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First Intel Ivy Bridge launch expected on April 23

Though the first announcement is just around the corner, rollouts from Apple, HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, and others are expected to be staggered.

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Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers
2 min read
The first wave of Ivy Bridge systems from PC vendors should include quad-core mobile laptops like the HP Envy 15.
The first wave of Ivy Bridge systems from PC vendors should include quad-core mobile laptops like the HP Envy 15. Hewlett-Packard

The first of a series of Ivy Bridge chip announcements is expected on April 23, CNET has learned.

Previously, CNET had been told the launch would happen between April 23 and April 29. Buy today an industry source familiar with Intel's plans said the initial rollout will happen on April 23.

Ivy Bridge is the first in a series of upcoming Intel mainstream chips that emphasize graphics and multimedia processing.

Preliminary benchmarks demonstrate the chip's graphics prowess compared to earlier Intel designs.

Ivy Bridge is also the first Intel chip to employ new 3D transistors and the first to support USB 3.0 (in the companion chipset).

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Rumors have Apple bringing out a thinner 15-inch MacBook model in the coming months as well as 13-inch MacBooks. Those systems will likely tap Intel's more power-efficient Ivy Bridge chips.

And Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Acer, and Asus will update and/or bring out new systems. These will run the gamut of laptop designs, but more systems are expected to be thin. Even many higher performance systems are expected to have a slimmer chassis. Those laptops typically use a separate graphics chip from suppliers such as Nvidia.

Though the first Ivy Bridge announcement will come this month, rollouts are expected to be staggered. As Intel has done in the past, quad-core chips appear first followed by the most power-efficient processors that go into ultrabooks and the MacBook Air.

Responding to reports about delays earlier in the year, Intel said some power-efficient mobile products may launch a few weeks later than originally planned.