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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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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woshitudou This is more my style. I hope they start selling next month cause I need a better alternative to an ebook reader.Reply -
flowingbass 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.Reply -
pc574 They never said they would not compete with Intel. They said they would not compete with them in creating desktop CPU's.Reply -
rohitbaran 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. :)Reply -
de5_Roy 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).Reply
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. -
GreaseMonkey_62 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.Reply -
zanny 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).Reply -
alidan GreaseMonkey_62Finally! 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.Reply
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.