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.