Intel issues 'Ultrabook' reference specs with sub-$710 BOMs
As notebook makers struggle to produce thin-and-light notebooks that compete with Apple's MacBook Air on price, Intel has sent a reference bill of materials to its partners with costs of $475-$650 for 21mm notebooks and $493-$710 for 18mm models, according to an unconfirmed report.
Citing sources at notebook makers, DigiTimes reported Friday that Intel is playing an active role in keeping notebooks in its newly-defined "Ultrabook" class, which brings "tablet-like features" to thin-and-light notebooks, below the $1,000 threshold. The chipmaker's reported BOM does not include assembly costs.
According to the report, Intel will meet with notebook ODM partners in Taiwan next week to discuss its proposed BOM and other details related to the standard. Sources said Intel is already pushing next-generation Ultrabooks based on its 22nm Ivy Bridge CPUs in 2012 and Haswell-based models in 2013.
The company has reportedly rendered five reference designs for 18mm models, which will not include an optical disk drive, including Asustek's upcoming UX21 and UX31 laptops. Despite Intel's efforts to keep Ultrabooks in the sub-$1000 range, the 13.3-inch UX31 will cost $1600.
The publication reported earlier this week that Intel and its partners have been "aggressively searching" for new materials to build chassis for Ultrabook designs. Apple is said to have booked up the majority of capacity for CNC lathes required to build unibody magnesium-aluminum chassis. Ultrabook makers are reportedly considering going with fiberglass instead, a move that could save as much as $50-$100.
According to one report last week, PC makers have struggled to match Apple's pricing with its MacBook Air. Some notebook makers have reportedly discovered that actual production costs for their Ultrabook designs are roughly as high as retail prices for Apple's ultra-lightweight laptops.
Intel unveiled the Ultrabook design guidelines in May at the Computex trade show. Skeptics initially criticized it as no more than a netbook "makeover."
Apple refreshed the MacBook Air line last month, adding Sandy Bridge processors, a high-speed Thunderbolt port and back-lit keyboards. After the Mac maker added an 11.6-inch version and dropped the price of the entry-level MacBook Air to $999 last year, the ultra-thin notebook became a breakout success. The latest version has reportedly sold out at some locations.
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Comments
(I'm personally holding out for an Ivy Bridge chipset and hopefully 8 GB of RAM as an option.)
If this initiative (and PR move) puts pressure on Apple to lower the cost of the Airs then I'm all for it.
(I'm personally holding out for an Ivy Bridge chipset and hopefully 8 GB of RAM as an option.)
I'm grabbing an Sandy Bridge Air and then hopefully a 27" Ivy Bridge iMac and then i'm golden. I think the only way PC vendors will find any success is to use inferior components like a cheaper display, no Thunderbolt, backlit KB etc. The Air is competitive for those that are demanding premium features.
As to a BOM that is all it is a Bill Of Materials. It is not a finished machine.
Yup...if they want decent margins they'll need 2-3x markup on BoM to make money.
Going to be near impossible to hit those price points with acceptable size/performance SSD
Why?
Unless something drastic happens with PC marketshare this form factor is eventually going to be outselling Airs 10 to 1.
Surely with that kind of demand, and PC OEM's all lining up behind the same Intel reference designs, there is going to be enough incentive to drastically increase production capacity for the required parts?
I don't think it will be near impossible to hit MBA price points in 2011, I think it will be impossible... however 2012 should be a different story.
Why?
Unless something drastic happens with PC marketshare this form factor is eventually going to be outselling Airs 10 to 1.
Surely with that kind of demand, and PC OEM's all lining up behind the same Intel reference designs, there is going to be enough incentive to drastically increase production capacity for the required parts?
I don't think it will be near impossible to hit MBA price points in 2011, I think it will be impossible... however 2012 should be a different story.
Exactly - nobody will be able to touch the Macbook Air's price point (with a comparable machine) until capacity increases and the BoM decreases in proportion, simply because Apple has already locked up most of the current capacity. When the market for this form factor really starts to explode then economies of scale will bring the BoM down - but Apple has the advantage of being able to get a foot in and dominate as the market grows, which is good for Apple. And if they keep a step ahead of the competition in price as well as quality, which they have every chance to do, then that's good for us as well!
I am really pushing for my company to replace my crap Lenovo S12 with a 4GB/256GB 11" Air this fall. That would be awesome.
2) More lame that Intel, the sole laptop/desktop provider of Apple is promoting it
(Shouldn't they like a shift away from Windows machines that may have AMD chips?)
Absolutely agreed that people really need to wake up about the crap that is Windows.
It is hard to believe how people can use such an anti-intuitive, awkward and malware-filled operating system as Windows is. Windows is basically maintained by inertia and ignorance.The day the Mac reaches 20% market share, Windows will be history in three years.
Not everyone can afford a Mac. A lot of businesses are too cheap/too reliant on MS Office & crappy IE-only web apps to buy Macs.
OSX will never be the dominate (in terms of marketshare) desktop OS for the same reasons that iOS will never be the dominate smartphone OS.
It is hard to believe how people can use such an anti-intuitive, awkward and malware-filled operating system as Windows is. Windows is basically maintained by inertia and ignorance.The day the Mac reaches 20% market share, Windows will be history in three years.
The problem is that a lot of people buy a Windows Laptop or dektop computer because of price and because they want to play games. Also a lot of people have grown used to Windows and think they'd be having a hard time adjusting to a new operating system. It's that simple.
Not everyone can afford a Mac. A lot of businesses are too cheap/too reliant on MS Office & crappy IE-only web apps to buy Macs.
OSX will never be the dominate (in terms of marketshare) desktop OS for the same reasons that iOS will never be the dominate smartphone OS.
I would argue that iOS is already the dominant mobile OS. To have real marketshare, the customer has the actually USE the product the way it was intended. AOL was not the dominant ISP in the 90's just because millions of people used their free discs as drinks coasters.
We know from various published studies that iOS is used as a mobile operating system far more than Android is.
Not everyone can afford a Mac.
And, yet, this article is about how Windows systems are not going to be able to beat the Mac on price.
A lot of businesses are too cheap/too reliant on MS Office & crappy IE-only web apps to buy Macs.
Amazing how so much ignorance abounds.
Reliant on Office? Perhaps you're not aware that Office has been available on Macs since the beginning.
IE-only web apps? These are actually far less of a problem than they've ever been. I can think of only one site I can't access with my Mac. And I can simply fire up Parallels to get to that site.
OSX will never be the dominate (in terms of marketshare) desktop OS for the same reasons that iOS will never be the dominate smartphone OS.
I agree that OS X isn't going to be dominant. Too many ignorant people like you spreading FUD.
OSX will never be the dominate (in terms of marketshare) desktop OS for the same reasons that iOS will never be the dominate smartphone OS.
What reason is that?
I would argue that iOS is already the dominant mobile OS. To have real marketshare, the customer has the actually USE the product the way it was intended. AOL was not the dominant ISP in the 90's just because millions of people used their free discs as drinks coasters.
We know from various published studies that iOS is used as a mobile operating system far more than Android is.
Well, a lot of people actually used AOL back in the day, and i mean used aol as an isp, not just coasters. They WERE the dominant isp in the 90s.
True, last i checked, iOS was used in more devices total than android. However, with the rate of activations ever climbing higher, it shouldnt be too long before android overtakes iOS in that. I doubt apple is concerned at all about this though. They seem pretty content on being a niche player, and i think this holds true for OSX as well.
On that subject, i dont think that many people are motivated to make the change to OSX from windows. I briefly had a macbook pro a few years ago, and while OSX was pretty good OS, it just didnt have any killer features that would tempt me to make the effort to convert, nor was there anything so bad on the windows side that made me want to consider a different OS.
And, yet, this article is about how Windows systems are not going to be able to beat the Mac on price.
In one market segment. At this moment in time. Apple rules the $1000+ laptop market segment but doesn't offer a single product in the ~$500 segment. If you want cheap (and obviously cheap != value), Windows or Linux are your only options.
Amazing how so much ignorance abounds.
Reliant on Office? Perhaps you're not aware that Office has been available on Macs since the beginning.
Office 2008 for Mac was full of compatibility holes. 2011 is a vast improvement but still doesn't come with the full range of functionality found in the enterprise edition of MS Office for Windows.
IE-only web apps? These are actually far less of a problem than they've ever been. I can think of only one site I can't access with my Mac. And I can simply fire up Parallels to get to that site.
You're very lucky. Most companies still rely on horrid IE-only web apps and aren't willing to pay for extra software just to access these apps.
What reason is that?
There's a race to the bottom that Apple doesn't want to be in. Other manufacturers are willing to give up profits in the search for marketshare.
Why?
Unless something drastic happens with PC marketshare this form factor is eventually going to be outselling Airs 10 to 1.
Surely with that kind of demand, and PC OEM's all lining up behind the same Intel reference designs, there is going to be enough incentive to drastically increase production capacity for the required parts?
.
That assumes that PC manufacturers adopt the Ultrabook as their mainstream notebook format. If they do, great, it's about time, and it means my next corporate-issue PC will actually be easy to carry (unlike my 5.5 lb HP "Elitebook"). However, if they can make a sub-$1000 Ultrabook with MacBook Air specs, then they can probably make a 5 lb beast with similar specs for about $500, and there will be a market for that, too.
Windows outsells OS X 9 to 1. That doesn't translate into a 9-1 ratio in every PC category. Macs dominate the market above $1000, for instance. It's hard for Dell or HP to convince many people to spend more than $1000. Apple's cheapest complete system starts at $999.
They seem pretty content on being a niche player, and i think this holds true for OSX as well.
I think this modesty is one of Apple's greatest strengths. It's really interesting how they can at once be in the spotlight and simultaneously retain the underdog title. Sure, plenty of macheads tout Apple's supremacy from the highest of hills, and this only tarnishes Apple's reputation, but still the company continues to maintain said modesty through a concise product portfolio.
while OSX was pretty good OS, it just didnt have any killer features that would tempt me to make the effort to convert, nor was there anything so bad on the windows side that made me want to consider a different OS.
This statement really boils down to an opportunity cost problem and proves that the average Windows user is not only uninformed on how OS X can improve workflow and efficiency, but also cannot readily perceive this disparity quickly enough to let Windows go.
Of course, for average user here, n=1. Still, I would suspect many people here have seen this before.
The ux31 from asus will have a core i7 while the 13 inch macbook air only has a core i5. The comparable macbook air to say the ux31 is only $1 cheaper.
They can make them cheaper then the airs if they use the same specs of the air.
Everybody is blasting pc makers here without comparing apples to apples. Full specs of the pc versions of the air have not been released . only processor , generic ssd included .
But from what has been released so far some of these models will go for at least the same price of a comparable air but have faster processors.
So i don't get how people Can bash these yet.
Also to reply to the person above me I posted this from a work supplied macbook pro and i find that osx does not improve my workflow. I find that windows is better for that.
hmm the problem with every bodies[sic] comparisons is the fact that these other non apple ultra books Don't have the same specs.
Onay then, what are these specs and price points?
]The ux31 from asus will have a core i7 while the 13 inch macbook air only has a core i5.
What was said that it would be much more than $1000 if they used anything but a Core i3. It's adding Core i7 and an SSD that would push it closer to $2000.
2) Both the 11" and 13" MBA have a Core i7 options.
The comparable macbook air to say the ux31 is only $1 cheaper.
Again, show us this spec and price sheet.
They can make them cheaper then the airs if they use the same specs of the air.
If you read this article and others from this week you see there is bellyaching because they compete with Apple.
Everybody is blasting pc makers here without comparing apples to apples. Full specs of the pc versions of the air have not been released . only processor , generic ssd included .
You make two claims that they are comparable only to say they can't be compared 5 paragraphs later. WTF!
But from what has been released so far some of these models will go for at least the same price of a comparable air but have faster processors.
Again, prove it.
So i don't get how people Can bash these yet.
I don't get how you can't back up for comments with proof.
Also to reply to the person above me I posted this from a work supplied macbook pro and i find that osx does not improve my workflow. I find that windows is better for that.
That's entirely possible as no OS will fit everyone's needs but the general rule of Mac OS X is such that if it's harder for you to do over Windows then you're probably doing it wrong.