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Intel Rumored to Debut Basin Falls Platform in May, Launch Coffee Lake Chips in August
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
What if Apple took the old cheese grater (very hole-ly) design of the previous generation Mac Pro and used it for the back shell of iMac? All that heat would have plenty of holes through which to dissipate? And personally, I think that would look cooler than the current curved slab. It probably wouldn't be "retro" because of the iMacs curves. It could be spun as "best of both worlds" which might psychologically connect to the rumor about Mac Pro power in a special edition iMac too. OK, OK- yes, I'm (wild) dreaming.
Nevertheless, Apple could do something completely industry-shaking and make a desktop modestly thicker because why does "thin" or "thinnest" matter on a desktop?
OR, Apple could stick in such rockets for the marketing spin but then underclock them so that they can have their "thinner" marketing pitch bullet point too. Maybe they could engineer some 500 watt incandescent bulbs in there too and just never turn them on: "the super-magical 1500watt iMac Edition Pro- the most powerful iMac ever."
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Intel plans to move up the launch of its 14-nanometer Coffee Lake processors, introducing them in August of 2017 instead of January 2018. According to DigiTimes, the launch is being moved up because of "increasing competition from AMD's Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 processors."
The site says Intel will release several K-series Core i3, i5, and i7 processors starting in August, along with its Z370 chipsets. Additional CPUs will come at the end of 2017 or early in 2018.
Intel also plans to unveil its Basin Falls platform, with Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors at Computex 2017, which takes place from May 30 to June 3, which is two months earlier than originally scheduled.
Intel's Skylake-X series features 140W processors with 6, 8, and 10-core architectures, while Kaby Lake X-series features a 112W quad-core processor. Intel also plans to release a 12-core Skylake-X processor in August. Intel's Basin Falls platform could potentially be used in future Mac Pro machines and the rumored high-end server-grade iMac.
Coffee Lake chips appropriate for Apple machines were originally set to launch somewhere around the second quarter of 2018, so if rumors of Intel's updated timeline are true, the launch could be moved forward to either late 2017 or early in 2018.
Coffee Lake chips are manufactured on Intel's 14-nanometer process and will be the fourth processor family to use the architecture after Broadwell, Skylake, and Kaby Lake.
Apple is rumored to have new machines in the works for 2017, including new iMacs, which are likely to use Kaby Lake chips.
Article Link: Intel Rumored to Debut Basin Falls Platform in May, Launch Coffee Lake Chips in August
Where do they come up with these names? "Basin Falls" and "Coffee Lake" make me think more about an urgent bathroom break than inspiring computer technology.
Bugs or not, the performance is CLEARLY there as the Ryzen CPUs are performing on par with Intel's offering that cost twice as much.
Wrong way to look at this. Apple is driven by image, not performance. If AMD's image as the leader is on the rise, then I would not be surprised to see Apple dump Intel for AMD, unless Intel is giving Apple an exceptionally low cost. And from the poor performance of Intel and its products, that is likely the case. With Jobs we knew image would win out, with Cook it could go either way as he does not seem real interested in Apple's image as a tech leader.
Basin Falls, Coffee Lake? Did they hire someone from Starbucks to come up with these names?
Seems Ryzen is beaten them though.
Seems Ryzen is beaten them though.
I hope you're right. Apple has been resting on its laurels for too long taking its core customers for granted. They better get serious about innovating again something other than new watch band colors.
It's an entirely new architecture, it's going to have a little bit of growing pains. The BIOS screwiness has settled down with recent rounds of updates - Didn't you hear, it's a brand new architecture.
Gaming performances improves with the higher RAM speed, as the CCX communication also improves with higher clock speeds. Having an 8C/16T powerhouse, that can be easily overclocked with a couple clicks, for $320 is insane. Heck, intel was forced to upped their schedule in response to the pressure.
If not for thunderbolt, I'm sure Apple would love to use the Ryzen 6C/12T and/or 8C/16T CPU at 65W TDP.
I would wait - we're about 6 months (or less) away from this year's update. (I sent my 15" back to do just that)
Those were the days! Shame Apple doesn't really care about Macs anymore.
No thunderbolt then, also MacOS would need a lot of work done as its designed around a few powerful cores instead of several weaker ones.
I've been looking at building a zen desktop for 3d and video work and reviews mainly tend to swing towards gaming. If you game and stream at the same time, nothing beats Zen in bang for the buck. Intel's 4 cores choke on that task. While Intel's 6+ core chips handle it, they get expensive fast.
As a multimedia processor, Zen offers amazing value. But having some performance of the system tied to ram speed is frustrating. The CPU is capable, just finding the right combo of hardware seems like a daunting task and reminds me of why I like Apple. I don't want to spend time overlcokcing (which is simpler now) and then trying to adjust ram timings and boosting settings in the bios to get my ram to run at a higher speed. It's nuts. If one has the time, performance is there to be had. But I like to buy and then use my machine.
I cannot deny the 1600 cinebench numbers and the killer premiere export times, though. Just wish it had enough PCI lanes to drive 2xGPU at 8x and 2x m.2, like the higher end kaby lake motherboards.
p.s., "Kaby lake" keeps auto correcting to "baby lake", lol
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slow laptop CPUs ? Apple is surely interested even in putting them in their desktop line !!!
fast CPUs ? Apple will surely skip this release
fast CPUs ? Apple will surely skip this release
I also don't agree with them using the term 'server-grade' when describing an iMac. 'Pro', yes.
I was thinking about this the other day and how things have changed so much. The old Apple would have got these latest chips in the products without a doubt. I think the reason why is they don't need to compete as much now given all the $$$ all the consumer products are making.
Hopefully I am wrong but I think we will see Kabylake in the iMacs, based on the current track record, but maybe since the 'revelation' they have changed their attitude and go all in with the latest.