The Core 2 Duo T5500 and the Core 2 Duo T5600, entry-level offerings in Intel's upcoming Merom notebook CPU line, will respectively be priced at US$209 and US$241, according to sources at Taiwan-based notebook makers. The new processors will replace existing Core Duo T2300E and T2400 models, which are based on the Yonah core, indicated the sources.
As opposed to AMD's irregular price-cut strategy, Intel's price cut for mobile CPUs is expected to immediately follow the launch of Merom processors, the sources said.
According to notebook makers, this year's Napa Refresh platform, which incorporates Merom CPUs as a key element, will likely be a transitional solution on a way to next year's Santa Rosa. Scheduled for release by the first half of 2007, the next-generation platform is expected to utilize Core 2 Duo T7xxx-series CPUs, the sources said.
Santa Rosa will support Microsoft's upcoming 64-bit Windows Vista operating system (OS) and the IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi standard featuring multi-input multi-output (MIMO) wireless communication technology, with the network throughput increased from current 54Mbps (802.11a/g) to 300Mbps, according to the makers.
Article translated by Jessie Shen and edited by Vyacheslav Sobolev
