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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aje21 , July 27, 2011 8:31 PM

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).
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Rab1d-BDGR , July 27, 2011 10:47 PM

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...
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Dandalf , July 28, 2011 7:41 AM

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.