Intel to bring out chip for lower-cost thin laptops
Intel will bring out a new Core-architecture processor for lower-cost ultra-thin laptops later this year, according to Intel sources at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
22-millimeter packaging used in the MacBook Air
(Credit: Intel)The processors will distinguish themselves by targeting a price segment below pricey ultra-portables, which typically start at around $1,500 and range all the way up to $3,000--and higher in some cases. The processors will not compete with the Atom processor that powers Netbooks, which usually top out at $500.
In this sense, the new chips will be comparable to Advanced Micro Devices' recently announced Athlon Neo processor for ultra-thin laptops priced between $700 and $900.
The processor is "going to enable notebooks that are less than one inch (25mm)," according to the sources. The architecture will be a "tweak" of Intel's existing ULV (Ultra-Low-Voltage) processors, said the sources.
Current ULV Core 2 Duo mobile processors, such as the SU9300 and SU9400, have a power envelope (Thermal Design Power or TDP) of 10 watts, much lower than standard Intel mobile Core 2 Duo processors that have a TDP of between 25W and 35W.
ULV processors are used, for example, in ultraportables such as the Toshiba Portege R600 and Sony Vaio TT. Both are ultrathin high-priced boutique ultra-portables, starting at about $2,000.
Intel also offers SL series low-power mobile Core processors with a TDP of 17 watts.
The package size of the new processors will be 22 millimeters by 22 millimeters, according to the sources.
Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Follow Brooke on Twitter @mbrookec. 
- by ewelch January 11, 2009 7:59 AM PST
- The obvious question, how does it differ from the processor Intel makes for Apple's MacBook Air? Sounds like a lot of similarities, other than the laptop costing more than the price range noted above. But that's the way it is with other Apple notebooks vs Intel notebooks using the same processors.
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- by canberra_photographer January 12, 2009 4:37 AM PST
- Don't buy AntiVirus software for 5 years and then tell me Macs cost more!
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- by mike_ekim January 12, 2009 9:35 AM PST
- To canberra_photographer:
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(4 Comments)There are many good, free anti-virus software suites out there. I use and recommend 'Avast'.