Rumor: Intel to push back Mac-bound Ivy Bridge chip shipments until June
Intel is rumored to have warned its partners that mass shipments of its next-generation Ivy Bridge processors, which are expected to make their way into Apple's Mac lineup later this year, will not begin until after June, though a "small volume" of chips will reportedly go out in early April.
Sources from notebook players have told Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes that both Intel and its first-tier notebook vendors have built up troubling inventories of the current-generation Sandy Bridge Processors. As a result, the Santa Clara, Calif., chipmaker "plans to delay mass shipments of the new processors to minimize the impact," according to the report.
Intel is still expected to announce the new line of processors and ship a "small volume" of them in early April, tipsters said. They also added that mass shipments would then arrive sometime "after June."
The report went on to claim that notebook vendors have begun adjusting their projects for Ivy Bridge-powered models in light of Intel's delay. Sources also reportedly told the publication that PC makers don't expect a "PC replacement trend" until Microsoft launches Windows 8 in late 2012.
"The first three quarters of 2012 will still be a dark period for the notebook industry," the report noted insiders as having said.
According to an alleged leaked roadmap that surfaced late last year, Intel's Ivy Bridge chip candidates for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air had been tentatively scheduled for a May 2012 debut.
AppleInsider reported last week that Apple will conduct a top-to-bottom revamp of its notebooks lineup throughout 2012 that will bring its MacBook Pro portables more in line with the MacBook Air designs.
One person familiar with the new designs told AppleInsider that the new machines are "all going to look like MacBook Airs." Apple is expected to revamp the 15-inch MacBook Pro first, followed by the 17-inch model a few months later. The next-generation machines are expected to built around Intel's Ivy Bridge micro architecture and rely heavily on Thunderbolt. However, the company's naming system for the new laptops as yet remains unclear.
An illustration of Apple's notebook lineup planned for the 2012 calendar year.
Rumors out of Asia have also pointed to a new thin-and-light 15-inch MacBook model arriving in the first half of 2012. Last December, DigiTimes claimed Apple is readying a Retina Display-equipped 15-inch MacBook Pro for release in the second quarter of 2012.
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Apple is expected to revamp the 15-inch MacBook Pro first, followed by the 17-inch model a few months later.
Expected by whom? That looks pretty dumb to me. Apple made that mistake once before with the unibody transition. Did ANYONE actually buy the Late 2008 17" MacBook Pro, knowing what was coming?
Edit: OH, IT'S DIGITIMES. THE COMPLETELY WORTHLESS SNOT RAG WHOSE CONTINUED PRESENCE ON APPLEINSIDER BEMUSES ME TO NO END.
Also, take a long hard look at that "Intel HD Graphics 4000". It's possible that's all we're getting, even in the 17".
Rumors out of Asia have also pointed to a new thin-and-light 15-inch MacBook model arriving in the first half of 2012. Last December, DigiTimes claimed Apple is readying a Retina Display-equipped 15-inch MacBook Pro for release in the second quarter of 2012.
Oh, THAT"S the one I want to replace my old 2006 MBP. Finally a serious portable CPU!
Isn't Digitimes the site that has been dead wrong so many times in the past?
They're a Taiwanese site. What the hell would they or any of their so-called sources know about Intel? And I wonder who their sources are, some janitor that works in one of the factories?
Many of their past rumors have been proven to be completely garbage and untrue. I wouldn't trust anything that is written on that site. At the end of December 2011, they claimed that 2 iPads were to be released in Jan 2012. Oh wait, it's February 2012 already. What a bunch of morons.
Something has to give, and in this case it would be the battery life.
Which actually brings up an interesting point... will this new range of MacBook Air-like MacBook Pro's not actually be as thin as a MacBook Air, or will be all be fitted with ULV CPU's?
Isn't Digitimes the site that has been dead wrong so many times in the past?
Only if you're keeping score.
I'll eat my hat if Apple sticks a 45W TDP CPU in a 15" MacBook Pro that is as thin as a MacBook Air.
Something has to give, and in this case it would be the battery life.
Which actually brings up an interesting point... will this new range of MacBook Air-like MacBook Pro's not actually be as thin as a MacBook Air, or will be all be fitted with ULV CPU's?
Apple can follow the MBA design philosophy without making it a MBA. There is no reason they can't thin it out and tapper it but still allow enough room for a 35 and 45W CPUs. I think it's foolish to take one aspect of the MBA and then assume that the MBPs will get CULV processors. That's an amazing leap in logic.
I remember, back when I was younger, AAPL sometimes went down. I was starting to doubt that I would ever see such a day again...
I'll eat my hat if Apple sticks a 45W TDP CPU in a 15" MacBook Pro that is as thin as a MacBook Air.
Something has to give, and in this case it would be the battery life.
Which actually brings up an interesting point... will this new range of MacBook Air-like MacBook Pro's not actually be as thin as a MacBook Air, or will be all be fitted with ULV CPU's?
If you ditch the optical drive there is space for reduction; they could look significantly different from the image and still be fairly "sleek," just not "Air" sleek.
A ULV CPU in a 15" MBA would make sense, but this article is not suggesting that (although the image, admittedly, would make you wonder.)
A proper CPU in a "minimized" design (no OD) with a dedicated GPU would have a different market than an "ultra book" with a 15 inch screen, ULV CPU, perhaps no dedicated graphics, and a 256 gb SSD.
The question might be, how many people just want a bigger screen and don't care about performance?
As an aside, Intel HD Graphics 3000 can rot in hell. We'll see what 4000 limps out, not terribly excited.
Is it only the notebook Sandy Bridge's or the desktop too?
While Haswell will possibly give 5x or higher GFX performance then Sandy.
I am waiting for Haswell, looks like Ivy wont be as good in graphics as first thought.
While Haswell will possibly give 5x or higher GFX performance then Sandy.
If we're talking about MBPs then it shouldn't be a big deal unless you really want integrated graphics. I figure the low-end 13" MBP will come with an IGP-only option. I assume most MBPs will have full dGPUs.
Apple can follow the MBA design philosophy without making it a MBA. There is no reason they can't thin it out and tapper it but still allow enough room for a 35 and 45W CPUs. I think it's foolish to take one aspect of the MBA and then assume that the MBPs will get CULV processors. That's an amazing leap in logic.
Oh come on Solipsism, seriously???
The article states "all going to look like MacBook Airs", they have a picture captioned "An illustration of Apple's notebook lineup planned for the 2012 calendar year" with a 13" MBA up-sized to a 15.4 inch screen and the overwhelming differentiation point for a MBA is how thin and sleek the damn thing is.
Based on the above information how "foolish" can it possibly be to think that "one aspect" Apple might take from a MacBook Air is to, you know, make it look like a bloody MacBook Air??
A current 15.4" MacBook Pro has following dimensions.
Height: 0.95 inch
Width:14.35 inches
Depth:9.82 inches
Weight:5.6 pounds
A MacBook Air style 15.4" MacBook Pro would have the following dimensions.
Height: 0.13-0.78 inch
Width: 14.8 inches
Depth: 10.37 inches
Weight: 3.43 pounds
What I'm saying (for the second time) is that I don't think Apple will be able to stick a 45W TDP CPU in 15.4" MacBook Pro style MacBook Air without sacrificing battery life.
If I'm correct it means:
God damn it!!!!!!!!111
My thoughts exactly!
Oh come on Solipsism, seriously???
The article states "all going to look like MacBook Airs", they have a picture captioned "An illustration of Apple's notebook lineup planned for the 2012 calendar year" with a 13" MBA up-sized to a 15.4 inch screen and the overwhelming differentiation point for a MBA is how thin and sleek the damn thing is.
Based on the above information how "foolish" can it possibly be to think that "one aspect" Apple might take from a MacBook Air is to, you know, make it look like a bloody MacBook Air??
A current 15.4" MacBook Pro has following dimensions.
Height: 0.95 inch
Width:14.35 inches
Depth:9.82 inches
Weight:5.6 pounds
A MacBook Air style 15.4" MacBook Pro would have the following dimensions.
Height: 0.13-0.78 inch
Width: 14.8 inches
Depth: 10.37 inches
Weight: 3.43 pounds
What I'm saying (for the second time) is that I don't think Apple will be able to stick a 45W TDP CPU in 15.4" MacBook Pro style MacBook Air without sacrificing battery life.
If I'm correct it means:
Show us the numbers of the internal space that suggest that Apple has to use a CULV processor.
Tell us how the 18"^3 of the ODD can't offset much of the battery space and allow for the logic board to be elongated so that it's against the back of the footprint where it's thickest and where the vents will be placed thus allowing for better cooling in a smaller space.
Tell us why it would have to be thicker despite the loss of the ODD saving plenty of internal space and allowing for easier engineering of the components.
Tell us why Apple would release a Pro machine that only has a 10 or 17W processor instead of the standard 35 or 45W processor.
Tell us why you think Apple can't follow the MBA's design without using CULV processors but was able to follow it in 2008 with the introduction of the unibody MBPs that also made the thickness thinner than the previous MBPs.
Tell us why Apple can't keep the back bottom chassis with as much internal vertical space as it currently has, use a milled top chassis for the LCD which thins out and strengthens the lid and tapers the chassis toward the front at the same angle as the MBA requires a CULV processor.
Tell me that you aren't basing your "sky is falling" FUD on some 50¢ mockups on a rumour site.
If we're talking about MBPs then it shouldn't be a big deal unless you really want integrated graphics. I figure the low-end 13" MBP will come with an IGP-only option. I assume most MBPs will have full dGPUs.
We'll see. The 13" MBP, as it stands, is Intel graphics only on both configurations, low and high-end. I think a lot of people would've preferred a more robust graphics processor to an OD, but it is difficult to guess what Apple has planned for the 13" MBP if the trend is towards the Air... adding dedicated graphics would eat into the space saved by dropping the OD, if it is getting "trimmed down" somehow.
I don't see a "very obvious" direction, but rather several "reasonable" possibilities for the 13".
We'll see. The 13" MBP, as it stands, is Intel graphics only on both configurations, low and high-end. I think a lot of people would've preferred a more robust graphics processor to an OD, but it is difficult to guess what Apple has planned for the 13" MBP if the trend is towards the Air... adding dedicated graphics would eat into the space saved by dropping the OD, if it is getting "trimmed down" somehow.
I don't see a "very obvious" direction, but rather several "reasonable" possibilities for the 13".
Maybe the 13" will not have the space or need in Apple's eyes for a dGPU but removing the ODD will make it a little easier to add one. Of course, that isn't the only consideration. Apple will obviously have to balance cot to price points, the ability to up-sell, and power requirements. It's quite possible Apple will lean to the cheaper, longer-lasting IGP for the 13" or even pull back the MBP line to just be the 15" and 17" models again.
The "very obvious" directions I see are...
Maybe the 13" will not have the space or need in Apple's eyes for a dGPU but removing the ODD will make it a little easier to add one. Of course, that isn't the only consideration. Apple will obviously have to balance cot to price points, the ability to up-sell, and power requirements. It's quite possible Apple will lean to the cheaper, longer-lasting IGP for the 13" or even pull back the MBP line to just be the 15" and 17" models again.
I feel in a sense they already have done so, in regard to graphics, anyway. If the 13" MBP persists it would seem that a dGPU would be a pretty obvious way to distinguish it from the 13" Air, and restore some of it's "Pro-ness."