Intel rolls out 'breakthrough' chip tech bound for Macs

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  • Reply 21 of 68
    irelandireland Posts: 17,801member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elwood56 View Post


    (surface) density = n * (area)^(-1) = n * (length)^(-2)







    Thanks Spock for clearing that up for all of us.
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  • Reply 22 of 68
    mjteixmjteix Posts: 563member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by retroneo View Post


    The penryn family of chips includes chips for laptops and desktops. Yorkfield and Wolfdale are desktop. Montevina is the laptop family that includes a penryn-class processor.



    I believe Montevina is the codename for the next mobile/centrino platform (just like Santa Rosa is the platform codename for the soon-to-be-released merom+800FSB platform). But it doesn't matter much.

    Harpertown also seems to be the codename for the quad-core server version (Clovertown 45nm update).

    That leaves room for another chip to make them 5 (5 chips were demo'ed if I remember well). Maybe it's a new dual-core Xeon whose code name should end in "crest" (Woodcrest 45nm update).



    "Penryn": dual-core mobile 45nm CPU (up to 2.xxGHz, 1066FSB on the Montevina platform!) for the MacBook, MBP, Mac mini, iMac

    Wolfdale: dual-core desktop 45nm CPU (close to 4.00GHz, 1333FSB with the Bearlake chipset) for ???

    Yorkfield: quad-core desktop 45nm CPU (up to 3.xxGHz, 1066FSB with the Bearlake chipset) for ???

    "SomethingCrest": dual-core server 45nm CPU (close to 4.00GHz, 1333FSB with the Seaburg chipset) for the Mac Pro, Xserve

    HarperTown: quad-core server 45nm CPU (up to 3.xxGHz, 1333FSB with the Seaburg chipset) for the Mac Pro, Xserve



    The last I've checked it was more like:

    1-Yorkfield between Q3 and Q4 2007 and possibly HarperTown (same chip, different package)

    2-Wolfdale between Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 and possibly "SomethingCrest" (same chip, different package)

    3-"Penryn" between Q4 2007 and Q1 2008



    Hey CoolHandPete, we don't come up with those names, Intel does!

    It gets sometimes confusing with codenames for chips, chipsets (and sometimes, parts of chipsets) and "platform" codenames (ensemble of chips and chipsets).



    Just to say that 2007 AND 2008 will be very interesting years. Maybe Apple will finally give up and release another desktop form factor computer using Yorkfield/Wolfdale/Bearlake.
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  • Reply 23 of 68
    irelandireland Posts: 17,801member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post


    I couldn't have heard worse news. As a writer, my budget is tight, so each upgrade has to last a long time. I waited for Core 2 because Core 1 was too hot. That was easy. Now, just as I was about to bite down on a juicy Macbook, Apple and Intel dangle this tempting bit of bait in the water, saying "Just wait a few more months and look what you'll get." The jerks! Why can't it be like before, when in a good year a PPC chip might get a meager 100 MHz boost. Blankity, blankity, blank that Intel.



    The good side of fast-changing technology is that there's always something better in the pipeline. The bad side is also that there's always something better in the pipeline.



    --Mike Perry, Untangling Tolkien (LOTR chronology)



    If you don't need that MacBook by September then i'd wait too, otherwise you have to bite like the rest of us.
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  • Reply 24 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elwood56 View Post


    (surface) density = n * (area)^(-1) = n * (length)^(-2)



    Yeah. What he said.
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  • Reply 25 of 68
    If AMD/IBM come out with something better, what stops Apple from switching , or more likely adding ? OSX is clearly multi-platform capable and has been for some time. I wonder how long Apple has to remain exclusively Intel? Then again , if Intel keeps on innovating at this rate , what difference does it make ?

    In my case it just means I'll really use my current tower and PB until I can't stand them any more, then bite the bullet . . . at least I'll be getting real improvements . . . I hope !
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  • Reply 26 of 68
    bentonbenton Posts: 161member
    How will prospective chip speeds and multiple cores affect the development and target release date for Leopard at Apple WWDC in June 2007?
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  • Reply 27 of 68
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post


    I couldn't have heard worse news. As a writer, my budget is tight, so each upgrade has to last a long time. I waited for Core 2 because Core 1 was too hot. That was easy. Now, just as I was about to bite down on a juicy Macbook, Apple and Intel dangle this tempting bit of bait in the water, saying "Just wait a few more months and look what you'll get." The jerks! Why can't it be like before, when in a good year a PPC chip might get a meager 100 MHz boost. Blankity, blankity, blank that Intel.



    The good side of fast-changing technology is that there's always something better in the pipeline. The bad side is also that there's always something better in the pipeline.



    --Mike Perry, Untangling Tolkien (LOTR chronology)



    Well that has only happen in the last year or so ever since Intel changed leadership. Before Pentium 4 didn't offered much more performance with each upgrade.



    Core 2 Duo has increase the performance as well as lower power consumption. Penryn is about to make this even better late this year. Not to mention Nalehem coming in late 2008 that will bring another 300% increase in performance / watt.



    In my own view intel is now paying up for the performance we were suppose to have over the past 5 - 6 years.
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  • Reply 28 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ....The design uses a blend of hafnium and other rare metals in its transistors to keep the flow of electricity in check, reducing the amount of power leakage by as much as ten times over today's Core 2 and Xeon processors...



    Bloody hell I don't ever recall "Hafnium" being on the periodic table, it sounds "made up". Actually it is there - AtomicNumber 72 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafnium ... Part of transitional metals, "Hafnium is a shiny silvery, ductile metal that is corrosion resistant and chemically similar to zirconium".
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  • Reply 29 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ...The chipmaker revealed that it had specifically booted and run Mac OS X on the new processor design....



    *Jaw drops through the floor* OSX booted and ran so fast it opened a wormhole and the technician testing it actually travelled backwards through time and ended up in the North Pole.
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  • Reply 30 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker View Post


    Not to burst any bubbles here because I am totally behind the intel switch, but IBM made the announcement of the same technology at the same time, and if they are still working with AMD, AMD wont be too far behind.



    IBM, Intel pace each other with improved transistors



    Not to burst *your* bubble ... but Intel is delivering strongly on *real world shipping and very affordable widespread availability* 65nm chips. Similarly, 45nm towards the end of this year. In the bigger picture, they are absolutely positively whipping IBM and AMD's ass.



    AFAIK AMD is only going to deliver 65nm in the 2nd half of 2007, and even then, I wonder about the prices of singlecore and dualcore CPUs, and their performance compared to Core2. Admittedly, Intel's ravaging stride has cost them profits, but... well, we'll see. Who cares about Intel's profits when Apple is doing so well and getting sweet CPUs .
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  • Reply 31 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bobo28 View Post


    If AMD/IBM come out with something better, what stops Apple from switching , or more likely adding ? OSX is clearly multi-platform capable and has been for some time. I wonder how long Apple has to remain exclusively Intel? Then again , if Intel keeps on innovating at this rate , what difference does it make ?

    In my case it just means I'll really use my current tower and PB until I can't stand them any more, then bite the bullet . . . at least I'll be getting real improvements . . . I hope !



    Intel is the clear winner going right through to MacWorld January 2009 SanFrancisco. 8)
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  • Reply 32 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Benton View Post


    How will prospective chip speeds and multiple cores affect the development and target release date for Leopard at Apple WWDC in June 2007?



    It will not. Leopard is being prepped for proper 64-bit support. This is good. Leopard and Universal Binary applications run multiple threads. This is good, given multitasking, the OS and apps will make good use of even 8-16 cores going into 2008. Leopard may or may not already include SSE4 in its maiden release in the Accelerate.framework (AFAIK). Leopard will very likely include SSE4 in subsequent updates if SSE4 support is not built-in with Leopard 10.5.0. MacOSX Leopard is proving to be a brilliantly engineered operating system that can run on anything from a PowerPC 500mhz G3 (AFAIK) up to a 8-core Xeon down to a modified version on Samsung-CPU driven iPhone. Leopard is looking goooooood.



    Also, Leopard should be released in April 2007, otherwise May 2007, not during WWDC in June 2007. IMHO. 8)
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  • Reply 33 of 68
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    Awww wtf it looks like I have to get a new notebook late this year, again. \



    Damn technology is raping the pockets My wallet's still in therapy from my mbp and I just might have to do it all again...one year later.
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  • Reply 34 of 68
    emig647emig647 Posts: 2,455member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rolo View Post


    I was all set to buy a new, spring MBP based on the Santa Rosa platform so what do I do now, wait until the fall for a Penryn system? Will it be slightly faster, slightly cooler, and have a bit more battery life? Is it worth the wait? I've got a 9/03 PB and would like to get a MBP with Leopard.



    If you're set to buy one, I'd go ahead and buy it. You're always going to play the waiting game if you go by news like this. Us mac users aren't used to so many updates so quickly. Look how fast we've gone from Yonah to Merom and about to go to Santa Rosa. Since it's a mbp and it's not upgradeable, go ahead and get one. If it was a mac pro, I might tell you to hold off since the chipsets may change and pci-e may convert to pci-e 2.0. This would kill any future drop in replacements with current towers. I don't expect a HUGE performance increase going from the next rev of Mac Pros / MBPs to the 45nm chips.
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  • Reply 35 of 68
    Bloody glad, still, that I bought my meron MBP when I did. I needed it, it's been fantastic, and I couldn't have held off forever. As nice as OLED backlighting, 45nm chipsets, quad-core and a new enclosure would be, I needed a laptop in and of itself more.



    You can't hold off forever, guys.
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  • Reply 36 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by blackwave View Post


    Bloody glad, still, that I bought my meron MBP when I did. I needed it, it's been fantastic, and I couldn't have held off forever. As nice as OLED backlighting, 45nm chipsets, quad-core and a new enclosure would be, I needed a laptop in and of itself more.



    You can't hold off forever, guys.



    Yeah, Core2Duo is obsolete !!! Yay muah ha ha h ahah ah ahh ahah ha ...I'm glad I didn't get a Core2Duo, instead an eBay'ed MacBook Core[1]Duo with 2gb RAM 2ghz CPU. Fan noise is the only niggle, but a good chance to learn and help my perfectionist ways to be more forgiving... *sniff*... Come home soon, my precioussss (LCD screen being swapped because of 1 dead pixel and 2 small white spots....! yay!)...



    I agree blackwave, seriously, even in mid-2008 I would not know what I would do with a 4 or 8 core 45nm CPU MacBook/Pro running at 3ghz ...Though Apple will of course make it heart-crushingly desirable and ultra teh sexy.
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  • Reply 37 of 68
    GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

    ...so I take it now is not a good time to spend £4000 on a Mac Pro,

    and that I should wait for these new chips ?







    Its just like the old days again...



    EDIT_1: However, no doubt this is good news for everyone, its not for me.

    It means my investment will be obselete very quickly



    Why cant the industry stay stagnant for just a year or two ? :-/
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  • Reply 38 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 132GHz,4TB DDR8 SDRAM,95TB HDD View Post


    GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

    ...so I take it now is not a good time to spend £4000 on a Mac Pro,

    and that I should wait for these new chips ?



    And what would you use your Mac Pro for that you CAN recoup £4000 within 1-3 years?
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  • Reply 39 of 68
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sunilraman View Post


    And what would you use your Mac Pro for that you CAN recoup £4000 within 1-3 years?



    Wha...what do you mean ? Is there hope at the end of the tunnel ?!
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  • Reply 40 of 68
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 132GHz,4TB DDR8 SDRAM,95TB HDD View Post


    Wha...what do you mean ? Is there hope at the end of the tunnel ?!



    What it means is that

    Money to spare = Nice new Mac.

    No money = no Mac.

    New Mac + Credit Card = big Debt. big Trouble.

    Repeat above for each new Mac you get once, twice, a year, etc. etc.



    Basically with the magic of eBay all you need to do is

    budget about $200 per month and you can get a new Mac every year.



    If the Mac is actually used to produce income,

    then we'd all be having a different conversation since a new Mac

    could pay for itself every year or so.



    *Sigh* It all comes down to money. Of all the poetry of the Mac experience,

    it's about the moolah at the end of the day *Sniff*



    My other brilliant idea is to work at an AppleStore/ AppleReseller/ AppleRepair

    Then you get to play with all toys every day. Only thing is you gotta sell the Macs,

    not just play with em.
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