Intel says first quad-core mobile chips on the horizon

[AppleInsider]

Apple chip supplier Intel said this week it's nearing the release of the industry's first mobile chips with four processing cores and is separately putting the finishing touches on a new generation of processors for ultra-thin notebooks like Apple's new MacBook Air.

The Santa Clara-based chip maker said the two processor families will combine to offer notebook manufacturers a total of eight new chips when they're announced in the next 90 days, wrapping up a mobile-focused summer for the company aimed at pushing innovation in surging notebook market.

Intel also announced this week the formal availability of its next-generation Intel Centrino 2 Core Duo processors -- formerly codenamed Montevina -- which improve upon every facet of mainstream notebooks, from performance and battery life to faster draft 802.11n wireless and high-definition video support.

"Today, notebooks outsell desktops in the U.S, and we're paving the way to HD entertainment, rich online gaming, faster broadband wireless speeds and an easier and more secure way for businesses to manage, update and repair their notebook fleets," said Mooly Eden, vice president of Intel's Mobile Platforms Group.

The five new Core 2 Duo chips, which are the successors to those used in Apple's existing MacBook and MacBook Pro lines, range in speed from 2.26GHz to 2.80GHz, and feature a 1066MHz front-side bus with up to 6MB of Level 2 cache. All are based on Intel's high-k metal gate formula and advanced 45-nanometer manufacturing process.

Three of the new chips -- 2.26GHz, 2.4GHz, and 2.53GHz -- have seen an approximately 30 percent reduction in wattage to just 25 watts. Meanwhile, all five of the new chips take advantage of the chip maker's Deep Power Down Technology that turns off processing components such as core clocks and cache memory when a notebook is idle for greater energy savings.



Simultaneously, Intel also introduced what it's calling the "world's highest-performing dual-core mobile processor," a Core2 Extreme chip running at a brisk 3.06 GHz with a thermal design power of 44 watts.

Another feature of the Centrino 2 mobile platform is something Intel is calling
"switchable graphics," or an optional power-saving feature that provides both integrated and discrete graphics on a single notebook, enabling users to easily switch between the two options.

"Switchable graphics delivers greater 3-D performance when needed while providing the option for greater power savings for the best of both worlds," the company said.

Intel added that Centrino 2 processor will also deliver for the first time the horsepower and battery life to watch a typical full-length Blu-ray high-definition video on a single battery charge.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[BandiTT]

When will we see those Chips in top of the line iMacs?

[stuartea]

Thank goodness for a non-iPhone story. Now bring on those MacBooks

[mr O]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple chip supplier Intel said this week it's nearing the release of the industry's first mobile chips with four processing cores.

The Santa Clara-based chip maker said the two processor families will combine to offer notebook manufacturers a total of eight new chips when they're announced in the next 90 days, wrapping up a mobile-focused summer for the company aimed at pushing innovation in surging notebook market.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Today + 90 days = end of October for the Intel announcement = new Macbook Pro at Macworld in January?!

Could this coincide with Snow Leopard?

Oh yes, let it snow, let it snow

[maleficent]

Originally Posted by mr O

Today + 90 days = end of October for the Intel announcement = new Macbook Pro at Macworld in January?!

Could this coincide with Snow Leopard?

Oh yes, let it snow, let it snow

That would be totally fab. I'm going to NY in January and would love to bag a brand new Mac, hopefully the £->$ rate stays as good as it is!

[merdhead]

Originally Posted by BandiTT

When will we see those Chips in top of the line iMacs?

Sometime bewteen now and never.

[HFU]

Quad core MBP with Snow Leopard is one step closer to become reality if the chip released in 90 days is in the range of 35W TDP.

Official Intel Press Release on Centrino 2 (Montevina) Platform

[mcarling]

The new MacBook will probably be offered with the P8400 and P8600. The new MacBook Pro will probably be offered with the P8600 and P9500.

[jamisen.sc]

Originally Posted by stuartea

Thank goodness for a non-iPhone story. Now bring on those MacBooks

...took the words right out of my mouth.

[joshu24]

i've been waiting to get a new computer for college which start in augest. i am wondering when the hell are they going to bring out new macbook pro and macbooks?

[shanmugam]

again, the much awaited these CPUs do not give lots of performance improvement over the last one, apple may decided SKIP this update completely go with newer ones MWSF 2009 ...

on a entirely different note,

it is kinda of sad, not much performance improvement, AMD you got 6 more months to hurry up ...

[shanmugam]

Originally Posted by joshu24

i've been waiting to get a new computer for college which start in augest. i am wondering when the hell are they going to bring out new macbook pro and macbooks?

when the new enclosure ready!!! and when apple is free from iPhone frezny!

[winterspan]

So does anyone know whats up with Intels "switchable graphics" (allows a laptop to have both low-power integrated graphics and a high-powered discrete GPU, allowing you to switch between high performance and low power usage) ?

Both AMD/ATI and nVidia have similar solutions. AMD's is called "Hybrid Graphics/PowerXpress" and nVidia's platform is called "HybridPower". Now I believe nVidia doesn't make laptop motherboards, so their tech is desktop only. AMD's solution works with their laptop motherboards and ATI cards. So I'm wondering which discrete graphics cards work with Intel's system? GPUs from both vendors?

[quinney]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Intel added that Centrino 2 processor will also deliver for the first time the horsepower and battery life to watch a typical full-length Blu-ray high-definition video on a single battery charge.

That will come in handy on Macbooks

[powderdust]

Just check those bad boys out!

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by shanmugam

again, the much awaited these CPUs do not give lots of performance improvement over the last one, apple may decided SKIP this update completely go with newer ones MWSF 2009 ...
on a entirely different note, it is kinda of sad, not much performance improvement, AMD you got 6 more months to hurry up ...

Yeah, screw this update, I'm waiting for a Nehalem Mac Pro! As far as AMD, I don't think "Turion Ultra" is going to cut it on laptops, although one could argue that CPU speeds aren't as big of a deal as they used to be, which probably gives traction to the "balanced platform" marketing from AMD of having a decent processor with a decent integrated GPU. I have to agree with them since AMD's integrated graphics are 3-5X faster than Intel.

It looks like AMD's best laptop competition won't come until Q1 2009 (if that) with the Fusion (CPU+GPU) processor. The first Fusion part available is *NOT* going to be based on the 'Bulldozer' core, but instead on a K10 core like Barcelona, but at 45nm. The notebook platform with this processor is codenamed "Swift". (versus "Falcon" platform for the "Bulldozer core + GPU" version of 'Fusion').
Hopefully AMD made this change to move up the release instead of waiting for the next-gen Bulldozer core to be ready. Although on the other hand, Bulldozer could have been delayed and forced their hand


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Fusion

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by joshu24

i've been waiting to get a new computer for college which start in augest. i am wondering when the hell are they going to bring out new macbook pro and macbooks?

Current models are sufficient to get you through school. When the machine will not keep up with your usage, then you need an improved model, not before. So, go get a new MB, and quit worrying about vaporware.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by winterspan

So does anyone know whats up with Intels "switchable graphics" (allows a laptop to have both low-power integrated graphics and a high-powered discrete GPU, allowing you to switch between high performance and low power usage) ?

Both AMD/ATI and nVidia have similar solutions. AMD's is called "Hybrid Graphics/PowerXpress" and nVidia's platform is called "HybridPower". Now I believe nVidia doesn't make laptop motherboards, so their tech is desktop only. AMD's solution works with their laptop motherboards and ATI cards. So I'm wondering which discrete graphics cards work with Intel's system? GPUs from both vendors?

That is the question. Montevina is so far behind that I wouldn't be surprised to see another delay, especially with AMD no where near Intel on the mobile field. Anand was able to get one system from Sony and the quality of that was poor. Anand didn't even know if it was going to dynamically switch from integrated to discrete on the fly (like when it's n battery or plugged in) or if a restart was required.

[jwdawso]

Originally Posted by BandiTT

When will we see those Chips in top of the line iMacs?

The iMac already has these....

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by jwdawso

The iMac already has these....

Montevina won't be out for another month, if not longer. What the iMac is still Santa Rosa, but with Montevina qualities. I had thought the same thing too when I saw the specs.

Current iMac CPU numbers:

• E8135 = 2.40GHz
• E8335 = 2.66GHz
• E8235 = 2.80GHz
• E8435 = 3.06GHz

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by stuartea

Thank goodness for a non-iPhone story. Now bring on those MacBooks

I know- it's more like AppleIphoner or iPhoneInsider here for the last year.

[jwdawso]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Montevina won't be out for another month, if not longer. What the iMac is still Santa Rosa, but with Montevina qualities. I had thought the same thing too when I saw the specs.

Current iMac CPU numbers:

• E8135 = 2.40GHz
• E8335 = 2.66GHz
• E8235 = 2.80GHz
• E8435 = 3.06GHz

Thanks for the info! I saw the same thing on EveryMac.com (one of my favorite resources). (Do you have a link where the iMac was opened up and the model number read off the cpu?)

As far as the original post I responded to, there would probably be no difference in performance between the two for the iMac, except for power consumption. We'll have to wait for the quad chips!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by jwdawso

As far as the original post I responded to, there would probably be no difference in performance between the two for the iMac, except for power consumption. We'll have to wait for the quad chips!

— Speed will again be slight for the same price chip-over-chip upgrade.The current and future MB/MBPs will be still be Penryn. The big benefit seems to come from the other features, like the H.264 decoder. This may come in handy with iTunes Store video purchases, but the CPU is till only one aspect to the power consumption so that may be a minimal gain. I also have my doubts about the GPU switching, this may be as pointless as Intel's Turbo Memory.

—*The people being loudest about how Apple is taking to long to release nee MB/MBPs, despite the chips not being ready, will be the first ones to complain when the performance hasn't improved enough.

— The MBA will get a nice efficiency bump with the 22mm^2 Montevina packages. The speeds will be about the same, the price may be lower (I don't think we have any facts on the current chip price), but the power usage will be going from 20W in the current MBA CPU to 17W.

[shiato storm]

I'd rather have a 25w chip than a 45w one, since they're still pretty fast at the lower power consumption, plenty for most people(!), and instead have much longer battery life... that should be where the research goes but I guess its too focused on 'getting the numbers' still. its not bad - isn't the mbp meant to have one of the best battery times for notebooks? it will hopefully be better with the next chip

and another vote for a non (-oh-my-god-i-couldn't-care-less-about-the-) iphone bit of news

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by shiato storm

I'd rather have a 25w chip than a 45w one, since they're still pretty fast at the lower power consumption, plenty for most people(!), and instead have much longer battery life... that should be where the research goes but I guess its too focused on 'getting the numbers' still. its not bad - isn't the mbp meant to have one of the best battery times for notebooks? it will hopefully be better with the next chip

and another vote for a non (-oh-my-god-i-couldn't-care-less-about-the-) iphone bit of news

The rumour is that the next MBP revision will be a whole case too. This may have them reduce the weight by making the battery smaller now these chips use less power.


PS: I like the iPhone stories, but I'm glad to have other news too.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solipsism

The rumour is that the next MBP revision will be a whole case too. This may have them reduce the weight by making the battery smaller now these chips use less power.

It would be nice to lengthen battery life some rather than just reduce weight.

PS: I like the iPhone stories, but I'm glad to have other news too.

I don't think they mean no iPhone stories, just pent-up frustration because it is all that seems to be covered recently.

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

It would be nice to lengthen battery life some rather than just reduce weight.



I don't think they mean no iPhone stories, just pent-up frustration because it is all that seems to be covered recently.

Kinda, sorta. There are some here that are expecting a new iMac model any day, because of the new Intel chips, in spite of the fact that iMacs were recently reconfigured. These folks are insatiable, they insist on a new model of every Mac, every time they think about it, which is apparently often. Throw in the laptop renewal demands, and it becomes pandaemonium, just to have the latest and greatest vaporware.

No count yet on how many really need an upgraded machine, or if they are really pushing what they have now.

[FuturePastNow]

I wonder why this is a story today? Intel's CPU roadmaps are very well known, well in advance.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

I wonder why this is a story today? Intel's CPU roadmaps are very well known, well in advance.

I'm not too sure. This was only an extra announcement. Maybe some of the chip features have been detailed more or specs have been refined.

There were people on MacRumors last night saying that this means the new MBPs must be coming out today. I really don't like that forum, but this one I can't enough of.

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

I wonder why this is a story today? Intel's CPU roadmaps are very well known, well in advance.

It's now a story with some who gave been impatiently waiting for anything not currently available just for the sake of having something new, and without regard to whether or not it's a worthy improvement. JMO

[†MiMiC]

Originally Posted by shanmugam

on a entirely different note,

it is kinda of sad, not much performance improvement, AMD you got 6 more months to hurry up ...

Very sad indeed as AMD put multi-core on the map and Intel was able to run with it way ahead of AMD!!

AMD brings much to the table, but can't finish the meal! Their next front is the mobile market. We'll see what they do there.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solipsism

There were people on MacRumors last night saying that this means the new MBPs must be coming out today. I really don't like that forum, but this one I can't enough of.

Every forum has people that don't pay attention to the article when saying things.

[I Mac Alot]

Ok, so from what i understand the new nehalem processors that intel is coming out with will be the processors used in the upcoming revamp of the macbook and macbook pro's. My question is multi parted.

First, within the initial release of the nehalem processors will there be enough available for the new macbooks to be released?

Second, i am simply waiting for these new macbooks because i want to get a laptop for college. I am bringing my desktop "gaming" pc and i am simply wondering, will the new macbooks give any more availability in terms of dedicated graphics for a lesser price. OR; will it simply give the old macbook (meaning the 2008 models) a new outer shell with the same delicious-non-vista filling. Is it worth it to wait for the new macbook (will it come out before september). Or should i just buy the current model.

I would really appreciate some answers because i am really hungering for some macbook/non i-phone related news.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by I Mac Alot

Ok, so from what i understand the new nehalem processors that intel is coming out with will be the processors used in the upcoming revamp of the macbook and macbook pro's. My question is multi parted.

First, within the initial release of the nehalem processors will there be enough available for the new macbooks to be released?

Second, i am simply waiting for these new macbooks because i want to get a laptop for college. I am bringing my desktop "gaming" pc and i am simply wondering, will the new macbooks give any more availability in terms of dedicated graphics for a lesser price. OR; will it simply give the old macbook (meaning the 2008 models) a new outer shell with the same delicious-non-vista filling. Is it worth it to wait for the new macbook (will it come out before september). Or should i just buy the current model.

I would really appreciate some answers because i am really hungering for some macbook/non i-phone related news.

1) The release will be Monetvina/Penryn. Monetiva/Nehalem chips for the MB/MBP won't be out until 2009. The owrd is we can expect a case change with the next update, but I think it may only be for the <BP this time around, not the MB.

2) Apple may not sell as many notebooks as the other OEMs, but they are probably selling the most modern, higher-end chips for notebooks than any other OEM since the MB, MBP, and even iMac use these mobile chips. In part because of this high volume that needs to be addressed immediately upon Apple's release of new notebooks they are not first out of the gate. Note: Intel has given Apple first dibs at new chips in teh past, but these were for very high-end machines that were done more for a marketing and were not mass produced the way MB and MBPs would need to be.

3) The speed will be about the same. You'll get a little faster speeds over teh current MB when they do launch, especially with decoding H.264 and such, but the real benefit here is the lower power consumption.

4) To me, longevity on a single charge is the most important thing as even the MBA is plenty fast for may needs so I would wait, but the answer is up to you. They either release the MBPs first or both together. If there is a case change Apple may delay the release of the new notebooks even further as they have done in the past; there is no way to tell. With Montevenia still with issues and the official release isn't until August I don't think Apple will have new machines until late September at the earliest. As for worth, that is for you to determine. Do you need to make a decision now or can you wait several months?

[I Mac Alot]

Originally Posted by solipsism

1) The release will be Monetvina/Penryn. Monetiva/Nehalem chips for the MB/MBP won't be out until 2009. The owrd is we can expect a case change with the next update, but I think it may only be for the <BP this time around, not the MB.

2) Apple may not sell as many notebooks as the other OEMs, but they are probably selling the most modern, higher-end chips for notebooks than any other OEM since the MB, MBP, and even iMac use these mobile chips. In part because of this high volume that needs to be addressed immediately upon Apple's release of new notebooks they are not first out of the gate. Note: Intel has given Apple first dibs at new chips in teh past, but these were for very high-end machines that were done more for a marketing and were not mass produced the way MB and MBPs would need to be.

3) The speed will be about the same. You'll get a little faster speeds over teh current MB when they do launch, especially with decoding H.264 and such, but the real benefit here is the lower power consumption.

4) To me, longevity on a single charge is the most important thing as even the MBA is plenty fast for may needs so I would wait, but the answer is up to you. They either release the MBPs first or both together. If there is a case change Apple may delay the release of the new notebooks even further as they have done in the past; there is no way to tell. With Montevenia still with issues and the official release isn't until August I don't think Apple will have new machines until late September at the earliest. As for worth, that is for you to determine. Do you need to make a decision now or can you wait several months?

First off all, thank you for the response.

Second, I want to make these decisions soon. Im going to school in a few months and i'd like to start of college prepare, and i feel like not having a laptop will leave me unprepared and less able to cope. I suppose i could work out some sort of bowwowed laptop until apple see's fit to release the new line.

Preferably the new line would come out at the end of august (with announcements by apple, within a few weeks of today). Thats realy just one thing that i want the most. Actual news from apple. Not " we are unable to release information at this time due to the fact that production possibilities are still being theorized" or that sort of garbage, but i want a simple, "yes hopefully it should be out by september", or "no it wont be out until january". I realize this may seem a bit childish and imatient, but i'd really just like to iron everything out so i dont have to worry about it. And iron it out soon.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by I Mac Alot

First off all, thank you for the response.

Second, I want to make these decisions soon. Im going to school in a few months and i'd like to start of college prepare, and i feel like not having a laptop will leave me unprepared and less able to cope. I suppose i could work out some sort of bowwowed laptop until apple see's fit to release the new line.

Preferably the new line would come out at the end of august (with announcements by apple, within a few weeks of today). Thats realy just one thing that i want the most. Actual news from apple. Not " we are unable to release information at this time due to the fact that production possibilities are still being theorized" or that sort of garbage, but i want a simple, "yes hopefully it should be out by september", or "no it wont be out until january". I realize this may seem a bit childish and imatient, but i'd really just like to iron everything out so i dont have to worry about it. And iron it out soon.

If you want some stats MacRumors' Buyers Guide is the plce to look. The average time for refresh cycle is still two months away. If it were to come out exactly on the 192nd day then we are looking at Sunday,September 14th. Round that to Tuesday the 17th if you want. Those stats also include the iBook release, but if we look at the release cycle for just the MacBook we see that it's been updated in November of every year since it's inception in 2006. However, it was updated in February instead of the usual March this year, so things are not steady across the board.

There really is no way for us to know exactly when it will be released. We are releasing just profiling Apple's release dates and looking for the best option, but it's still just guessing. Welcome to AI.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by mr O

Today + 90 days = end of October for the Intel announcement = new Macbook Pro at Macworld in January?!

Could this coincide with Snow Leopard?

Oh yes, let it snow, let it snow

No!

Originally Posted by maleficent

That would be totally fab. I'm going to NY in January and would love to bag a brand new Mac, hopefully the £->$ rate stays as good as it is!

No!

Sorry to rain on your parade, but unless Apple is uncharacteristically early—by 6 months!, SL will be available about the time of the ADC in June, or July. Unless they are characteristically late, whereupon it may not be out until September.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by shanmugam

again, the much awaited these CPUs do not give lots of performance improvement over the last one, apple may decided SKIP this update completely go with newer ones MWSF 2009 ...

on a entirely different note,

it is kinda of sad, not much performance improvement, AMD you got 6 more months to hurry up ...

Nehalen for portable applications won't be out until sometime next year. How long to you think Apple should wait?

If everyone else is going this way, and Apple doesn't, they will be behind for too long.

What kind of improvements do you see in Intel's line-up between these chips and January? I can't see much of anything.

Then there will be that wait for Nehalen. Another few months.

No, do it for the back to school second-term people, when it's needed.

[ksec]

I was expecting Snow Leopard to go with Neleham

[melgross]

Originally Posted by ksec

I was expecting Snow Leopard to go with Neleham

It will, but not the first version of Nehalen.