AMD May Introduce Ultrabook Alternative Next Month
There's a good chance we'll see an ultrathin form factor notebook supplied by AMD next month during CES 2012.
Despite earlier talk about not competing directly with Intel starting 2012, AMD is reportedly going after its rival anyway with the possible introduction of its own "ultra-thin" form factor, a super-thin MacBook Air and ultrabook clone that uses AMD processors instead of ones supplied by Intel. Even more, Brian Slattery from AMD Australia reports that the new form factor just might become available locally next month.
AMD is reportedly taking a different approach than Intel, refraining from commanding specific configurations and aesthetics. There's speculation that AMD will be using the Brazos 2.0 platform sporting an updated Zacate APU and a Radeon HD 7000 series GPU. Slattery said that it was up to the ultra-thin manufacturers to decide how they adopt the platform.
"They can do what they want with them," Slattery said.
He also added that AMD had conducted talks with a number of manufacturers about the ultra-thin design and one of them was "particularly advanced." Unfortunately, Slattery didn't go into further detail about AMD's ultra-thin form factor, only stating that Apple had previously prepared a version of its MacBook Air running on an AMD processor, but decided to discontinue the project before its release.
Given that AMD's ultra-thin concept may be introduced in Australia next month, there's a good chance we'll see a few working demo units running at CES 2012 next month. We're also hoping AMD will choose an alternative name using something other than "ultra" to differentiate its own design from rival Intel's ultrabook now appearing on store shelves.
UPDATE: AMD used the "ultra-thin" term to describe the form factor, and does not plan to use "ultrathin" as an actual brand. The article has been updated to reflect this. Thanks John!
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go AMD
This is more my style. I hope they start selling next month cause I need a better alternative to an ebook reader.
Current ultrabooks have less than decent IGPs. If the CPU performance is on par with first gen i5 or i7 this will be a formidable machine to beat for intel.
There's an AMD Australia?
=D
They never said they would not compete with Intel. They said they would not compete with them in creating desktop CPU's.
I think that with their successful APUs, AMD will pull this one off better than Intel, unless OEMs ditch AMD. AMD's APUs will provide a more cost effective and balanced solution than Intel's platforms.
cool! i was hoping trinity or llano would compete in the ultrabooks against sb and ivb, but zacate is no newcomer in the ultraportable field. amd's igp and gpus have always put them ahead of intel's igp. not to mention they deliver capable products at prices intel never delivers (4 core mobile cpu under $500).
amd's recent success in the mobile arena will help them even more. intel will not be able to go crazy with prices while amd is competing.
screw all the talk about not competing, amd vs intel is always good.
Finally! With their low cost and good performance AMD based ultratype books will be the one to get. If AMD works with OEM's to pull this off Intel is going to be hard pressed to compete here. Maybe AMD can take the money it'll make and build a decent desktop processor gamers want; aka non-bulldozer fail.
Llano should make a killing in the notebook sector. Sandy bridge has too much cpu and not enough gpu power for common every day application usage (gpu accelerated video playback, etc).
Finally! With their low cost and good performance AMD based ultratype books will be the one to get. If AMD works with OEM's to pull this off Intel is going to be hard pressed to compete here. Maybe AMD can take the money it'll make and build a decent desktop processor gamers want; aka non-bulldozer fail.
yea... id rather them spend money getting the single core performance up on future revisions of bulldozer because in mulitcore it easily competes at its price range with intel.
This is excellent news and should be good for consumers by generating actual competition in the ultra-thin market that seems to be gaining momentum.
I would strongly consider one of these to replace my wife's anemic Atom based netbook.....
It's not really ultra-thin until you can sharpen the edge for self-defense.
Pc makers have been looking for something to compete with the Mac Book Air and this is going to be it. I like how AMD is starting to switch gears in their marketing. They need this to turn things around. Even thought they won't be able to compete directly with Intel for the cpu crown, they will be able to compete with them in the user market with products like these. Most typical pc users don't care if something is blazing fast, all they care about mostly is doing typical task and battery life. If it can surf the net, watch youtube videos and play blu ray movies with a decent battery life if you use a protable device, that's all a lot of typical pc users care about.
They never said they would not compete with Intel. They said they would not compete with them in creating desktop CPU's.
they will compete with "APU" instead of "CPU" in the future
If they make a decent laptop at an affordable price, then I'm in.
For the name: how about "Slim-Book"? that would be a good laptop for "Slim Shady".
Also, it would be nice to see an ARM based APU from AMD. Isn't it time to "retire" the X86 architecture?
One problem that I see would be the HDD, since SDD are still expensive.
This is very, very good for the market. Go go go!
On a related note, is the sandy bridge IGP really THAT bad that it can't play 1080p content smoothly?
I would have bought an AMD based laptop if I had the choice for doing so, but no one ships laptops with them.
ojas
Yes, its is that bad, worse image quality, can't even play 23.976fps video without dropping frames like the EU economy.
Even the AMD 780G (the real HD3200) plays those videos flawlessly, and it's from 2008. Also with that IGP you don't get graphical corruption/glitches in games vs intel crappy graphics.
On the other side Llano HD6550D built-in gpu is 3-4times faster than the worthless intel HD3000. It's even worse than the lowest end of APU products.
@Filiprino
Where could you POSSIBLY live that you cant get an AMD based laptop shipped to you?? Just go to Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect, and the the list goes on and on and....
So... only Zacate APUs? No Llanos? I was looking forward to an announcement like this, but I don't know if Zacate is going to cut it.
@FiliprinoWhere could you POSSIBLY live that you cant get an AMD based laptop shipped to you?? Just go to Amazon, Newegg, TigerDirect, and the the list goes on and on and....
Well, I can get AMD laptops, but fusion laptops are still very rare and brands that in other countries offer personalized configurations here were I live they don't do that so it's their way or highway.
I hope that AMD will not clip the potential of this by dictating with minute detail how to design this and instead leaving it to the OEMs to be creative. I will foreseeably have one lone computer for when on the go or at home, so I rule-out MacBook Airs because it is SSD-only with integrated graphics. The first crop of Ultrabooks I've seen underwhelm me with too-small screens, integrated graphics and only middling-processor options. I can't see why it would be so difficult to have a notebook with full-size screen, desktop-replacement-grade CPU/GPU/HDD/RAM expandibility in a
This is very, very good for the market. Go go go!On a related note, is the sandy bridge IGP really THAT bad that it can't play 1080p content smoothly?
No, I have a sandy bridge, it has more than enough to run 1080p stuff just fine even without my video card. But anything else that requires more graphics power is terrible, not a prob since i run a seperate vid card. BUt those thin laptops dont use discrete cards, they rely totally on the igp, and AMD stomps a mudhole in intel atm when it comes to IGP's. I bought a very small laptop recently and made sure i got an AMD apu, its not even a higher end one and it runs most every mainstream game i throw at it, not maxed, but runs em amazingly well.
Yes please AMD. Intel sandy bridge may be particularly brutish when it comes to pure processing grunt, but AMD IGPs are the mutt's nuts when it comes to owning a light gaming machine... I would prefer a decently balanced CPU/GPU setup over a CPU heavy / GPU weak setup. Esp for what you're most likely to be using an ultra thin laptop for (web browsing, office work, maybe a bit of light gaming... definitely nothing as intensive as 3D/photoshop work.)
Hahah..Yeah right AMD APU's are not balance because they have 1/2 the CPU power which is a big problem.
Hahah..Yeah right AMD APU's are not balance because they have 1/2 the CPU power which is a big problem.
Sure, but if you're in for a bit of gaming, I think you'll find that intel's IGP is totally let down by the GPU side. Whereas with AMD IGPs, the GPU part is faster than Intel's solution, but still not let down by AMD's inferior CPU performance.
While I think this is great, and I'm currently writing this response from an AMD powered notebook, I think AMD is lacking the power efficiency that Intel currently has. But hopefully the updated Zacate APU will allow the AMD "ultrabook" to last more than 4-5 hours. Right now current ultrabooks or MacBook Airs tend to last 6-7 hours with moderate usage. AMD needs to match that if they want to compete effectively.
Maybe AMD saw the growing shipment forecasts for ultrabooks.
Uberragen21
Any E-350/E-450 based notabook has a battery life with moderate usage in the 5-10hours. HP DM1 E-450 last for about 7hours with normal use.
My brother's fiancée's mother (sorry) just bought a TOSHIBA Satellite C670D-11K. It's an E-450 laptop... albeit with a 17.3" screen. 4.5 hour battery life isn't bad, but at that size, it just seems like pure madness.
My brother's fiancée's mother (sorry) just bought a TOSHIBA Satellite C670D-11K. It's an E-450 laptop... albeit with a 17.3" screen. 4.5 hour battery life isn't bad, but at that size, it just seems like pure madness.
+1.
lol your post sounded a bit like those 'my x's y's z makes $abcdefgh an hour by working on internet....' posts. i read the first four words and thought waitaminute...
anyway, amd apus have had success there. intel core i3 and i5 laptops with 17" screens are usually costlier. hell, sometimes even <14" ones are costly. but amd apus with larger displays cost less and sometimes you get goodies like bluray combos. not to mention superior gfx with good cpu.