Updated Intel Product Pipeline Uncovered?

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif

DailyTech has updated its roadmap for Intel processors, giving a clue as to what can be seen in future Macs. At launch in August, Intel's Merom mobile CPU will come in ranging from 1.66 to 2.33 Ghz, and ranging in price from $209 to $637 which is comparable to Intel's current lineup's initial price points.

While initial Merom CPU's will use 667 Mhz Front Side Busses that exist today, a Q2 2007 refresh and new "socket P" rollout is slated to bump that speed to 800 Mhz.

In related news, Daily Tech also has uncovered plans for a single-core Conroe chip, named "Conroe-L." While interesting, it is doubtful that this chip will make its way into many, if any future Macs. Currently, the lowest-priced Mac Mini is the only Mac to use Intel's Core Solo processor.

[sunfast]

Hope it's true! A Merom will be in my first intel mac

[rimrocka07011]

Great! Now I'll have to sell my MBP in my sig by the start of school next year...

[Core Trio]

I wonder how long Ill be able to wait, at the release of Merom my powerbook will be a little over a year old, it still runs great but every time i go to the apple store I come that much close to justifying a MBP purchase.

[qubex]

Multicore MacPro in August.

News at eleven.

[crees!]

Originally Posted by Core Trio

I wonder how long Ill be able to wait, at the release of Merom my powerbook will be a little over a year old, it still runs great but every time i go to the apple store I come that much close to justifying a MBP purchase.

Geez, my PowerBook is almost 3 years old and eventhough I dig the new Macs I don't think I'll be wanting one till Leopard is out of it's cage. Right now it's still a perfect machine with all the crap I shove down it's throat.

[BornAgainMac]

The Mhz myth is in full effect. It really is starting to lose it's meaning even on the Intel side. Performance per watt is the new thing now. Even AMD talks about it as if they watched the Stevenote.

[RichP]

Originally Posted by bigandy

but performance per watt is the big new thing because of the Stevenote, is it not?

Yeah, AMD has their new performance-per-watt ad campaign going around too.

The power consumption of the chip is a rather small part of the overall power consumption of these machines..we need some real energy reduction in other areas to really give battery life a boost.

[Macer]

Conroe is just the P4 replacement, you couldn't stick that in a power mac and call it a power mac. Most PC users who buy a new PC in the next year or 2 will have a conroe cpu in their pc, as this will be the standard desktop cpu.

[Multimedia]

Here's more on the subject from this article yesterday plus all these other articles since earlier this year. Point is MacBook can't go above 2GHz while MacBook Pro will go to 2.33 GHz as soon as Apple can get them - even if they're just Yonah's in July short term.

Designated Conroe July 23 Launch Date perfect timing for the August 7th SteveNote at SF WWDC two week later.

Of course the Woodcrest Quad will still be the "star" of the SteveNote Presentation. But I think Conroe will have a role in the Quad's little Core 2 Duo brothers.

Also of note is the addition of a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor set to sell for $209 retail. Looks like the $599 Combo Mac mini's friend to me. Hope to see the $799 Superdrive Mac mini get the 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo.

[HiRez]

Performance per watt is great and it seems that Intel is doing a decent job with that, but with larger, brighter screens, more CPU cores, faster hard drives (you are a noob if you don't put a 7200 rpm drive in your PowerBook, doncha' know), and particularly faster, more power-hungry GPUs, one area that Apple and the industry as a whole needs to make some breakthroughs on is battery technology. There really haven't been an major changes that I'm aware of in about 5 years or so. Yes, they manage to squeeze another watt here or there, but essentially, they are the same bulky, heavy, short-life batteries we've had for a long time. Where is the battery revolution?

[cgc]

Originally Posted by HiRez

...you are a noob if you don't put a 7200 rpm drive in your PowerBook, doncha' know...

7200RPM drives aren't necessarily faster than 5400 RPM drives, just like the MHz myth there is an RPM-myth as well.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

While initial Merom CPU's will use 667 Mhz Front Side Busses that exist today, a Q2 2007 refresh and new "socket P" rollout is slated to bump that speed to 800 Mhz.

This brings me back memories of Titanium Powerbooks that had 667/800 MHz processor speeds Plenty fast for a front side buss...

[AlBDamned]

Originally Posted by JFreak

This brings me back memories of Titanium Powerbooks that had 667/800 MHz processor speeds Plenty fast for a front side buss...

Yup and it makes the G4's 167MHz frontside bus, which was around for ages, look even slower than it did before.

[Chaszmyr]

Originally Posted by JFreak

This brings me back memories of Titanium Powerbooks that had 667/800 MHz processor speeds Plenty fast for a front side buss...

Speak for yourself, I want a 3ghz frontside bus in 12 months

[Shagrat]

Originally Posted by Chaszmyr

Speak for yourself, I want a 3ghz frontside bus in 12 months

Or more likely Next Tuesday!

[heisetax]

Originally Posted by Chaszmyr

Speak for yourself, I want a 3ghz frontside bus in 12 months

Remember, the G5's have the highest speed front side busses. Except the iMacs, they had a 1/2 speed buss. The dual dual 2.5 GHz are 1.25 GHz & the dual 2.7 GHz are 1.35 GHz. This seems to be faster than the much slower 667 MHz of the Intel processors.

The Intel front side buss has an easy time to beat the much older G4's speed. It will take a much longer & harder time to match the G5's front side buss speed.

Bill the TaxMan

[Soli Gratia]

So...if the Merom processor is here in August, does this guarantee that Mac will update the Macbook to Merom then too?

[Core Trio]

Originally Posted by Soli Gratia

So...if the Merom processor is here in August, does this guarantee that Mac will update the Macbook to Merom then too?

The thing with apple is that there are no guarantees. Although it seems they are done with their old ways of separating the consumer and pro portable lines based on crippled clock speeds, their stance can change at any moment, without notice.we could technically see Yonah in Macbooks until its end.

[scottlinux]

I think they will keep core duos in the laptops/minis, and put the beefier chips in the iMac/[Power]mac. If these new intel chips use the same socket as the core solo/duos, you could just take a solo mini and pop in the newer chip. Or the same with your macbook.

[MacinDoc]

Originally Posted by scottlinux

I think they will keep core duos in the laptops/minis, and put the beefier chips in the iMac/[Power]mac. If these new intel chips use the same socket as the core solo/duos, you could just take a solo mini and pop in the newer chip. Or the same with your macbook.

Unfortunately, the CPUs in Macbooks and MBPs are not socketed, they are soldered to the motherboard. iMac and Minis, however, can probably have their Yonah chips replaced with the first generation of Meroms, but not the second generation that's coming in 2007 with the new socket.

[NVRsayNVR]

Whatever Apple plans, I look forward to the *NEW* chips and am hopeful that the new MacPro will be an entirely new case design. Smaller, sleeker, better lines and oh... so... FAST! My birthday is August 7! Ha ha.

GREAT JOB INTEL! You guy's are !!



"Think Alike... BE Different!"

[mike2q]

Now I'm glad I didn't wait for Merom and bought a Macbook now. For the entire next school semester I'll have a blazing fast Mac laptop and won't have to "limp along" my old machine. When the core 2 duo's come out I won't have to get onto these forums to read about rev A problems. Then when the bus gets a bump to 800mhz in november I'll just be finishing up my semester. I'll wait until January when those chips get a price drop and sell my MB for a 17" MBP with a 2.33ghz 64bit chit with a 800Mhz bus at the discounted price. Life will be good.

[Josias]

I know Merom and Yonah have impressive FSB's, but I hope the Conroe will do even better, since the old PM G5's had up to dual 1.25 GHz FSB's. I also hope the new PowerMacs will feature BSB (backsidebus), 4 S-ATA bays, and room for two optical drives. BTW, what are the clockspeeds of Conroe set to?

Well, on topic, it's cool all of them 'cept 1.67 and 1.83 GHz have 4 MB L2 caches That is going to own with a 17" MBP with 2.33 GHz Merom, 4 GB RAM, 160 GB 7.200 rpm. drive and a 1920x1200 screen (+Leopard ).

[bigandy]

another new socket

good too see intel following tradition there, another month, another socket design

[/sarcasm]

Originally Posted by BornAgainMac

The Mhz myth is in full effect. It really is starting to lose it's meaning even on the Intel side. Performance per watt is the new thing now. Even AMD talks about it as if they watched the Stevenote.

but performance per watt is the big new thing because of the Stevenote, is it not?