Intel’s Updated Mobile CPU Roadmap for 2006

Last week Intel updated it’s 2006 roadmap for Intel’s upcoming mobile CPU offerings. This is in reference to the CPU series unofficially called “Merom” and officially called “Core 2 Duo”. According to Daily Tech, no shipping date has set, however pricing for the full lineup is in place. The Core 2 Duo lineup starts at $209 for a 1.66GHz CPU (5500) with 2MB of cache and goes all the way up to a 2.33GHz CPU with 4MB of cache (the 7600 CPU) and a price tag of $637.

Daily Tech has this interesting little tidbit:

Intel partners have confirmed to us that the Merom processors will require a BIOS update for the notebook when upgrading from a Core Duo Yonah system. Furthermore, Intel will still launch a Core Duo (Yonah) CPU this June 25th with a 2.33GHz clock. Notebook manufacturers will continue to use Core Duo processors in notebooks even after Core 2 Duo’s introduction.

Intel’s projections claim that by December of 2006 Merom will account for 35% of all Intel shipped mobile CPUs, and that dual core processors will account for 90% of all notebook CPUs.

This should make the transition from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo relatively seamless, at least with the first batch – the second batch bumps the front-side bus speed (FSB) up to 800MHz from 667MHz, and uses a different socket, along with an updated chipset. Some people are reporting being able to upgrade existing machines (some Dell laptops and soem Apple Mac minis), however this is unverified.