AppliedVisual said:
Especially since we don't know what Santa Rosa will entail, or at least we don't know the full picture just yet. Obviously it's the next generation mobile chipsets, the Merom CPU and its successor. Most of us are assuming that it will also bring full 64bit support for the Core 2 Duo CPU allowing us to actually use 4GB or more in a notebook or iMac (right now, even if Apple drops Merom into the current MBP, we don't get the enhanced memory addressing) -- see the iMac, only 3GB max installable, about 2.6GB usable. Other expected features of Santa Rosa are 802.11n WiFi support and the inclusion of Bluetooth, the latter of which is on most new notebooks anyway.
For me, I could really use 4GB of addressable RAM in my MBP. But since it probably won't happen with the refresh unless Apple and Intel have conjured up a revised chipset to support the 40bit memory addressing of the CPU, I decided not to wait. I oped for a refurb'd MBP and it's great. If/when new MBP models come out this year or next, I'll re-evaluate. This system will be passed to my wife who's also wanting a new notebook and I'll get the newer one. 😀
Sure, it's an improvement. Most users won't add more memory for a while tho', due to the high cost of the 2GB DIMMs (which I read are expected to be fairly stable for some time, and cost about the same as an MBP...) and the fact the iMac and notebooks just have two slots.
Incidentally, the MCH included in SR allows up to 8GB of RAM, so no, no 40bit address space for you
😉
Point of pedantry, you DO get the address space improvements with Merom. There's some physical RAM restrictions but the virtual address space is increased. As I said, purely pedantry.
802.11n I don't see it as a huge deal since most people already have G equipment and most people aren't moving around huge files -- wireless browsing/email/IM/etc. are the big deal for now. It's the "good enough" test. Throw in that it'll be easy to add as a card if you really want it and it being part of the chipset isn't a big deal. 802.11n is already part of the recent iMac refresh, apparently.
BT's on most new systems anyway. I've not seen Intel mention it anywhere so I'm assuming it's not part of SR since it's not a huge strategic advantage to keep quiet about it... cutting edge it ain't
🙂
Robson I've talked about here at length already. The new dynamic FSB will help save a power a little, as will Crestline knowning when L2 is powered down. So will the interlaced LCD tech, if that shows up. Depends on the panel vendor used, probably.
I just don't regard SR as a huge leap forward -- more an evolutionary step. Some people seemed to think otherwise, hence a lot of the commentary.
Perhaps the most amusing point is that most of the power usage improvements will be masked by the higher power-draw that Vista requires -- bearing in mind that SR will be most used in Windows-powered notebooks.
