AMD launches Trinity APU microprocessors: Ultrabooks don't have to be as costly as the Mac

Purists and most Mac fans have been saying that Intel-sponsored ultrabooks are poor copies of the MacBook Air.

While these significantly thin laptops, which are PC makers' varied attempts at creating laptops as anorexic as Steve Jobs' ultraportable computer, may look like the MacBook Air, they are not MacBook Airs. In terms of performance and wow factor, ultrabooks are just light years short of the MacBook Air.

AMD's Trinity processor offers hardware manufacturers the ability to make ultrathin laptops that cost less but are just as powerful as the Intel-powered ultrabooks.

And to add insult to injury, most of the ultrabooks come just as expensive as Apple's bestselling thin computer, or at least hideously more expensive than conventional, thicker-girded laptops.

But things are likely to change with AMD's launch of its second-generation AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Units or microprocessors for conventional and ultrathin notebooks. These APUs can also be used for All-in-One and traditional desktop computers, home theater PCs, and embedded systems.

Asus' ZenBook, just one of the many ultrabooks currently in the market

Codenamed "Trinity," the latest AMD chips come with features and enhancements including double the processing power per watt compared with the first-generation processor; AMD HD Media Accelerator designed to optimize video quality; 29 percent improvement in CPU performance; and AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics that offers up to 56 percent improvement in graphics performance.

AMD also promises up to 9–12 hours of battery life, which it claims is made possible by improving CPU and GPU power management features.

AMD claims its Trinity chips offer various features and enhancements over their predecessor, the Llano.

At the end, AMD needs to convince OEM vendors that the A-series chips will enable them to manufacture thin and light laptops, similar to the MacBook Air and the growing line of ultrabooks, that are much more affordable or priced similarly as the conventional laptops. These AMD-powered "ultrabooks" should also come with features that equal or even outshine those of the older thin-and-light platforms.

One thing likely to excite both manufacturers and consumers will be AMD's plan to provide quad-core Trinity chips for these ultrathin notebooks. In contrast, Intel's ultrabook chips are limited to dual-core processors.