From the front, the ThinkCentre M90a Pro Gen 6 looks a lot like a basic computer monitor, with narrow black bezels and the swiveling webcam/microphone combination mounted on top. The stand is dark gray, and the base features a cutout on the right side for standing up your smartphone, with a red accent that complements Lenovo’s ThinkCentre aesthetic. (You’ll also spot that red accent on the monitor’s display control knob in the back, mimicking Lenovo’s ThinkPad TrackPoint navigator on its laptops.)
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Look at this AIO from the side and the rear, though, and you can tell it’s more than just a display. It’s naturally thicker than a monitor, with a dark gray center panel to match the stand and base. All in all, it makes for a reasonably attractive, conservative design that won’t take up any more space than necessary.
The ThinkCentre M90a Pro measures 17.8 by 21.2 by 10.4 inches (HWD) in its tallest vertical mode with the UltraFlex stand. Of course, its depth increases in its flattest orientation, and the optional UltraFlex stand (seen below) allows for -5 to 70 degrees of tilt and up to 70 degrees of lift, the latter via the lower pivot shown in the image below. It can also lie almost entirely flat. Lenovo’s standard Full Function Stand LTPS provides less tilt (just -5 to 22 degrees) and less lift (only 45 degrees), but it can rotate 90 degrees into a portrait orientation, which the UltraFlex can’t.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If I were to buy this AIO, I would only choose the UltraFlex stand if it included touch controls on the panel. Otherwise, I would probably opt for the greater flexibility provided by the Full Function Stand LTPS. As a writer and web worker, the ability to pivot to portrait mode is more valuable to me. Note that you can also configure the machine without a stand and connect it to your own mount using a standard 100mm VESA setup.
The chassis—fully plastic on the outside with a metal structure inside—looks and feels premium despite lacking the solid build quality of all-metal systems like Apple’s iMacs. Of course, a similarly configured iMac won’t have the same flexibility or security features, but iMacs aren’t common business machines to begin with.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
In terms of comfort, using the ThinkCentre M90a Pro is no different than using a quality display with a standalone desktop. As mentioned, it’s easy and smooth to reorient, so it has no real downside unless you need to upgrade core components.
As for expandability and upgrades, you can swap out the RAM and install up to three SSDs, which is impressive for an AIO. However, practically all AIOs cannot support CPU or GPU upgrades due to their design. At least the ThinkCentre M90a Pro has Thunderbolt 4, so an external GPU enclosure using that connection can boost graphics if you skipped out on the RTX 4050 GPU option.
While this is all well and good, what sets the ThinkCentre M90a Pro Gen 6 design apart from your average living room AIO? Aside from the UltraFlex display stand, Lenovo’s chassis provides the space and cooling to house a desktop-grade processor. Coupled with Intel vPro support, this AIO not only enables desktop-level multithreaded performance but also enterprise management and security options. Lenovo’s ThinkShield security, with optional Human Presence Detection and a self-healing BIOS, provides more protection than a typical consumer desktop, making this product a good fit for fleet managers and home offices.
