Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Intel Officially Brands Nehalem as 'Core i7' Processor

The one thing I don't like about Intel is the fact that it uses 7 billion code names for different iterations of the same processor and now, 7 billion actual naming schemes. No wonder people don't know the difference between a Pentium 4 and a Pentium D, Celeron vs. Centrino, Core vs. Core 2 (now vs. Core i7). Also, people think Core 2 mean dual-core, but it's Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad, etc. Marketing f'd this one up.

We need a new name... again. Call it a G6 and be done with it. :D
 
Ok, upon more thought, I wonder if...
Pentium
Pentium 2
Pentium 3
Pentium 4
Core (Pentium 5)
Core 2 (Pentium 6)
Core i7 (Pentium 7 or iteration 7)

Of course, that numbering scheme completely ignores the processors prior to the Pentium as well as the current versions of processors still named Pentiums, even though they are now budget chips.
 
kabunaru said:
First, MacBook
Then comes the MacBook i7.

First, MacBook Pro
Then comes the MacBook Pro i7.

i7= sounds very close to G7 (PowerPC)
PowerPC resemblance anyone?
Click to expand...

Yeah, just like the current MacBook Pro Core2Duo. Oh wait... :rolleyes:

In any case though, new tech is always a good thing. I'm very interested in their naming scheme and why they chose i7.
 
Yeah "Core i7" is retarded.

I hope that it really does make some sort of sense when they release other chip designations down the road.

I wonder if they'll be "Core i7 Quad" etc depending on the core count.

I thought Nehalem was sort of a lame name, but wow it's miles better than that.

But I guess who cares, the processors are awesome - sort of like a hot guy called Delbert, lousy name but who cares, he's hot ;) (substitute 'Agnes' or similar if you're into the ladies)
 
amac4me said:
My comment about ... With the 3G iPhone release out of the way and other than a Snow Leopard demo, what else do we have to look forward to in January?
Click to expand...

maybe faster SMS typing update #2, copy and paste, a better battery life firmware update...

i was at the beach today and it lasted half a day. no push, no bluetooth, no wifi, 3g sometimes, high brightness since its the beach can't see anything.
 
For those on Intel's case for having an i like Apple
Go look at old processor pics:

i8086
i8088
i286
i386
i486

The i386 and i486 had a very distinctive striped horizon-like design with the i reversed in color and the numbers printed over the horizon.

Its nothing new from Intel, they stopped putting i### in 1992 with the Pentium because they could trademark pentium (whereas they couldnt a generic number).

If i is inteded to be Intel, its a return to their roots, not copying Apple.

So to those of you who are making a big deal about it, Grow up
 
If they were adopting a car nomenclature, it kind of makes sense to call the Bloomfield/Lynnfield core "i7" since it will be the top-end desktop CPU.

So Gainestown/Westmere would be "i8" and Beckton "i9". Clarksdale and Havendale would be "i6" as the low-end desktop.

Mobiles would have Clarksfield as the "i5" and Auburndale as "i4".
 
joepunk said:
so who's with me in waiting to upgrade from their powerbook/first gen macbook/pro? :D
Click to expand...

tibook 867 here, waiting for the upgrade.

hoping i'll be able to combine the upgrade of the 867 and my first-gen G5 dedicated music computer in a single hyper-powered laptop several times more powerful than either of them.

...was hoping i wouldn't have to wait until 2010 though.
 
Intel told us that “i7” was simply chosen because it is “short and sweet”. The company showed some understanding for our confusion over this name choice and promised that i7 would make sense down the road when additional new identifiers are introduced.
Click to expand...

The naming is gonna make sense when the i8 chips come out.

:D
 
winterspan said:
Perhaps

  • 1st gen architecture = 8086
  • 2nd gen architecture = 286
  • 3rd gen architecture = 386
  • 4th gen architecture = 486
  • 5th gen architecture = P5 (Pentium)
  • 6th gen architecture = P6-based (Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium-M, Core, Core 2)
  • (6th gen branched to "P68" aka Pentium IV)
  • 7th gen architecture = i7 Nehalem


Anyways, I can't wait for a 2x quad-core "Gainestown" (Nehalem) Mac Pro. Besides just the new single-die quad-core architecture, Quickpath interface, integrated memory controller, simultaneous multi-threading, etc, It will use triple channel DDR3. Finally RAM won't be so darn expensive anymore. 8GB+ of RAM will make multi-platform development with VMware great! :)
Click to expand...

Maybe, though you have to start counting 0-based,

  • zero gen architecture = 8086
  • 1st gen architecture = 80186
  • 2nd gen architecture = 80286
  • ...

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80186
 
manhattanboy said:
anything faster and with less power consumption will be a welcome addition
thumbs up
Click to expand...

Apple, if you read this: Consider introducing one laptop on the lower side of the line-up with REALLY LOW POWER CONSUMPTION and advertise this as such, i. e. "this one's not fast but has THE LONGEST BATTERY LIFE IN THE INDUSTRY".

I believe that many users don't require faster chips at all. I'm perfectly satisfied with what we have.

Then on the rest of the line-up, do the FASTER trick.

That way they could get sales in the definitely cheaper to produce low velocity low energy market by still keeping the price reasonably high.

Steve, do this!!!
 
So is i7 just going to offer faster processor speeds, higher FSB, less power consumption and smaller size, or is there something else there too?
 
OS X Dude said:
So is i7 just going to offer faster processor speeds, higher FSB, less power consumption and smaller size, or is there something else there too?
Click to expand...

i7 == Nehalem. So whatever Nehalem is supposed to bring to the table (SSE5, SMT, DMI/QPI, etc) we should see in i7. I will admit I think the name is dumb as well. But there isn't anything dumb about the improvements it is supposed to bring to the table.
 
diamond.g said:
i7 == Nehalem. So whatever Nehalem is supposed to bring to the table (SSE5, SMT, DMI/QPI, etc) we should see in i7. I will admit I think the name is dumb as well. But there isn't anything dumb about the improvements it is supposed to bring to the table.
Click to expand...

I know i7 and Nehalem are one and the same, just wondered what improvements they had, if there were more than just the usual things we see each time.

Anyone, screw i7! We haven't even got montevina MBPs yet! I think iMacs had Montevina processors in all but name, as they go up to 3.06GHz and have the faster FSB i think. off topic :)
 
It would be too risky for Apple because it wouldn't make sense to have redesigned systems released just prior to the holiday shopping season. It opens the door to potential problems, a design flaw, production issues, or something that couldn't have been anticipated.
Click to expand...

Not sure I agree. September IS when Apple releases new stuff for the holiday season. That's when they make most profit and that's when they release new iPods!
 
DonSqueak said:
Apple, if you read this: Consider introducing one laptop on the lower side of the line-up with REALLY LOW POWER CONSUMPTION and advertise this as such, i. e. "this one's not fast but has THE LONGEST BATTERY LIFE IN THE INDUSTRY".

I believe that many users don't require faster chips at all. I'm perfectly satisfied with what we have.

Then on the rest of the line-up, do the FASTER trick.

That way they could get sales in the definitely cheaper to produce low velocity low energy market by still keeping the price reasonably high.

Steve, do this!!!
Click to expand...

Didn't they do that with the Macbook Air? The battery life is supposed to be the longest in the Apple lineup and performance is also below that of the seemingly-abandoneed Mac Mini.
But yea... pricing is different.

"low velocity" is intereseting. :eek:

The problem is there's no laptop class of processors that allows much more than 5 hours. The chip makers are upping the performance while keeping the power consumption as low as the preview generation. I thing a seriously undeclocked Core 2 Duo would be damn fine though. I'd love a little "eco" icon in the menu bar that undeclocks the CPU when clicked. There's an app called "Coolbook" out there, but it only lets you control Intel's Speed Step steps. Per Default, my Macbook's Core (1) Duo 2.0 GHz runs at 1.0 GHz, occasionally going up and only to full 2.00 GHz when there's something to do. I'd love for it to go down to, say 250 MHz when I'm doin word processing. It's idling below 5% CPU most of the time so I don't think you'd even notice the slowdown. It could still gp up to full speed when wanted (eco-mode switched off).
 
winterspan said:
It will use triple channel DDR3. Finally RAM won't be so darn expensive anymore. 8GB+ of RAM will make multi-platform development with VMware great! :)
Click to expand...
It's entirely possible, based on platform rumors, that memory for the first i7 equipped Mac Pros will be considerably more expensive than today. Intel has hinted in the past they are committed to FB-DIMMs for the Xeon line even with the integrated memory controllers. It's possible the Mac Pro will require six or twelve DDR3 FB-DIMMs with each one possibly costing as much as the DDR2 FB-DIMMs when they were released.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back