Back to Mobile View

Skip to Content

Apple's flash-buying clout seen as huge advantage

by Kelly Hodgkins Jul 27th 2011 at 7:30PM

Apple is not only winning the tablet wars, it's already poised to beat out Intel's new Ultrabook line of tablet-inspired notebooks that are expected to arrive later this year. The Ultrabook is Intel's attempt to merge the instant-on features of a tablet with the power of a notebook.

These slim devices will likely compete with the MacBook Air, but they may have a pricing problem right out of the gate. The Ultrabook will include Core i5 and i7 processors as well as solid state drives. Apple has a competitive advantage in this area as it is one of the world's largest buyers of flash storage. It can leverage its purchasing power to knock down the wholesale cost of a solid state drive and keep the price of its entry-level MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models at a cool $1,000. Asus, however, may have to charge well over its $1,000 target price for a similarly spec-ed machine.

So which would you choose? A $1000 MacBook Air with OS X Lion or a $1500 Ultrabook?

[Via Reghardware]



View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

Apple Mac

Apple is not only winning the tablet wars, it's already poised to beat out Intel's new Ultrabook line of tablet-inspired notebooks...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

8 Comments

Filter by:
JACK

hp dv6 reviews : HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook
16" 16:9 diagonal display is adorned with a sleek, Mesh Imprint finish, learn more

source: http://al3ab-needforspeed.blogspot.com/2011/07/hp-dv6t-series-reviews.html

July 28 2011 at 8:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gary Merinstein

you mean an Ultrabook running Windows? No way: i'd like to do more than play Solitaire before it crashes. an Ultrabook running Android? why bother when iOS is more stable and there are far and away many more serious apps for iOS & Lion? If my choice was based solely on price, why would I ever buy Apple? Asus and now Intel demonstrate they still don't understand the user community: nobody decides to buy Apple because its cheaper than the competition, so why would even cheaper competition matter?

July 27 2011 at 10:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
evula

Remember: Macs are more expensive.

(*snicker*)

July 27 2011 at 9:45 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
jloloew

I wish the MacBook Pro started at $1000, they start at $1200.

July 27 2011 at 8:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
iRobin

One of the requirements for an Utrabook to actually be one is that its price must be under a $1000.
So you can cut that last sentence I believe.

July 27 2011 at 8:41 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Johan Rolwen

M.A.C.B.O.O.K A.I.R
enough said. I bet those "Ultrabooks" will be as fragile as a humid leaf.

July 27 2011 at 7:42 PM Report abuse -3 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Johan Rolwen's comment
Sean

humid leaves are less fragile than dry leaves

July 27 2011 at 7:59 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Sean's comment
Johan Rolwen

epic fail...

July 27 2011 at 8:16 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down
Buy an ad here

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.