Intel’s next-generation Core processors will use less power and offer better performance than today’s chips. But what does that mean for ultrabooks and other notebooks that will ship with Intel Haswell chips in 2013?

The folks at TechEye claim to have seen leaked documents from Intel showing the company’s guidelines for upcoming ultrabooks.

Haswell

Intel gets to decide what goes into an ultrabook (to some degreee), because the company designed the platform and trademarked the heck out of it. PC makers can make as many thin and light laptops as they like, but unless they meet certain criteria, they’re not ultrabooks.

And in order to be a Haswell ultrabook, TechEye reports that basic models have to offer 9 hours of battery life, 16GB or more of solid state storage, voice assist features, a 720p camera for video chat, wireless display technology, and a $699 bill of materials or less.

That doesn’t necessarily mean these ultrabooks will sell for under $699 — but it does mean that Intel doesn’t want PC makers loading these computers with extraordinarily expensive components. That will help keep the starting retail prices relatively low.

Higher-end models with larger solid state disks and other premium features will likely cost more. Unfortunately, while Intel’s sample configuration includes a 13 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, HD displays aren’t a requirement. Haswell ultrabooks only need a 1366 x 768 pixel or higher resolution display to meet Intel’s guidelines.

Keep in mind, there’s a chance this “leaked” document could be fake… or that things could change by the time Haswell chips hit the streets in mid-2013.

via Notebook Italia

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6 replies on “Next-gen ultrabooks to offer 9 hour battery life, $699 cost”

  1. 1920 x 1080 should be the minimum requirement for 13″ in 2012. Let’s hope they’ll be forced by Apple to adopt high resolution screens quickly.

  2. I’m hoping with these new chips there’ll be some 10″ ultraportables that doesn’t cost $2000 USD and decent battery life. Doesn’t really matter to me if they’re not considered ultrabooks. I wouldn’t mind a 10″ ultraportable that’s 1″ thick and a bezel that’s not so large that they might as well have put in an 11.6″ screen.

    I’m part of the camp where footprint tends to outweigh thinness especially around the 1″ thickness mark where it starts going into the marginal returns area for me.

    1. Same here. I don’t mind netbooks as how they are preceived being dead but I do hope the form factor continues. I’d definitely would buy a Haswell powered 10″ notebook over a Valley View one.

      I’m not sure how different battery life would be in terms of average power consumption. The Atom could spend more time in a high utilization state while the Core i could be spending more time being idle.

      1. Intel is basically pushing 10W TDP with a performance goal equivalent to present 17W systems.

        In terms of graphic performance it seems they’re going to manage it as they did a demonstration showing a Haswell demo platform managing the same graphical performance at around 7.5-8.3W as a Ivy Bridge system working at a flat 17W.

        Only problem is CPU performance may take a hit because Haswell is only suppose to be about 10% better there. However, they supposedly will bring in better Turbo Boost performance, and the CPU and GPU can be clocked separately.

        So power consumption can go to where it’s needed instead of ramping up the whole system.

        While they may offer a higher performance mode when plugged into AC.

        The ATOM is getting a significant upgrade next year too… So we’ll see how they apply them…

        1. I wonder what the performance and average power gap is between the lowest TDP Haswell chip and the fastest Valley View chip. I’m hoping to see more development in the 10″ notebook category next year and that the painfully slow Atom experience of today will be gone.

          I don’t mind paying a premium for 10″ Haswell powered notebooks but hopefully they’re not in the $2k ballpark like current ones.

          1. The Haswell will likely be worth the price difference, even if the average power consumption difference is significant, but it’s likely they will push for less than a $1000 as generally Intel wants Ultrabook pricing to drop below the $699 mark.

            Lots of the references specifications Intel is describing for the Haswell models, in order to be certified as Ultrabook, allows for much less costly designs.

            Only thing is we’re not likely to see them go much below 11.6″ for most models because it’s considered about the minimum for proper keyboard size and other considerations.

            Though hopefully some system makers may consider it for those of us that would really want a more portable option, but the MS Surface Pro at least dips just below 11″ at 10.6″ and hopefully we’ll see more similarly compact options in the future.

            ATOM solutions going quad core (with improved architecture), supporting up to 8GB of RAM, and getting more capable graphical performance and more modern features should also make them more appealing for those looking for lower cost solutions.

            Basically, it looks like Intel is planning to cut off ARM advancement into the PC market with Haswell and counter with ATOM on ARM’s own turf at the same time.

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