Intel touts power of upcoming Yonah laptop chip

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Intel Corp. said on Tuesday its next-generation platform for laptop computers will use 25 percent less power while boosting performance, helping it stay on top of the fast-growing market, Reuters reports.



The overhaul of the company's Centrino technology, code-named "Napa," comes as preps for a boost from laptop sales, which are growing faster than the overall computer market.



At the heart of Napa is Intel's new Yonah microprocessor, which will make its debut in early January as the first mobile chip to sport dual cores. It reportedly includes the latest technology that etches circuitry more than 100 times thinner than a human hair.



The napa platform and Yonah processor will use 28-percent less power while performing 68 percent better than its predecessor, Keith Kressin, Intel's marketing chief for mobile platforms, told reporters.



"The twin cores mean users can perform several tasks at the same time," said Reuters. "For instance, one core could update a spreadsheet while the other displays a graphics-heavy presentation without slowing down."



Yonah will also do its part to extend battery life beyond the 5-hour mark, improve wireless bandwidth, and help cut the size of notebooks by 30-percent, according to eWeek



Sources have previously said that Apple aims to be one of the first computer makers to introduce systems based on Intel's new dual-core chips, with the strong possibility of the first Intel Mac laptop making its debut during the second week of January.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 144
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Where do I sign up?
  • Reply 2 of 144
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider

    The napa platform and Yonah processor will use 28-percent less power while performing 68 percent better than its predecessor



    What is the predecessor, Celeron? How does the G4 compare to the predecessor?
  • Reply 3 of 144
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    What is the predecessor, Celeron? How does the G4 compare to the predecessor?



    Pentium M (Dothan/Sonoma/XD).
  • Reply 4 of 144
    I'm gonna cop two right off the bat! One to keep and the other to sell on eBay for a 30% markup so I can make some of my money back!
  • Reply 5 of 144
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    For the sake of my bank account, I hope they really, really suck.
  • Reply 6 of 144
    No dont say that! They have put out plenty of sucky powerbooks in the last 2 years... no more! NO MORE!
  • Reply 7 of 144
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    If Apple puts out a paper thin 12" and a 15" workhorse I AM DOOMED.
  • Reply 8 of 144
    I am putting aside money now to get a new Powerbook in January if it uses Yonah. My ailing Powerbook G4 1GHz is starting to show its age.



    Hoorray
  • Reply 9 of 144
    I see the beginning of a Intel RDF ...surely after Intels' bad run recently, you'd want to see how they actually perform out in the wild before getting too exuberant.
  • Reply 10 of 144
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a j stev

    I see the beginning of a Intel RDF ...surely after Intels' bad run recently, you'd want to see how they actually perform out in the wild before getting too exuberant.



    One thing's for sure though, they'll run better than the G4s we have now...even if they don't perform 50% faster than the current Pentium M chips. And I think that's all we want.



    And AMD doesn't produce laptop chips (at least not the ones that would allow Apple to produce paper thin laptops.)



    RDF or no RDF, the move to Intel was a good one.
  • Reply 11 of 144
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a j stev

    I see the beginning of a Intel RDF ...surely after Intels' bad run recently, you'd want to see how they actually perform out in the wild before getting too exuberant.



    It's Intel's desktop line that is struggling. The Centrino platformization has been wonderful for Intel.
  • Reply 12 of 144
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kim kap sol

    And AMD doesn't produce laptop chips (at least not the ones that would allow Apple to produce paper thin laptops.)



    Well, technically, there's the Turion...
  • Reply 13 of 144
    I have a 15" PB, 24 months old, and the battery might last me 1.5 hours on a good day with the screen brightness turned way down. 5 hours would be pretty amazing, although I remain skeptical.
  • Reply 14 of 144
    the 65W dualcore yonah was tested by anandtech. for 65W or so it's not bad, in the class of pentium Ds and AthlonX2s (though of course not the top of that class). 65nm also has some advantages. looks like apple could just pull this off -- dualcore yonah powerbook macintel and singlecore yonah ibook macintel for january 2006...



    anandtech linky here:

    http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=2627



    edit: oops, i meant dualcore yonah that anandtech tested was running 92W idle and 102W load. so on a mobile platform i guess it could still be just intel RDF, but we'll find out soon enough, especially with all you bloody guineapigs out there dying to get your hands on the first ones....
  • Reply 15 of 144
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    the 65W dualcore yonah was tested by anandtech. for 65W or so it's not bad, in the class of pentium Ds and AthlonX2s (though of course not the top of that class). 65nm also has some advantages. looks like apple could just pull this off -- dualcore yonah powerbook macintel and singlecore yonah ibook macintel for january 2006...



    anandtech linky here:

    http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=2627



    edit: oops, i meant dualcore yonah that anandtech tested was running 92W idle and 102W load. so on a mobile platform i guess it could still be just intel RDF, but we'll find out soon enough, especially with all you bloody guineapigs out there dying to get your hands on the first ones....




    The Anandtech article uses a desktop motherboard with a desktop graphics card and components so isn't any guideline to mobile power usage. Yonah + Napa is really just going to push Intel ahead further in mobile computing.
  • Reply 16 of 144
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Alex3917

    I have a 15" PB, 24 months old, and the battery might last me 1.5 hours on a good day with the screen brightness turned way down. 5 hours would be pretty amazing, although I remain skeptical.



    Um, newsflash, batteries degrade. The battery life of a 2-years-old laptop hardly counts. Your capacity has probably drained by at least a third, if not 50%.
  • Reply 17 of 144
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    edit: oops, i meant dualcore yonah that anandtech tested was running 92W idle and 102W load. so on a mobile platform i guess it could still be just intel RDF, but we'll find out soon enough, especially with all you bloody guineapigs out there dying to get your hands on the first ones....



    Anandtech was testing total system power draw, using a desktop power supply, motherboard, and graphics card, not CPU power draw. The Yonahs themselves are said to average a few Watts under normal laptop usage. In fact, I would be surprised if the CPU was the biggest power draw on your typical Yonah laptop... a lot of the battery life is going to depend on the engineering surrounding the other components.
  • Reply 18 of 144
    ok. cool. thanks for clarifying. anyway, the thing is, and my point was, that the anandtech article is the only test we have with regards to yonah, and hence it was worth mentioning in regards to this appleinsider article.



    okay, now let's say we ignore the components and power draw mentioned in the article, and assume the dualcore yonah cpu they tested is very similar to the model to be used in laptops. unless anand did some major overclocking or fiddled a lot with the voltage, etc, the cpu tests show yonah as a mobile chip to be really, quite impressive.



    now of course then we take our pinch of salt, considering, what model of yonah will be in apple laptops, what components surrounding it, what sort of battery life etc... all intriguing in any case.
  • Reply 19 of 144
    Why do some think that if the processor for the 15 in. is ready, that the 17" would not be untill later. Don't they use the same processor?
  • Reply 20 of 144
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pbaker05

    Why do some think that if the processor for the 15 in. is ready, that the 17" would not be untill later. Don't they use the same processor?



    Yes, they do. This is the first time I've heard this idea, however.
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