Intel Having Problems Getting Those Ultrabooks Under $1000
The super slim notebooks won't be so cheap.
At Computex 2011, Intel unveiled a new form factor of notebook it calls the Ultrabook. Essentially, it's an extremely thin and light notebook that's powered by Sandy Bridge-class processors – not unlike the new MacBook Airs from Apple.
While Acer and Asus have signed on to make Ultrabooks, they may not be able to hit that magical under-$1000 mark that Intel wants – despite having the platform already being subsidized by Intel.
Notebook Italia reports that Acer will launch its Ultrabook in Q4 2011, but it will arrive with a price of four digits. Another source told Slashgear that Asus UX31 and UX21 Ultrabooks will be over $1000 as well, unless a sacrifice is made to drop the CPU down to a Core i3. Models with Core i5 and i7, paired with SSDs, will range between $1000 to $2000.
It seems that the MacBook Air line isn't carrying as much of an "Apple tax" this time around.
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For goodness sake, why not use the Core i3M - in the mobile space the delta to the i5M is much smaller than the desktop space (i3 to i5).
I wonder which components are causing the high prices. Is it the chipset+CPU, is it the screen, the battery or is it the SSD?
I find it hard to believe that it is just the CPU that is causing them to be so expensive. I don't see the point in making ultra-portables this expensive, I wouldn't routinely carry something that expensive around with me no matter how thin and light it was...
If Sandy Bridge won't let them do it, Ivy Bridge will. At the same clock speeds, a 22nm Ivy Bridge i3 will be able to run with minimal cooling apparatus.