Intel unveils 45nm chips bound for next-gen Mac systems

[AppleInsider]

Exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, Intel Corp formally unveiled 16 new microprocessors based on the company's 45-nanometer (nm) manufacturing process, several of which are expected to turn up in products from Apple Inc. over the next several months.

Among the 16 new chips, 12 are designed for new notebook and desktops systems and four are reserved for servers or high-end workstations. All of the chips are lead-free and include the company's new transistor formula and 45nm manufacturing process that boosts speeds, reduces power requirements, saves on battery life, all while yielding smaller packages for more fashionable and compact computer designs.

With the introduction of the new processors, Intel said its 2008 product portfolio now offers 32 desktop, notebook and server chips based on the aforementioned innovations. The company also highlighted how it will take advantage of its transistor and manufacturing advances a bit later in the year to spur a category of small form-factor, low-powered, high-performance devices that deliver broadband Internet access "in your pocket."

"The new products we're announcing today provide consumers and businesses with the benefit of sleeker and higher-performing laptops and more powerful and fashionable PCs that deliver for the most hard-core gamer, high-definition enthusiast and just about every other consumer demand," said Intel's vice president of mobile platforms, Mooly Eden. "And later this year, Intel will begin delivering the mobile Internet with much smaller, lighter and powerful Internet-enabled devices that ultimately will fit right into your pocket."

Notebook chips (MacBooks, MacBook Pros)

Among the chips introduced Monday are five new notebook processors, which AppleInsider has detailed on previous occasions. These include four Core 2 Duo chips ranging from 2.1GHz to 2.6GHz and a Core 2 Extreme model at 2.8GHz. All are said to enable breakthrough performance and improved battery life, providing consumers with the ability to be more productive or just enjoy their digital entertainment while on the go.

More specifically, entry level 2.1GHz and 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo models will include 3MB of Level 2 cache and wholesale in lots of 1,000 for $209 and $241, respectively. Higher performance versions at 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz will each pack 6MB of Level 2 cache and sell for $316 and $530.

Each of the aforementioned Core 2 Duo models will sport a thermal design power (TDP) of 35 watts, while the 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme ($851), also with 6MB of Level 2 cache, will feature a TDP of 44 watts.

MacBook Pro- and iMac-bound Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Penryn specs and prices

Apple is expected to adopt one of the Core 2 Duo Penryn chips for its upcoming sub-notebook, while using the remainder of the chip family to boost the specs of its MacBook Pro notebooks around the same time, and its iMac desktop family shortly thereafter.

The chips include support for an Intel Core microarchitecture design feature called Deep Power Down Technology that was designed to extend battery life of notebook systems by reducing the power of the processor when it's not running data or instructions The chips will also deliver improved content and video capabilities with HD DVD and Blu-Ray support when implemented with an optional third-party decoder.

Current 65nm Merom-based iMac retail configs compared to potential 45nm Penryn-based retail configs

Current 65nm Merom-based MacBook Pro retail configs compared to potential 45nm Penryn-based retail configs

Additionally, Intel has added new video and graphics capabilities with Intel HD Boost that includes Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 4 (SSE4) for speeding up workloads including video encoding for high-definition and photo manipulation.

Ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) platform (Newton successor, next-gen iPhone?)

Meanwhile, the world's largest chipmaker reiterated plans to ship in the first half of this year its first-generation low-power platform, codenamed "Menlow," that will help deliver a range of ultra mobile and mobile Internet devices.

The Menlow platform is comprised of the "Silverthorne" processor and the "Poulsbo" chipset, the former of which is expected to turn up in a handful of devices from Apple Inc. a bit later in the year.

Desktop chips (Not adopted by Apple)

Building on its November 2007 introduction of the Core2 Extreme quad-core processor (QX9650), Intel on Monday also announced three quad core and four dual core 45nm-based processors for mainstream desktop PCs which should begin making their way to market later this month and throughout the first quarter of the year.

The new Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo processor are members of desktop-class Intel chip families which Apple has not used in the past, but promise to speed processor transitions and multicore adoption for other PC manufacturers. Intel said dual core desktop processor-based PCs using these new processors will begin shipping this month, while quad core-based systems are slated to arrive later in the quarter.

Server chips (Mac Pro, Xserve)

Rounding out the chipmaker's processor announcements at CES are four Xeon processors for servers and workstations that are expected to ship this quarter. These include models that will eventually make their way into impending Mac Pro and Xserve refreshes, including an updated 8-core Mac Pro based on two 3.2Ghz Harpertown Xeons.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[solipsism]

What are the specs on these new Penryn based Xeons that should be replacing the current chips i the Mac Pros at MacWorld?

[mjteix]

Originally Posted by solipsism

What are the specs on these new Penryn based Xeons that should be replacing the current chips i the Mac Pros at MacWorld?

Penryn Xeons have been released late november 2007.

Here's the specs:
http://www.intel.com/products/proces...5000+tab_specs

[fivepoint]

When?
WHEN!?!?!

When will the new iMacs be released with Penryn processors? Lets hear your guesses!

[mciarlo]

I am a student about to start school at the end of this month and I need to purchase a new laptop. I was going to purchase a MBP, but when I heard about MacWorld, decided to wait.

Realistically, if the projected processor changes occur, would the performance increase be noticeable enough to warrant the delay of my purchase?

I'm going to be doing a lot of design and video work and don't know if the 2MB of L2 cache and .2GHz of speed is worth it. Battery life?

[fivepoint]

No, if you don't do any graphics work or major video editing, you would likely not notice the difference at all.

However, this is not to say that processor speed will be the only thing updated on the MBP. Could have Graphics updates, screen resolution, RAM, Hard Drive sizes, etc.

You should definitely wait the week to find out.

[Royboy]

Originally Posted by solipsism

What are the specs on these new Penryn based Xeons that should be replacing the current chips i the Mac Pros at MacWorld?

Originally Posted by mjteix

Penryn Xeons have been released late november 2007.

Here's the specs:
http://www.intel.com/products/proces...5000+tab_specs

This statement is what adds to the confusion.


Server chips (Mac Pro, Xserve)

Rounding out the chipmaker's processor announcements at CES are four Xeon processors for servers and workstations that are expected to ship this quarter. These include models that will eventually make their way into impending Mac Pro and Xserve refreshes, including an updated 8-core Mac Pro based on two 3.2Ghz Harpertown Xeons.

[TripleCore]

If the SSE4 functionality is utilized by the OS X update, you should definitely wait, miciarlo.

[mciarlo]

Keynote Bingo

I know I'm going to be playing along at home...

[ghstmars]

are the 1600mhz fsb xeons also coming? or are they delayed? no mention of them anywhere.

Originally Posted by Royboy

This statement is what adds to the confusion.


Server chips (Mac Pro, Xserve)

Rounding out the chipmaker's processor announcements at CES are four Xeon processors for servers and workstations that are expected to ship this quarter. These include models that will eventually make their way into impending Mac Pro and Xserve refreshes, including an updated 8-core Mac Pro based on two 3.2Ghz Harpertown Xeons.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by fivepoint

When?
WHEN!?!?!

When will the new iMacs be released with Penryn processors? Lets hear your guesses!

What do you think?

Likely Macworld, when else?

The final paragraph from an article in Anandtech testing the new mobile Penyrns:

If you have an aging Centrino notebook, now would be a good time to upgrade. We suspect that the timing of Intel’s mobile Penryn announcement may have something to do with the fact that Apple will be holding its MacWorld conference next week.

You can assume the same processors will be used in the iMacs, as they have been in the past.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by mciarlo

I am a student about to start school at the end of this month and I need to purchase a new laptop. I was going to purchase a MBP, but when I heard about MacWorld, decided to wait.

Realistically, if the projected processor changes occur, would the performance increase be noticeable enough to warrant the delay of my purchase?

I'm going to be doing a lot of design and video work and don't know if the 2MB of L2 cache and .2GHz of speed is worth it. Battery life?

A very small increase in performance, which will increase somewhat later this year due to the new SSE4 instruction set which will take most software companies a while to program for.

The biggest advantage will be in battery life which seems to be about 15 to 20%.

[mjteix]

Originally Posted by Royboy

This statement is what adds to the confusion.


Server chips (Mac Pro, Xserve)

Rounding out the chipmaker's processor announcements at CES are four Xeon processors for servers and workstations that are expected to ship this quarter. These include models that will eventually make their way into impending Mac Pro and Xserve refreshes, including an updated 8-core Mac Pro based on two 3.2Ghz Harpertown Xeons.

Those 4 new Xeons processors are from the 3000 series (uniprocessor server/workstation) and are not intended for dual-cpu workstations like the Mac Pro. The first part of second sentence is absolutly wrong: "These include models that will eventually make their way into impending Mac Pro and Xserve refreshes..." All the cpus that may be used on the new Mac Pro have already been released (Xeons 5400 series, 1600FSB).

What could delay the Mac Pro is the availability of the chipset for 1600FSB (i5400). Many manufacturers have announced penryn-based servers/workstations, but AFAIK none have been shipping. So to me, the Mac Pro is not late in the game. Others have been saying that other new technology has delayed the Mac Pro, who knows? FW3200? Newer GPUs from ATI and nvidia? Something else?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by ghstmars

are the 1600mhz fsb xeons also coming? or are they delayed? no mention of them anywhere.

They're expected late this month.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by mciarlo

I am a student about to start school at the end of this month and I need to purchase a new laptop. I was going to purchase a MBP, but when I heard about MacWorld, decided to wait.

Realistically, if the projected processor changes occur, would the performance increase be noticeable enough to warrant the delay of my purchase?

I'm going to be doing a lot of design and video work and don't know if the 2MB of L2 cache and .2GHz of speed is worth it. Battery life?

Since it's only 8 days away I'd wait. Assuming they do update the MBP and it's available that day, if you don't want the new machine you will be able to buy the previous model (the one available today) at a lower price from many stores.

Originally Posted by TripleCore

If the SSE4 functionality is utilized by the OS X update, you should definitely wait, miciarlo.

I look forward to benchmarking of Penryn machines running 10.5.2 if SSE4 is utilized.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by melgross

A very small increase in performance, which will increase somewhat later this year due to the new SSE4 instruction set which will take most software companies a while to program for.

The biggest advantage will be in battery life which seems to be about 15 to 20%.

I've seen a couple stories that suggest that the SSE4 instructions fall flat.

I think we all know that the last round of updates didn't live up to the battery life hype. Being a process shift, I guess there would be more of an improvement, but 15% might be too much to expect.

[mciarlo]

Thanks for the input all. My best bet is probably to just wait for Jan 15th to make a decision. Battery life is important enough to make me wait.

[Tazznb]

I wonder what type of outdated (2 gens before last gen) video card they'll stick us suckers with this time.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I've seen a couple stories that suggest that the SSE4 instructions fall flat.

No, not at all! They show, in a program that's written to take advantage of them, a 20 to 40% increase in performance over the older Core 2 Duo chip.

Altivec would have fallen flat if programmers didn't write to the instruction set.

I think we all know that the last round of updates didn't live up to the battery life hype. Being a process shift, I guess there would be more of an improvement, but 15% might be too much to expect.

15 to 20% under certain conditions. General savings seen here are less, but I've seen higher other places. I'll link to the tests I just read today for these numbers.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=3195&p=1

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by melgross

15 to 20% under certain conditions. General savings seen here are less, but I've seen higher other places. I'll link to the tests I just read today for these numbers.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=3195&p=1

I saw that article as well.

I think Penryn looks like a winner. A little faster, longer battery life. And as apps come along to utilize SSE4, your machine will feel like its been invigorated with computer HGH and anabolic steroids.

[thebeat]

Let Me Just Say, This Penyryn Is Going To Be The Best Value Out There. Don't Wait For Barcelona Core Cause Its Gonna Be Weird And Costs You. This Is The Time To Buy When It Releases.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by thebeat

Let Me Just Say, This Penyryn Is Going To Be The Best Value Out There. Don't Wait For Barcelona Core Cause Its Gonna Be Weird And Costs You. This Is The Time To Buy When It Releases.

If you want a Mac, Barcelona is unlikely. I don't understand what's going to be weird about that or why camel case is a good idea.

[TX65]

Looking forward to what announcements come out during the keynote on the 15th and pro seminar on the 16th... have my plane ticket at the ready to attend Macworld for the first time.

The suspense is killing me since I need to order 2 x-servers

[thebeat]

I'm from CANADA, TORONTO, and I am coming down to MACWORLD SAN FRAN WOOH CANNOT WAIT! tickets are so damn expensive for that event when i bought it though.. damn son

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

If you want a Mac, Barcelona is unlikely. I don't understand what's going to be weird about that or why camel case is a good idea.

Well, there's nothing weird about Barcelona except how badly AMD has handles its release. Too late and too little quantity, but no doubt they'll work out those problems.

I don't know what camel case is, but frankly it sounds like a marvelous idea.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by thebeat

Let Me Just Say, This Penyryn Is Going To Be The Best Value Out There. Don't Wait For Barcelona Core Cause Its Gonna Be Weird And Costs You. This Is The Time To Buy When It Releases.

Barcelona? We would be waiting a Looong time for that. Hopefully, Apple won't use any AMD chips.