That the next generation of Intel's Centrino laptop platform, 'Santa Rosa', will introduce new, tweaked versions of the chip maker's current 'Merom' Core 2 Duo mobile chip line-up is well known. They'll be pin-incompatible with current Meroms [1]. But it's now looking like the updated CPUs will ship in May.

Certainly that's what Taiwanese sources, cited [2] by local newssite DigiTimes, are claiming the new-style Socket P Core 2 Duos - the T7770, T7500, T7300 and T7100 - will ship in May, the timeframe presumably selected for the Santa Rosa roll out. Intel's publicly pronounced schedule for Santa Rosa calls simply for a Q2 launch.

Part of Santa Rosa, the 'Kedron' 802.11n-compatible Wi-Fi module - now officially called the Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN [3] - has already begun shipping to notebook manufacturers and OEMs.

The moles claim the Socket P Meroms will be priced at $209-530. Interestingly, the list no longer includes the T7000, a part that was included with early Socket P line-up listings, replaced by the T7100. A mis-print or a change of mind on Intel's part?

Santa Rosa is expected to be made available in two forms: Centrino Duo and Centrino Pro, the latter a business-oriented version of the platform that incorporates features found in Intel's vPro business desktop platform [4].

Santa Rosa's sucessor is codenamed 'Montevina' [5], which will be based around the 45nm incarnation of Merom, based on the 'Penryn' dual-core die [6].

Links

1. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/03/intel_plans_merom_refresh/
2. http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20070130PD211.html?www.reghardware.co.uk
3. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/24/intel_launches_kedron/
4. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/19/intel_readies_mobile_vpro_platform/
5. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/11/intel_centrino_roadmap/
6. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/27/intel_reveals_penryn/

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