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Apple Waiting on Quad-Core Desktop CPUs for January?

Better yet....

Umbongo said:
For example, let's say Apple offered a Nehalem based range with the following:

2.66GHz x 4 @ $1,499
2.93GHz x 4 @ $1,999
3.20GHz x 4 @ $2,499
Click to expand...

How about if Apple offered a Penryn-based range at half those prices? Perhaps dual-core with integrated graphics for the lowest model.

In 6 to 12 months, when desktop/mobile Nehalems are cheap - then upgrade the mobo to Nehalem.

This gives even better differentiation with the Mac Pro.

If performance/expandibility are important and price is no object - get the humonguous maxi-tower with the 8 core Nehalem.

If not, get the mini-tower.
 
jaw04005 said:
So while the rest of the PC world has moved to the new i7 desktop processors, the iMac will get re-released Quad-core processors from a year ago just with a lower TDP?

Yippee.
Click to expand...

Uhhh, your expectations are un-realistic wishful thinking. Apple cannot have Intel's i7 CPUs inside iMacs by January. That's not going to happen.

Therefore, this is the next best thing.
 
It seems Intel is not going to release mobile or low power/mainstream desktop versions of i7 until the summer, so if iMac is going to have any updates, this might be it.

Similarly, the Xeon class version of i7 is not going to be out until January(?), so Mac Pros will not be updated until, I'd say, at least Macworld.
 
kabunaru said:
Is the Mac Pro really that expensive compared to the competition? :confused:
Click to expand...

For the actual components you get in the Mac Pro the hardware is a good price. As an individual buyer you'd be paying a lot from HP or Dell for the same specs and roughly the same price if you built it yourself.

If you don't need 8 cores it is a lot to pay for the hardware and that is why people want a single socket solution. I doubt most Mac Pro owners would be buying dual processor workstations if Apple weren't around. Two 2.8GHz Xeons and a systemboard similar to the Mac Pro's will run you $2,000 right now, the same sort of performance with half the cores (and less memory support) can be had for $500.
 
Umbongo said:
For the actual components you get in the Mac Pro the hardware is a good price. As an individual buyer you'd be paying a lot from HP or Dell for the same specs and roughly the same price if you built it yourself.

If you don't need 8 cores it is a lot to pay for the hardware and that is why people want a single socket solution. I doubt most Mac Pro owners would be buying dual processor workstations if Apple weren't around. Two 2.8GHz Xeons and a systemboard similar to the Mac Pro's will run you $2,000 right now, the same sort of performance with half the cores (and less memory support) can be had for $500.
Click to expand...

Not sure about that.

If the new chips are that fast (see latest Macrumors article), one can buy EFI-X, a motherboard ($149), RAM (4GB), $200, tower/PSU ($150 for steel), CPU ($350), and use a GPU they have lying around, and you have a desktop for $800 that trumps todays MAC PRO -

I think that's pretty significant for a $2000 price cut. Especially given that EFI-X makes for no tweaking at all - pure install plus bootable to windows when needed (in AUDIO, sometimes a better option) even Avid schools are using PC's now more than mac (BURBANK Avid Sypmhony which is the biggest AVID school in California), was told they went 80% PC a few years ago.
 
iParis said:
This is as I expected.

I would be really happy if they put this in like the high end upgraded Mini.

Even though that's more likely to only happen in the 24 in iMac.
Click to expand...

Boy that would be a long awaited update, that was worth waiting for a Quad Mac mini!!:eek:

arn said:
What do you think Snow Leopard is for?

arn
Click to expand...

You are right, I can see a hole under the tree to be filled in January with a Quad Core i-Mac:rolleyes: Honey, I really really love you;)
 
hiimamac said:
Not sure about that.

If the new chips are that fast (see latest Macrumors article), one can buy EFI-X, a motherboard ($149), RAM (4GB), $200, tower/PSU ($150 for steel), CPU ($350), and use a GPU they have lying around, and you have a desktop for $800 that trumps todays MAC PRO -

I think that's pretty significant for a $2000 price cut. Especially given that EFI-X makes for no tweaking at all - pure install plus bootable to windows when needed (in AUDIO, sometimes a better option) even Avid schools are using PC's now more than mac (BURBANK Avid Sypmhony which is the biggest AVID school in California), was told they went 80% PC a few years ago.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with there. As I said if you don't need 8 cores, as most Mac Pro owners probably don't, then you are wasting a lot as far as hardware is concerned.

I think your example pricing is a bit misleading as the the EFI-X dongle is $199, Nehalem boards are well above $150 ($300 for a decent one), OSX is $129 and most people don't have graphics cards (or hard drives) laying around. The case remains of course that you can get better performance for a lot less if you don't need 8 cores or the official Appleness.
 
Umbongo said:
For the actual components you get in the Mac Pro the hardware is a good price. As an individual buyer you'd be paying a lot from HP or Dell for the same specs and roughly the same price if you built it yourself.

If you don't need 8 cores it is a lot to pay for the hardware and that is why people want a single socket solution. I doubt most Mac Pro owners would be buying dual processor workstations if Apple weren't around. Two 2.8GHz Xeons and a systemboard similar to the Mac Pro's will run you $2,000 right now, the same sort of performance with half the cores (and less memory support) can be had for $500.
Click to expand...

Of course, the savvy builder can build an 8 core current Xeon system that's compatible with OSX and that performs the same or better than the current 8 core Mac Pros for significantly less. All you need is a Skulltrail board two $275 e5410s. Those things go up to 2.8GHz with stock cooling. If you pay just $100 more per chip and get the e5420 you can easily get to 3.0GHz or even 3.2GHz with some fancier air cooling.

As a preconfigured system from a manufacturer the barebones Mac Pro isn't too bad. If you add extra components from Apple you're getting screwed. But, it's probably the same from HP or Dell. Nevertheless, if you're comfortable building a system then the savings is quite significant in doing it yourself.

Once the dual socket 1366 boards start rolling out and given how easily the i7s overclock, it'll be easy to build a system that outperforms Apples best i7 offering for quite a bit less. I'm excited.
 
kabunaru said:
Nice idea but I can see that "Mac Pro" being smaller. Something half-way size between the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. Maybe it should be called: "Mac Mini Pro" if it starts at $899.
Click to expand...

I'll buy whatever headless desktop they come out with, as long as it has video to handle HD. If it's a mini without Firewire, I'll be happy. If it's a Mac Mini Pro, me and millions of others will be in Mac heaven.
 
NintendoFan said:
If it dropped X86 support it couldn't run on any Intel processor.
Click to expand...

"x86" == 32-bit Intel support
"x64" == 64-bit Intel/AMD support

Not true - Windows Server 2008 R2 is x64 only. It's 64-bit only and will not run on a 32-bit Intel processor like a Core Duo.

If Snow Leopard goes 64-bit kernel only, it would not run on a 32-bit Core Duo. If Apple wants 10.6 to be "lean and mean", one good way would be to drop the 32-bit kernel cruft and go x64-only.


Joe The Dragon said:
They still need the code to run to 32 bit apps.
Click to expand...

Yes, the 64-bit kernel would need to run x86 apps.

This doesn't mean that Apple needs to ship a 32-bit kernel that will run on a Core Duo. (W2K8 R2 runs 32-bit apps, but only on a 64-bit CPU. Vista/Win7/XP 64-bit runs 32-bit apps with a 64-bit kernel on x64 hardware.)
 
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