14 DAY TRIAL // Ultrabooks seemed to be in less demand than Intel and its partners would have liked but this might no longer apply.
The apparent boost in demand for U-series CPUs indirectly forced Intel to change the basic specifications of ultrabooks.
The modifications are few and only affect the configurable TDP (thermal design power) of Ultrabook-specific Ivy Bridge central processing units.
That does not mean the consequences will be just as minor, though.
VR-Zone came upon the information and speculated that Intel is most likely increasing its supply of U-Series CPUs by adding chips that would have been binned differently.
On the surface, the modifications to the configurable TDP aren't great.
The nominal one stays at 17W and the highest configurable TDP also sticks to the previous 25W.
What differs is the lowest configurable TDP, modified from 13W to 14W (the low frequency mode went from 11W to 12.5W too).
Intel expects to officially launch the Ivy Bridge Ultrabook platform in May, 2012.
That means that there should be quite enough time for notebook makers to modify their designs according to the new specs.
Unfortunately, they may have to go as far as totally changing the cooling system on their laptops.
On a related note, one might argue that Intel's decision to change the TDP specs is a little suspicious.
The company may make it sound as if demand exceeded its ability to supply partners with enough chips, but this is somewhat at odds with the underwhelming marketing performance of ultrabooks so far.
It might be possible that 22nm yields aren't quite at the level Intel would want them to be, hence the failure to meet target inventory volumes.
This is all guesswork, though, much like everything else regarding this latest development, so the world will just have to let the months pass and see what the passage of time reveals.