Ultrabook part costs to help placate Windows PC builders who complain they can’t compete on price with Apple. The report from Digitimes doesn’t lay out the specific assembly costs, but pegs the chipmaker’s 18mm and 21mm thick laptops at $493 – $710 and $475 – $650, respectively. For systems at the thinner 0.7 inches of the MacBook Air ultra books are designed to imitate.
Intel is also reportedly meeting with manufacturers in Taipei next week to figure out a way to deliver on the budget-friendly goal, aimed at producing 11 – 13-inch models for the thinner entries and girthier 14 – 17-inch models. Five templates exist for the thinner category Digitimes saw, with the ASUS UX21 and larger UX31 matching that spec. Intel and the initial partners are all known to be aiming for starting prices below $1,000 even with requirements like metal shells and solid-state drives.
According to electronista, near-future plans may have been elaborated by the sources as well. Up to and including ultrabooks based on Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge 22 nanometer processors, all of the 11- to 13-inch models most closely following Apple’s formula have to be no thicker than 0.7 inches. Manufacturers can still make an ultrabook at 14 to 17 inches, and at that size have the leeway to increase the thickness to 0.8 inches.
Source: 1, 2, 3
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