3 days ago
Sun Mar 30, 2025 1:38pm PST
Ask HN: Fanless Laptops
I fondly remember my student days of running Ubuntu on a tiny Thinkpad X61 w/ a 12" 1024×768 screen.

So a few weeks ago I started to wonder what the best ultraportable laptop for running Linux is nowadays.

I know these are somewhat arbitrary, personal constraints of mine (that the X61 also did not meet) but is it possible that there are (almost) no options for a laptop w/

- no fan

- 190+ dpi

?

I think I'd even be willing to accept battery life that's just "ok" if the screen is sharp for rendering text and passively cooled.

With 100s of vendors I thought there surely must be dozens of options.

But I have trouble finding any options from within the last 10 years.

And I mean not only no options specifically for running Linux "ok" but any options at all (e.g. compromising on Windows + WSL 2).

Except from Apple.

The 12" Macbook and current Macbook Air M1-M4.

Is that really it?

A close miss I found is the Thinkpad X13s that comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon (!).

It is fanless but it has a 160 dpi screen which unfortunately places it in the "almost good but still blurry" uncanny valley when it comes to text rendering.

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