Intel's Ivy Bridge CPU to Allow for Smaller Quad-Core MacBook Pros

[MacRumors]

AnandTech reports that Intel has announced that its next-generation processor code-named Ivy Bridge will offer lower-power quad-core chips than the current generation of Sandy Bridge chips. In particular, Intel has revealed that it will introduce a 35-watt quad-core Core i7 processor.

Next year Ivy Bridge will expand the range to include a 35W quad-core Core i7 SKU. Shaving off 10W off the TDP should enable somewhat smaller notebooks to enjoy the benefits of a quad-core CPU.

As AnandTech notes, this development means that Apple could offer quad-core processors in its smallest 13" MacBook Pros.

The current 13" MacBook Pro design is limited to processors with a 35W thermal design power (TDP). The larger 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models are capable of handling higher-power processors with TDPs up to 45W. As a result, the 15" and 17" MacBook Pros are the only models that presently offer quad-core processors.

This news of lower power targets for Intel's mobile processors should come as no surprise, as Intel has admitted that it has been slow to respond to the low-power trends and has redoubled its efforts to lower the power requirements of its future CPUs. Apple may even have helped prompt the shift by threatening Intel with the potential loss of Apple's business.

While fitting a quad-core processor into the current 13" MacBook Pro will be possible with the new CPUs, Apple may take a different approach. We've long heard that Apple will be introducing a new case design for the next MacBook Pro, with many expecting it to take on thinner, more MacBook Air-like design. While Apple may choose to slim down the MacBook Pro by making the optical drive an external option and moving toward integrated solid-state storage, the company may also opt to utilize processors with lower heat requirements to design a thinner/sleeker machine rather than simply trying to boost the raw power of its low-end model.

Article Link: Intel's Ivy Bridge CPU to Allow for Smaller Quad-Core MacBook Pros

[Eidorian]

Trinity vs. Ivy Bridge if I consider a notebook next year. AMD claims halving the TDP down to ULV levels, compared to Llano, for Trinity. If you go to the high, imagine a HD 6770M on-die.

My desktop's Core i5 750 still cranks out enough frames in games. Not much else gets done on that powerhouse but I want something for the road.

[ECUpirate44]

I'm waiting for Rockwell!

[davie18]

A 13" MBP with a quad core and dedicated graphics without a DVD drive please! That would be a brilliant machine, I know it won't happen though!

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by davie18

A 13" MBP with a quad core and dedicated graphics without a DVD drive please! That would be a brilliant machine, I know it won't happen though!

You might be looking to Samsung for that.

[dissemin8or]

I want the 15" quad-core MBA!

[Grimace]

15" and 17" MacBook Airs?

[dagamer34]

Thing is, the current chassis was designed for 35W CPUs 3 years ago, and boy can you feel it.

[Consultant]

Or longer battery life for the 17" MBP!

[dlimes13]

Give me a 13 inch MBP, no optical drive, keeping the ability to upgrade HDD/SSD and RAM (MacBook Air... you suck), 1440x900 screen and a dedicated graphics card, and I'll start buying those instead of 17 inch models.

[voyagerd]

Originally Posted by ECUpirate44

I'm waiting for Rockwell!

Check your codenames

----------

The 13" MacBook Pro probably won't be around much longer...

[lilcosco08]

I'm fine with my c2d for now

Broadwell/haswell will be fantastic

[oiuh151]

Originally Posted by voyagerd

The 13" MacBook Pro probably won't be around much longer...

Disagree, I think this will differentiate the MBA from the 13" MBP by a lot. It will be a quad core MBP vs a dual core MBA, and on top of that they can now have a discrete GPU in the 13" MBP since they will undoubtedly remove the optical drive.

[Hellhammer]

Originally Posted by lilcosco08

I'm fine with my c2d for now

Broadwell/haswell will be fantastic

Skymont is the thing.

[voyagerd]

Originally Posted by oiuh151

Disagree, I think this will differentiate the MBA from the 13" MBP by a lot. It will be a quad core MBP vs a dual core MBA, and on top of that they can now have a discrete GPU in the 13" MBP since they will undoubtedly remove the optical drive.

I was thinking further out, a couple years from now, but things could change.

[leog]

Join the rest of the modern laptop world??

[oiuh151]

Originally Posted by leog

Join the rest of the modern laptop world??

Apple said they would support it when Intel would. Intel is supporting it natively in Ivy Bridge so all Ivy Bridge Macs will have USB 3.0.

[voyagerd]

Originally Posted by leog

Join the rest of the modern laptop world??

That's a given.

[MacinDoc]

Originally Posted by MacRumors;13342017While fitting a quad-core processor into the current 13" MacBook Pro will be possible with the new CPUs, Apple may take a different approach. We've long [url="http://www.macrumors.com/2011/04/25/next-macbook-pro-to-get-new-case-design/"

heard[/url] that Apple will be introducing a new case design for the next MacBook Pro, with many expecting it to take on thinner, more MacBook Air-like design. While Apple may choose to slim down the MacBook Pro by making the optical drive an external option and moving toward integrated solid-state storage, the company may also opt to utilize processors with lower heat requirements to design a thinner/sleeker machine rather than simply trying to boost the raw power of its low-end model.

That's what the Air is for! Let's hope that Apple will continue to offer powerful CPUs in its MBPs, and reserves the ultra-low power chips for the Air, which is intended to be thin and light.

[zodqyv]

Originally Posted by ECUpirate44

I'm waiting for Rockwell!

The Rockwell codename went away a while back. It's Broadwell these days...

Sandy Bridge > Ivy Bridge > Haswell > Broadwell > Skylake > Skymont

Haswell will be by far the biggest leap forward in a long time (since Merom, the original Core2 Duo). All the others are just evolutionary steps by comparison.

[Sjhonny]

Originally Posted by Hellhammer

Skymont is the thing.

What I'm waiting for is what they'll do when they're at the 10 nm 'silicium-limit'. For a change, we'll see something 'out of the ordinary'. Recent years brought nothing but predicted performance boasts. The only thing that's not going according to plan is perfectionizing the production process in time so they can squeeze high enough yields out of there waffers.

[lilcosco08]

Originally Posted by Hellhammer

Skymont is the thing.

Heh, no info about it yet, though, other than 10nm

I'm just excited because 8 CORE MBP WOO

[zodqyv]

Originally Posted by Sjhonny

What I'm waiting for is what they'll do when they're at the 10 nm 'silicium-limit'. For a change, we'll see something 'out of the ordinary'. Recent years brought nothing but predicted performance boasts. The only thing that's not going according to plan is perfectionizing the production process in time so they can squeeze high enough yields out of there waffers.

If all goes well, we will be looking at the MacBook Quantum in the 2020s. The sky is the limit from there. Quantum computing is in its infancy now, but give it a decade...

[azentropy]

Originally Posted by zodqyv

The Rockwell codename went away a while back. It's Broadwell these days...

I had a dog named Rockwell. He was a great dog.

[zodqyv]

Originally Posted by azentropy

I had a dog named Rockwell. He was a great dog.

Great name for a dog, for sure! I will keep it in mind for future reference.