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!
