Apple adopting Merom (Core 2 Duo) Processors?

[BornAgainMac]

Apple should update everything

The reason. To do what they did with the mini drives on the iPod. Buy up as much inventory that Intel has the offer. Make Dell and all the rest wait until production of the chips can keep up with demand. Dell and the others will still ship a ton of products but with the slower Celerons and the equiv AMD.

I am curious of anyone does the volume of Core Duo products as Apple anyways.

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

New Game

Why not? They did it with the iBooks for quite some time...

It is a new game after PPC->x86.
Apple is now competing directly with all other PC manufacturers. You can easily compare the hardware between different computers.
Hence, I am sure Apple will upgrade all MBs to Merom as soon as they have made sure they will get enough Meroms to satisfy the need of MBP.
Besides since both the iBook and 12'' PB seems to have merged into the 13'' MB, it is vital to keep this line updated for demanding users with a need for a smaller form factor.

 

[generik]

(Sorry but my english is only valid to read, not to write...)

por aquí en España también estamos como locos esperando los nuevos merom aunque seamos realistas, coincido con los compañeros que dicen que hasta que físicamente no dispongan de los nuevos MBP no los van a anunciar ya que Jobs no puede permitirse perder tanto dinero (la gente esperaría por el nuevo si lo anuncia en la WWDC)

So I think the new MBP with merom is not going to appear the 7th because jobs would lost a lot of buyers waiting for the meroms, you know, If someone tells you that in a month you are going to have a new processor, sure you are not going to buy the "obsolet model". Anyway I still dreaming each nigth with a merom MBP...

What's even worse is people just "give up" and buy MBs instead of MBPs, seeing as to how there are so few differences between the two. That takes them right out of the market for the next 2-3 years and Apple could have shilled them for a high margin MBP sale.

 

[peeInMyPantz]

I think the very last machine to get it will be the bottom end MacBook and slowest Mac Mini. There is no reason why they could not offer both Yonah and Merom in the same systems since they are the same sockets. With the discounted Yonah or Core Solo they could hit there $499 price point on the mini and $899 for the Core Duo white MacBook. The Black MacBook will see Merom near the same time as MBP. They may wait 3 weaks or so to see if the Merom supply can meet demand.

I don't think price for MB will ever drop, even if they're staying with yonah. It's selling quite well at this price. If they offer yonah and merom in the same system, the price diff will not be a lot, and apple will end up stocking for both yonah and merom, which is not something they will do

I'm gonna go on record and say they will NOT intro new MBP at wwdc. Some sales of the current MBP are better than none and if they they intro a new one they will not sell any and probably just take pre orders. Not gonna happen. They will wait until late August or early September to announce them when they are actually ready.

sales are going to drop anyway, coz ppl are going to wait. It's just like last year before intel processor come into the picture, there's a drop in sales coz ppl are waiting..

That banner is showing Apple's existing products, not future products. The 64 bit logo is no doubt referring to the current line of G5 machines.

Chris

maybe it's about leopard

.. don't u just love speculation.. haha

 

[enda1]

All the pics on the banner are just apple's existing products. There's nothing new there and (i believe) no hints. Its the keynote to look out for. I just hope they announce merom in MB as soon as possible. Maybe a new 12/13'' MBP otherwise which would be my ideal computer.

Monday is a bank holiday here in Ireland and i will be on a train during the keynote. Damn!!! Ill just have to watch it when I get back.

Though, I'm still not back in college till the second week of october so everything should be clearer by then! 🙂

 

[CellarDoor]

This is great and bad at the same time for me. I'm so happy that they'll finally move to Merom. However, I've been holding off an MBP since mid-April. I was really hoping to get one after WWDC. If it's true that they may launch it in September, I may not be able to get it in time for school, and the ipod rebate may be over.

No kidding. I've been waiting for the merom mbp since they came out in Feb. Check out my signature. that computer is virtually dead. yeah thats another thing. If they dont update the MBP at WWDC, they may not be available until after the ipod student rebate deal is over. That would SUCK.

 

[jfinke]

I did not think that Intel has released

the general availablity for the merom and woodcrest chips yet??

All of the benchmarks that people were drooling over the last couple of weeks were for the conroe, which is the desktop version.

So, it would not surprise me at all to see a delay in a merom based machine (or a woodcrest for that matter).

 

[ChickenSwartz]

Not really any new news, but the September date bummed me out.

I knew it would be another month or so, but I am so anxious to get a new laptop, the thought of waiting another 4-6 weeks (at best) is a bummer.

I just hope Apple doesn't wait until Paris Expo to announce it. Then we're talking 2+ months.

It said MASS amounts BY September. So the mass amount might mean enough to fill minis and macbooks. Intel is already shiping. Do you think Apple is just sitting on these chips, no, they are going into computers. I would guess iMac and/or MBP.

 

[rxse7en]

Socketed CPU?

*fingers crossed*

Please, let the new MBP be socketed!

*fingers crossed*

 

[gnasher729]

*fingers crossed*

Please, let the new MBP be socketed!

*fingers crossed*

Socketed CPUs are higher (not a good idea in a laptop). Soldered also gives better connections, which may be important since a laptop is likely to be used in more diverse environments. Like outside, in hot sunshine, or while sitting at a freezing cold trainstation...

 

[Erasmus]

I do not believe that Apple should wait to announce their new 64 bit systems. They should (and could) give promos of complete overhauls of their entire Mac lineup. (Final propaganda for iMac Ultra)

I think that Apple should concentrate on getting lots of switchers. Apple probably care about us old "maccies", because, of course, it is very rare for a mac user to change to using the Operating System That Must Not Be Named.

I therefore think Apple promoing iMacs, Macbooks, MBPs, MPs, MMs, etc. would be in their best interest, as potential switchers would know that Apple intends to bring out cool machines as soon as they can, if not immediately. Sure, it would impact on initial sales, as no-one would buy any of their computers between then and the shipping date, however, Apple would catch many fence-sitters who would otherwise bite the bullet and buy a much cheaper (and much more pathetic) PC after Steve's Keynote.

Wining Switchers should be Apple's goal now.

 

[darrens]

I don't think price for MB will ever drop, even if they're staying with yonah. It's selling quite well at this price. If they offer yonah and merom in the same system, the price diff will not be a lot, and apple will end up stocking for both yonah and merom, which is not something they will do

More likely is a speed bump to 2.16 Yonah on the MB, Merom on the MBP. 64 bit/power consumption the differentiator for the MBP.

Yonah's price will be going down a lot once Merom is shipping - perhaps we will see a $499 mini again, just a price drop - no change in specs. If Yonah sees a 60% price drop (it's happened lots of times before with intel chips), maybe the low end mini will go duo.

 

[darrens]

I did not think that Intel has released
the general availablity for the merom and woodcrest chips yet??

Woodcrest was announced at least two weeks before Conroe. Woodcrest is supposedly available now - Apple's just waiting for WWDC...

Xeon (Woodcrest) chips are not generally used by PC manufacturers for desktops, so Apple doesn't have the same level of pressure to release a Mac Pro based on it. At least in my opinion.

 

[aswitcher]

Wining Switchers should be Apple's goal now.

Agreed. So that means...

Leopard - seemless Windows intergration...

Target the multimedia computer market with those wanting their HDTVs and iPods to connect to their new Mac. Make the mac part of the furniture and easy to operate.

Geek switchers. Along with Leopard / Windows, they will want decent gaming punch which means a Mac Box with pro features like replacable graphics cards but still price competative. I see a low/min Mac Pro. Could be the same machine or a variation of the multimedia one. That way 2 birds one stone.

Keep innovating. New tech stuff early. 802.11n. iPhones. Touch screens (without touch) etc.

 

[iGary]

I might be excited about this if the chips would run Adobe and Macromedia programs.

 

[darrens]

I might be excited about this if the chips would run Adobe and Macromedia programs.

Isn't that what Rosetta is for 😛 😀

Hardly Apple's fault. Apple has managed to transition all it's apps - Adobe is certainly dragging their collective feet.

 

[Stella]

Cheese with your whine?

Never buy an apple product!!!
As soon as you do something new and better comes out!!!
AAAHHHHHH
I am typing this away on my new Macbook, Core 1 Duo; which i bought under the self-brainwashed reasoning that the MBP alone would see 2x2. Why you ask? Cuz I figured hey, the MB JUST came out, why refresh it every 2 months! The MBP has been out like 8 months, that makes sense.
I can only PRAY I am right.
No that my Macbook will be instant crap... I just COULD have waited until september.
Damn you apple...

 

[iGary]

Isn't that what Rosetta is for 😛 😀

Hardly Apple's fault. Apple has managed to transition all it's apps - Adobe is certainly dragging their collective feet.

Don't blame Apple at all, I just have a hard time getting excited about hardware that can't do what I need it to do. Looking forward to a Universal app from Adobe and Macromedia so I can be excited about Apple's offerings.

 

[miles01110]

Do you guys think we'll be able to buy merom replacement motherboards for MBP?

 

[darrens]

Don't blame Apple at all, I just have a hard time getting excited about hardware that can't do what I need it to do. Looking forward to a Universal app from Adobe and Macromedia so I can be excited about Apple's offerings.

I'm typing this on my iBook G4, which is perfectly good for me for the next couple of years - don't need anything better. Doesn't stop me from getting excited about the new machines! Especially when I work day-to-day programming on a cruddy beige box Win2k machine.

I'm actually more interested to see what Leopard brings - all the supposed rumors so far have turned out to be speculation. Tiger was a bit meh to me - spotlight and dashboard really doesn't do it for me. Hopefully Leopard will have a bit more innovation!

 

[CellarDoor]

Do you guys think we'll be able to buy merom replacement motherboards for MBP?

maybe. there will def be some service where you can send your MBP in for a week or two and they'll upgrade it. it will void your warranty however, so keep that in mind.

 

[darrens]

Do you guys think we'll be able to buy merom replacement motherboards for MBP?

Apple has never done this for notebooks. Apple used to do it for desktops - I remember when they had PPC upgrade boards for the Quadras. They weren't really upgrade boards - they were refurb machines without hard drives or memory - just swapped them over.

Yes - I'm getting old - actually used to work at an Apple Service Centre at that point.

 

[guzhogi]

I think I remember reading on one of the MacRumors forums that Merom is really a full 64-bit processor, but rather a 32-bit w/ 64-bit extensions or something. Any truth in this?

 

[darrens]

I think I remember reading on one of the MacRumors forums that Merom is really a full 64-bit processor, bu rather a 32-bit w/ 64-bit extensions or something. Any truth in this?

Yes - both AMD 64 and Intel EM64T are 64 bit extensions to the 32 bit x86 processor.

From what I understand the registers are still 32 bit, but the chips have a 64 bit address space and more registers.

No-one has the need for a truly 64 bit machine at this point - just machines that can address more RAM. The 4GB RAM limit on 32 bit processors is beginning to be an issue for pro users.

I think the vector extensions (AltiVec and SSE) have very large registers - 128 bit? This is what's used when there is a need for a specific optimisation.

Just my layman's understanding. Ready to be corrected!

 

[Porscheboy16]

I do not believe that Apple should wait to announce their new 64 bit systems. They should (and could) give promos of complete overhauls of their entire Mac lineup. (Final propaganda for iMac Ultra)

I think that Apple should concentrate on getting lots of switchers. Apple probably care about us old "maccies", because, of course, it is very rare for a mac user to change to using the Operating System That Must Not Be Named.

I therefore think Apple promoing iMacs, Macbooks, MBPs, MPs, MMs, etc. would be in their best interest, as potential switchers would know that Apple intends to bring out cool machines as soon as they can, if not immediately. Sure, it would impact on initial sales, as no-one would buy any of their computers between then and the shipping date, however, Apple would catch many fence-sitters who would otherwise bite the bullet and buy a much cheaper (and much more pathetic) PC after Steve's Keynote.

Wining Switchers should be Apple's goal now.

You're defining my current state😀