is on MB and one slot is free for additional RAM?
Thanks for answer 🙂