Microsoft Ultrabooks Inspired By Intel… Or Apple?

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Last night, while watching live TV (*gasp*), I inadvertently caught the commercial above. And what was I thinking? As “the new Ultrabook [was] inspired by Intel”… not Apple’s Macbook Air. It’s a cute ad and Windows users also deserve both better style and substance in their computing hardware. Further, Microsoft’s hardware partners would prefer higher margins than their dying netbook initiatives provided. But let’s keep it real. This sleek design originated at Apple. Ultimately, what’s most interesting about the advert is the collaboration between Best Buy, Microsoft, and Intel (who owns the “Ultrabook” trademark and powers these devices) attempting to communicate as a single entity.

8 thoughts on “Microsoft Ultrabooks Inspired By Intel… Or Apple?”

  2. Dave I don’t know that you are being exactly fair here. Yes, the Ultrabooks are a response of the PC industry to the Macbook Air. Basically a higher margin small machine. However, to think that Apple was the creator of this is dangerous. Apple created the Macbook Air as a response to Netbooks, a Intel invention. The Macbook Air itself was largely created due to the availability of Intel’s integrated and low power processors. Again, this suggests Intel. Apple wouldn’t have made a Netbook for two reasons. 1. It doesn’t fit with their high margins products. 2. It probably would have taken significant resources to get OS X to run well on the hardware. Thus, Apple created a high end Netbook. For some reason, PC makers were not after the high end in the small portable market. I think Intel probably had more to do with the Macbook Air creation than one might think (or Apple would ever let you know).

  3. First, this post is only half serious. I can buy your assumption that Apple and Intel collaborated closely to produce and integrate chipsets suitable the Macbook Air form. However, in terms of visual design, many of these Ultrabooks look eerily similar to the MBA line… And I’d say Apple made the case that there is a higher end market for ultraportables. Unfortunately, much of the Windows hardware also start at higher prices than the Apple’s offering. And why my next ultraportable laptop purchase will likely be the HP dm1z.

  5. “The Macbook Air itself was largely created due to the availability of Intel’s integrated and low power processors.”

    My recollection is that Apple switched to Intel for those processors and chips. Particularly, for the Air, they asked Intel to update an older design, not a processor in production. Why? Because a G5 Powerbook wasn’t going to work, mine is still on backorder.

    “Apple wouldn’t have made a Netbook for two reasons. 1. It doesn’t fit with their high margins products. 2. It probably would have taken significant resources to get OS X to run well on the hardware.

    Netbooks were made out of cheap plastic. The really cheap stuff. But OS X Leopard ran just fine on my MSI Wind, with a replacement wireless card, and a RAM upgrade. And it ran Snow Leopard just as well. And not just on the MSI hardware, but a lot of other companies hardware.

    I don’t see the death of the netbook, as much as I see a change to using aluminum. Which I think is Dave’s point. The ultrabooks ARE a response to Apple. Because we give our kids cheap plastic toys.

  6. Dave, I imagine that ultrabook pricing will start plumetting once they start coming out in droves. It’s this initial wave that’s a little pricey, but I think when Windows 8 launches you will see well speced machines in the 799 windows.

  7. Seriously, if the Anti-Apple crowd can’t accept the idea that ultrabooks are “inspired” by the Macbook Air, then they need to look seriously inside themselves for their ability to perceive reality. Certainly there were some marvelous thin ‘n light machines made of plastic at these price points that barely squeeked under an inch thick, and there were some lovely Sony machines that cost $2800 for the extremely thin ‘n light machines. But nothing from the PC makers in this new category until Apple plowed the field first. Doesn’t mean Apple is all wonderful or anything, but Ultrabooks, with their thin profile, instant on, SSD only designs, better displays, metal enclosures etc are clearly copying the MacBook Air. Deal with it.

    Regardless, once we get a bunch of these out I agree with Ananth that the prices will “plummet”, meaning we really should see models at $699 and $799 rather than $999 and $1299. I don’t expect to see them at Netbook level $300-$400 prices though, not with Intel’s pricing on the Core i5’s powering most of these, and the entry level costs of SSDs.

    @Mark,

    Your recollection is a little foggy. Apple switched from PowerPC to Intel back in 2006. The first MacBook Air was introduced in 2008. So Apple had been using Intel for a while before this. The original MBA was based on the Core 2 Duo. This itself was nothing new, the Core 2 Duo was in all sorts of laptops at the time. What Intel did for Apple was to produce the chip in a much smaller package.

    Here’s the details:
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/2422

  9. “The original MBA was based on the Core 2 Duo. This itself was nothing new, the Core 2 Duo was in all sorts of laptops at the time. What Intel did for Apple was to produce the chip in a much smaller package.

    I said, “Intel to update an older design, not a processor in production”.

    I’m sure there were several design variations on the Core 2 Duo designs.

    Yep. Apple asked them to redesign it “in a much smaller package”. And that package wasn’t in production. But we know why Steve switched, he wanted options.

    And that lines up with the quoted PR statement, from Intel, in the article. “Intel provides its customers with a range of technology choices. If a customer requires a different technology feature-set, then where possible, Intel will work with them to develop a solution to meet their respective market needs, as we have done in this case.”

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