What you need to know
- Lenovo just launched the YOGA Portal, a compact desktop that runs on an Intel Core i7-14700 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070.
- The YOGA Portal is only available in China at this time, though there is a global version of the PC with different specs called the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra.
- The YOGA Portal costs roughly $2,500 after conversion and compares well against a Mac Studio in a similar price range.
Lenovo has a new compact desktop or mini PC that packs powerful specs into a tiny body. The YOGA Portal pairs an Intel Core i7-14700 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 despite being only 4.25 inches tall (108 mm). The PC would set you back about $2,500 — that is, if you were able to buy one. The YOGA Portal is the Chinese version of the ThinkCenter Neo Ultra, which has a seemingly identical body but different options when it comes to its CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit).
The YOGA Portal has a dedicated M.2 slot for an AI-boosting NPU (neural processing unit) processor (you can learn more about these in our NPU guide). Several of its components, such as its storage and memory, can be upgraded as well.
One of the big selling points of the YOGA Portal is that its RTX 4070 is a full desktop version of the card. The RTX 4070 is not a small GPU, so fitting a full desktop version inside the YOGA Portal is impressive. VideoCardz notes that it would likely be "challenging or even impossible" to replace the graphics card in the YOGA Portal due to the compact design of the PC and the system's custom cooling solution.
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Lenovo YOGA Portal vs Mac Studio
Comparing devices that run on different operating systems is always a bit tricky. Even something seemingly simple like comparing how much RAM a device has isn't straightforward, as evidenced by Apple's claims about 8GB of RAM on a Mac being roughly analogous to 16GB of RAM on a PC. Use cases are also very different between macOS and Windows, with gaming performance often being a priority for the latter. But our colleagues at iMore, who reviewed the Mac Studio, said Lenovo's YOGA Portal "blows Apple’s own boxy desktop out of the water." Let's take a quick look at why that's the case, at least in certain areas.
The YOGA Portal is 108 mm tall, and its base is 195 mm x 203 mm (4.25 x 7.68 x 7.99 in). That makes Lenovo's computer slightly taller than the Mac Studio, but both devices are compact and easily fit on a desk. It's what's inside the YOGA Portal that makes it stand out. The PC runs on an Intel Core i7-14700 paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070.
The YOGA Portal also has four M.2 slots, which are meant for WLAN, AI, and SSD expansion. Lenovo's computer has a nice selection of ports for its form factor, including two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and a USB-C port on the front. The back of the PC has four USB-A ports, two HDMI 2.1 ports, an Ethernet port, and four DisplayPort 1.4 ports. There are also optional rear ports for USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, or VGA.
In contrast, the Mac Studio runs on the M2 Max or M2 Ultra. Those are impressive processors that can easily handle demanding 3D-focused workflows, but they aren't the newest internals. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 but ranges all the way up to $8,799 for the maxed-out model.
Apple's M4 chip will launch first in the 2024 iPad Pro. The family of processors is expected to then work its way through the M4 MacBook Pro, M4 MacBook Air, and M4 Mac mini. It could be quite a while before we see a Mac Studio with an M4. Though it's worth pointing out that a Mac Mini powered by an M4 would be an exceptional computer and would be more compact than the YOGA Portal by a sizeable margin.
