Intel expands how Firefly will work, its commitment to a new generation of affordable laptops

Intel presented his new project Fireflyan initiative with which the manufacturer aims to improve the appearance and quality of the cheapest laptops which we usually know as “entry range”. Intel presented the processors Wildcat Lakeprocessors that will be the heart of these new project laptops Fireflyon a platform that not only aims to lower its cost, but also improve its ecosystem around the Wildcat Lake. The secret is to use part of the current mobile phone supply chain.

Firefly wants to improve budget laptops by taking advantage of the mobile industry

The manufacturer has shed a little more light on this project Firefly clearly linked to the Intel Wildcat Lake. Not only is an economical but efficient and powerful processor enough for the entry-level range, buyers are looking for something balanced in the whole set. This includes a good screen, a sturdy chassis, good cooling, battery life and appropriate connections.

For this Intel wants to use the supply chain of mobile phones and tablets that will support the design of this Firefly PC. A supply chain that has greater potential for the manufacture of parts with original and more economical designs, with a much faster production cycle than that offered by the supply chain for laptop PCs.

Firefly will use the mobile phone supply chain in China to bring this ambitious project to life. The program offers a reference design with which manufacturers will be able to customize their models, avoiding starting their design from scratch. A design that will help reduce costsreducing development time and offering different chassis designs for different products.

Wildcat Lake opts for an optimized design to reduce costs

For this Intel has been inspired by the designs of mobile phones, with smaller heat pipesa standard wiring between the motherboard and the I/O board and the memory integration just as we see on smartphones. Additionally, Intel tells us that this design can shorten development cycles, even in three months Lenovo has managed to launch a laptop based on the base design.

Starting with the cost of the processor Wildcat LakeIntel used a monolithic design instead of a tiled design, which can skyrocket the price of the processor. A has been carried out also lower cost encapsulationwith a six layer motherboard along with other key changes to reduce the entire cost of laptops. The CPU uses 6 coresa NPU with more contained performance and one More modest integrated GPU. A configuration sufficient to support AI in local and hybrid.

A 13mm thick laptop as a reference for Acer, ASUS, Dell, Lenovo and HP

In terms of design, Intel’s reference model includes a thin and light chassis built in a metal alloy to be more resistant, with a thickness of just 13mm. Connectors have also been included USB-C, USB-A and even HDMI for video output, connection Thunderbolt on USB-C and 3.5 mm audio jack.

A design that is not intended to compete with other models, although it is clear that it is a clear alternative to Apple’s MacBook Neo. Intel has presented it as a way to bring Greater features and higher quality to a wider audiencewith the help of manufacturers interested in this project such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, Lenovo or HP.

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