Intel Wants To Make Laptops More Modular
Summary: Intel is working on a system to make laptop motherboards more modular. Rather than being focused on customers, the company is focused on OEMs. This will help cut costs for laptop makers in the long run.
While desktop computers are modular and customizable, laptops are a bit different. It’s not easy to simply swap out parts like the RAM, motherboard, GPU, and CPU. This can be a pain for people if one component in their laptop fails.
Laptops’ lack of modularity can also be a pain for the companies building them as well. Companies can’t switch components on a motherboard if they want to provide different specs. They will need a completely different model of the board. Intel has a solution that could alleviate this headache for laptop makers.
This is something that will need widespread adoption in order to make a difference. However, we’re sure that it will make things easier for OEMs building laptops. Intel wants to make its motherboards more modular.
The thinking behind this is that the companies could simply slot whatever components onto the motherboard that they want. If they need to provide a model with different specs, then they’ll be able to pick and choose which parts to slot into the motherboard rather than design an entirely different board.,
Intel could also split the motherboard itself into separate sections. This means that OEMs will have even more flexibility when designing their laptops. Right now, Intel is calling upon companies like Acer and ASUS to adopt this new mentality. We’re sure that Intel has contacted all of its major partners.
It’s something that could save OEMs some money when building their laptops. If that happens, we don’t expect the savings to trickle down to the consumer, but it’ll still help in some capacity.
Intel is trying to navigate the tough situation that it’s in right now. The company has been struggling majorly with shrinking revenues due to companies turning toward ARM-based processors. There were even talks about it entering a joint venture with TSMC. We don’t know if these modular components will help the company turn its fortunes around, but we’ll just have to see.
