Briefly: 10.4.7, Google player, Conroe notebooks?
Two builds and business days later, Apple has issued new seeds of Mac OS X 10.4.7 Update. Google releases a Universal Binary of its Google Video Player. And are some Taiwan notebook makers planning to build notebooks around Intel's Conroe chip?
Tiger update primed for release
The frequency in which Apple is distributing pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.4.7 has increased yet again, with the company on Tuesday issuing to its developers Mac OS X 10.4.7 build 8J2124 (Intel) and Mac OS X 10.4.7 build 8J124 (PowerPC), according to reports.
These latest seeds closely follow builds 8J122 and 8J2122, which were seeded over the weekend. Builds 8J123 and 8J2123 were believed to have been distributed to employees on Monday.
While it appears that the Tiger update is now suitable for release, tipsters say Apple remains focused on stability, recently nixing bugs associated with Core Audio and WebCore. Minute issues with QuickDraw and ColorSync were also rectified in the latest builds, they say.
Google Player for Mac
Google today released a Universal Binary of Google Video player for Mac OS X that runs natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs.
The software allows users to watch videos downloaded from Google's online Video service, browse scenes within a video using thumbnails and skip to anywhere in the video, even if that portion hasn't downloaded yet.
It also features a full screen mode and automatic video download resume function.
Is Intel's Conroe notebook-bound?
Interesting to say the least, often misguided DigiTimes is reporting that "a number of Taiwan notebook makers plan to roll out notebook models using Intel's forthcoming Conroe desktop processors instead of Merom processors."
The shift will reportedly allow notebook makers to enjoy a price difference of over US$50 by using the cheaper Conroe chips. The swap is said to be workable because both chips are designed to be lower powered processor, with Conroe coming with a thermal design power (TDP) of 65W, compared with Merom's 35W.
When paired with Intel's recently announced "Broadwater" 965 chipsets, the Conroe-based notebooks are likely to reach a level of performance similar to Intel's next generation Santa Rosa platform, according to the report.
The Santa Rose platform is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2007.
Tiger update primed for release
The frequency in which Apple is distributing pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.4.7 has increased yet again, with the company on Tuesday issuing to its developers Mac OS X 10.4.7 build 8J2124 (Intel) and Mac OS X 10.4.7 build 8J124 (PowerPC), according to reports.
These latest seeds closely follow builds 8J122 and 8J2122, which were seeded over the weekend. Builds 8J123 and 8J2123 were believed to have been distributed to employees on Monday.
While it appears that the Tiger update is now suitable for release, tipsters say Apple remains focused on stability, recently nixing bugs associated with Core Audio and WebCore. Minute issues with QuickDraw and ColorSync were also rectified in the latest builds, they say.
Google Player for Mac
Google today released a Universal Binary of Google Video player for Mac OS X that runs natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs.
The software allows users to watch videos downloaded from Google's online Video service, browse scenes within a video using thumbnails and skip to anywhere in the video, even if that portion hasn't downloaded yet.
It also features a full screen mode and automatic video download resume function.
Is Intel's Conroe notebook-bound?
Interesting to say the least, often misguided DigiTimes is reporting that "a number of Taiwan notebook makers plan to roll out notebook models using Intel's forthcoming Conroe desktop processors instead of Merom processors."
The shift will reportedly allow notebook makers to enjoy a price difference of over US$50 by using the cheaper Conroe chips. The swap is said to be workable because both chips are designed to be lower powered processor, with Conroe coming with a thermal design power (TDP) of 65W, compared with Merom's 35W.
When paired with Intel's recently announced "Broadwater" 965 chipsets, the Conroe-based notebooks are likely to reach a level of performance similar to Intel's next generation Santa Rosa platform, according to the report.
The Santa Rose platform is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2007.
Comments
Originally posted by fuyutsuki
Ah, I remember PC laptops when they just used older models of desktop processor. Nice and toasty, with ~90 mins of battery life. Good luck with that guys!
Yeah; still a very common practice, sadly. Fat, ugly, heavy, hot, loud, and hardly portable in any way.
Fortunately, I don't believe Apple will ever make the mistake of releasing such a beast.
Originally posted by fuyutsuki
Ah, I remember PC laptops when they just used older models of desktop processor. Nice and toasty, with ~90 mins of battery life. Good luck with that guys!
It made a little more sense when there was a more dramatic difference in performance. But these days there's not going to be enough of a performance gap to make it worth it.
Originally posted by AppleInsider
[B] The swap is said to be workable because both chips are designed to be lower powered processor, with Conroe coming with a thermal design power (TDP) of 65W, compared with Merom's 35W.
Wow Merom is only 35Watt
Originally posted by Booga
It made a little more sense when there was a more dramatic difference in performance. But these days there's not going to be enough of a performance gap to make it worth it.
Exactly...so these Taiwanese notebook makers are going to be putting out ugly, heavy and large heaters for 50 bucks less than beautiful and slick laptops that have the same performance.
Of course, there will always be people that will go for price over form and usability...these people will buy the laptop that is 50 bucks cheaper...these are also the same people that eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.
Originally posted by Ireland
Wow Merom is only 35Watt
Only? The highest level of Core Duo is rated for 31Watts.
I don't doubt that there will be Conroe notebooks, using desktop chips in a "notebook" has happened for several processor generations.
Originally posted by scavanger
I don't really think you can knock some of the cheaper laptops for being super hot... my Gateway with a desktop AMD 64 chip was cooler to hold and touch then any of the Macbooks, or MBPs, people who live in a glass house shouldn't throw stones.
That's probably because Gateway used plastic while Apple used Aluminum. A 2 GHz MacBook also feels cooler to the touch than a 2 GHz MacBook Pro.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
Exactly...so these Taiwanese notebook makers are going to be putting out ugly, heavy and large heaters for 50 bucks less than beautiful and slick laptops that have the same performance.
Of course, there will always be people that will go for price over form and usability...these people will buy the laptop that is 50 bucks cheaper...these are also the same people that eat peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.
Hey! I Eat Peanut butter (and jam) sandwiches for dinner...sometimes. And even I wouldn't consider buying a notebook with a desktop CPU in it.
Originally posted by solipsism
In regards to heat, there is a difference between feeling hot and actually being hot.
Indeed. It's all about heat flow. A temperature difference between your finger and the surface that it touches causes heat to flow. If the surface is at a higher temperature than your finger, heat will flow from the surface to your finger. The more heat that flows, the hotter the surface will feel. Since metal is a much better conductor of heat than plastic, it can feel hotter (than plastic) when in fact it is cooler, because more heat flows into your finger.
Originally posted by Ireland
Wow Merom is only 35Watt
Is that sarcasm? 35 W is rather high for a notebook chip*. But that is maximum power, average power is much lower.
The G4 was <20 W maximum power dissipation, and apparently before Apple switched to Intel, they were considering going with a start-up company (PA semi) who are working on a dual-core 2 GHz PPC chip that consumes 7 W.
Originally posted by Mr. H
The G4 was <20 W maximum power dissipation, and apparently before Apple switched to Intel, they were considering going with a start-up company (PA semi) who are working on a dual-core 2 GHz PPC chip that consumes 7 W.
Does that put a big fat hole in SJ's performance per watt line of sales talk he keeps feeding everyone? That was interesting but I bet SJ was pretty well set on going Intel. A 7w 2 GHz dual core G4 would be freekn suuuwwweeeett!
Originally posted by aplnub
Does that put a big fat hole in SJ's performance per watt line of sales talk he keeps feeding everyone?
Well, the 7 W 2 GHz PPC probably will have much higher performance/watt than Yonah/Merom, but remember that they haven't actually made any (7 W PPC) in volume. Also, what would Apple have done in the mean time? Stuck with 1.67 GHz single-core G4 on a 167 MHz bus?
Yonah/Merom does have good performance/watt (better than the 7448 ). It's just that the absolute amount of power (watts) is quite high.
Originally posted by Mr. H
Also, what would Apple have done in the mean time? Stuck with 1.67 GHz single-core G4 on a 167 MHz bus?
It wouldn't be the first time Apple would have held still, accepted what the G4 was getting when they got it, or just put it in reverse on GHz all together (that thing all you old skool mac guys bitch about).