Intel to Deliver Quad-Core Mobile Processors Next Month

[puckhead193]

cool news it would most certainly be a nice BTO option for some
This will def. be a worth while update... anything feels faster then my powerbook

 

[Rhalliwell1]

i am not reconsidering a Macbook Pro or iMac.... eeeeh excitement

 

[bigwig]

I'm assuming these new quad cores will be using the Nehalem architecture?

No, mobile Nehalem won't show up until next summer.

 

[adrianr]

Quad core CPU in iMac 'Desktops'? Woooo, welcome to January 2007.

 

[RichardI]

If they put a quad core processor and a 512 Mb video card in an iMac, I'll sell this one to get one! I have never had such a terrific piece of equipment in my life. It's whisper quiet and powerful at the same time. Bring on Nehalem.

Rich

 

[comb]

I'm assuming these new quad cores will be using the Nehalem architecture?

Great question! Someone please answer. What is this new processor called? I thought we weren't supposed to see Nehalem in notebooks till the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2009.

 

[digitalbiker]

I think Apple will stick with the Centrino 2 in MBP. I doubt that we will see a quad core cpu in a MBP until later next year when the mobile Nehalem comes out.

While technically still mobile, I believe these quad core chips draw 44 watts. The Centrino 2 penryn chips draw only 25 watts. Thats a lot of heat difference to dissipate in a thin MBP.

I think the only place you will see these chips are in the thick, 9 & 10 lbs laptops like alienware.

Apple most likely will go the route Sony has gone with the New Vaio Z at the Centrino 2 roll-out.

The Sony Vaio Z is a 1-inch thick, 3.4 pound, 13.1-inch 16:9 form factor, but manages to pack in Blu-Ray, HDMI, Nvidia 9300M discrete graphics, a full size 2.5" hard drive bay, and the pricey option for dual SSD drives in Raid 0. It retails for $1,800, or $2,300 with dual SSDs.

At least I hope Apple responds, if they stay pat with the current line-up they are going to be blow away by the competition.

 

[DOUGHNUT]

Great question! Someone please answer. What is this new processor called? I thought we weren't supposed to see Nehalem in notebooks till the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2009.

im guessing Core 2 Quad. it's still a Penryn processor, and not Nehalem.

 

[gnasher729]

What the article actually said...

Getting a quad-core processor into a laptop is more about bragging rights than a genuine boost in performance. Very little PC software is designed to take advantage of multiple cores

There are plenty of MacOS X applications that can use more than two cores. And since Mac users are usually the modest and polite types, they will care for the performance boost and won't do any bragging at all

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

Is there really any point in invest in a Quad-Core iMac or MB(P) until Snow Leopard is released. has already pointed out that with Leopard and below the Multi-Core systems are utilized to its full potential.

To sum it up, you will be paying a premium for a slight boost, unless you can wait early next year for Snow Leopard and you will notice a remarkable speed and performance boost along with a major price reduction.

It would be foolish to buy a Quad-Core now, best to save up and purchase it when Snow Leopard is released.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

There are plenty of MacOS X applications that can use more than two cores. And since Mac users are usually the modest and polite types, they will care for the performance boost and won't do any bragging at all

The list of applications that utilize Multi-Core CPU's is a very very short list, this is why is focusing Snow Leopard to take full advantage of Multi-Core systems.

You would be a fool investing this early in the game.

 

[Bubba Satori]

The list of applications that utilize Multi-Core CPU's is a very very short list, this is why is focusing Snow Leopard to take full advantage of Multi-Core systems.

You would be a fool investing this early in the game.

Jeebus, why the cult of slowness ? One does run multiple apps on occasion. I usually have about 6 apps beavering away at any given moment. If you don't want a quad core cpu don't buy one, but for heaven's sake, stop telling the rest of us it's a waste of time.

 

[JackAxe]

Those that don't need multiple CPUs/Cores, are the ones that don't really know why they're important.

<]=)

 

[gnasher729]

The list of applications that utilize Multi-Core CPU's is a very very short list, this is why is focusing Snow Leopard to take full advantage of Multi-Core systems.

You would be a fool investing this early in the game.

Don't be daft. All these quad core and eight core Mac Pros work quite nicely without Snow Leopard. Plenty of posts here by people who can't decide between MacBook Pro for portability or Mac Pro for power. They would jump on the chance to get a quad core MacBook Pro.

 

[Michael CM1]

1. BluRay drives are uber expensive, especially the thin slot loading variety

2. Apple wants you to download your High Def Movies from the iTunes Store

3. Not even the 17" Macbook Pro has enough pixels for 1080p and "normal" people feel uncomfortable watching a movie sitting right in front of the computer. And at TV-viewing distance (3+ meters), you wouldn't notice the difference between high def and nicely encoded DVD size except that your Mac would drop a frame here and there on High Def stuff.

4. Mac Pro. This machine is made for making movies. It's totally overkill for watching one. It's also a noisy computer. People that need to watch a BluRay Movie for work usually have equipment better suited for the task (think BL player and huge screens). It's like people burning a CD from downloaded stuff so they can listen to it on the HIFI-Stereo in the living room. The computer plays MP3s just fine but people generally keep their high end audio gear in a different room.

5. BluRay discs are expensive. 10 of those can buy you a Mac Mini and people complain the Mac Mini is expensive...

etc.

Personally, I'd love and external BluRay drive with a H2.64 encoding chips so I could get DVDs and BluRays into iPod/iPhone/AppleTV/Quicktime format quickly wouthout requiring an attached computer. Basically a dedicated Disc ripper/re-encoder. Then again, that's not gonna happen.

Oh geebus...

1) Sony sells a standard BD-ROM drive (Blu-ray read-only, but writes DVDs & CDs) for less than $150. I saw it advertised for $130. Other companies have sold them at $100. Blu-ray writers are way more expensive, but both CD and DVD started out with read-only drives. Considering your point No. 5, I just want a read-only.

2) Then they should start selling HD movies. But they won't because they take up more than 4x the space and the Internet providers would stop offering us "unlimited" data. Also, nobody is going to BUY 720p video when Blu-ray is 1080p. The studios already want to charge you $15 for an SD download, so where does that leave HD? Probably about $25.

3) Every bloody monitor used by Apple can display at least 720p and very close to 1080p. We don't care that we can't get the full HD on a laptop. We just want the option (I'm looking to buy a 24" monitor that does 1900x1200). I could also give a squat about getting the HD playback. I just want to have another slot to put my Blu-ray movies in instead of just the one TV.

4) PC makers are shipping sub-$1,000 PCs with Blu-ray drives. You can get NOTEBOOKS for under $1,000 with Blu-ray.

5) I'm using this one to remind people that WE DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT USING THE BLU-RAY DRIVE ON A COMPUTER TO WATCH 1080P VIDEO AND GET TRUE DTS AUDIO. God, we don't even get Dolby Digital 5.1 on a computer, yet we still want DVD drives! It's about having another place to watch a movie (and, um, using HandBrake).

 

[Michael CM1]

im guessing Core 2 Quad. it's still a Penryn processor, and not Nehalem.

That's what they're called on PCs. The "Core 2" is just like "Pentium II"...a name. The "Duo" (like "Solo") refers to the cores. Therefore, it'll probably be Core 2 Quad or, at some point, Core 3 Quad.

 

[dAlen]

Is there really any point in invest in a Quad-Core iMac or MB(P) until Snow Leopard is released. has already pointed out that with Leopard and below the Multi-Core systems are utilized to its full potential.

It would be foolish to buy a Quad-Core now, best to save up and purchase it when Snow Leopard is released.

1) Yes there is a point
2) Its not foolish...

...at least to me.

I am on a Powerbook G4 667 Mhz with 256Mb ram and 30GB harddrive.
The monitor is holding on by a thread (and doesnt work, Im connected to an external monitor.)

Im looking to upgrade my laptop, to say the least.

If, someone like myself, does want a new laptop - and doesnt want to buy one every 4 years...then a quad core would be most welcome.

Come next year snow leopard will be out and I can buy it and install it.

I think thats better than buying a non quad and waiting another 5 years for a laptop (if that is your upgrade cycle like mine.)

- also to the person who said that the macbook pro should not get it before the imac, I see that we have a new generation of mac users who are not unfamiliar with mac history.

When I had my G3 pismo from Apple, it was the SAME, in everyway, as the pro desktop. (full graphics card, etc.) Perhaps the amount of storage and ram were the ONLY limitations.

Later with the Powerbook G4s it was no longer on par (graphics card wise) with the pro desktops - but the imac, was a consumer machine and a lot slower than the pro laptops.

Its only recently that apple has looked at the fact that some 'pros' do not have the budget for the tower and were settling for the imacs, and only recently that I would even consider the imac 'suitable' for calling it a pro machine.

So in reality, as another poster said - for the extra money you put into a laptop (pro) it better be better than an imac.
After all the price is not for the size alone...the price is that you have a pro machine in a small enclosure.

- For the other posters who mentioned who needs Blu ray... hmmm, pros.
Also, a poster said who in their right mind would watch a movie on their laptop...well, for some YEARS my wife and I used our G4 laptop to watch movies from blockbuster. - Yep, suppose we arent in our right minds.
(Hooked up to soundsticks)

Point is, there are different preferences...and its good if Apple sticks with putting high end stuff in there.

i.e., - HDMI would be welcome, as well as a Blue Ray burner. Its not possible...yes it, is, all things are possible - just a matter of timing.

Good to see the mac audience has grown a bit.

Peace

dAlen

 

[chickenninja]

its getting more tempting to buy an imac soon if its going quad. but i think il wait until starcraft 2 before i upgrade. so i KNOW il be running sc2 at maximum potential at launch. this rumor is a sweet one, i hope it has some mobile graphics upgrades packaged with it, mac minis and macbooks are lagging in the graphics department. which is why im getting an imac and not another laptop. My iphone is now my laptop.

 

[nick9191]

No way is this going into the Macbook Pro anytime soon.

An Alienware maybe, since its 2" thick and made of plastic.

 

[onicon]

i'm hoping for something in the line of 2.53ghz c2d on entry mbp, 2.53ghz c2q on top 15" and 17"

 

[rainofbytes]

Good news for those like me using FCP in a Mac Book pro. The speed boost
is going to be fantastic.

Jack

 

[chadder007]

That's because Sony and Dell make DTRs. Apple has premium thin and lights. You can't put that kind of chip in a 1" MBP.

Hence the case redesign to accomodate the quad?

 

[heisetax]

Thinness Problem

So, we'll probably see quad core MBP's in two years time. Sony and dell will have theirs in a few weeks.

Because of Steve Jobs requiring a form factor to determine what is capable in a Mac laptop we have to suffer from lack of needed features. Windows laptops build in most of the items needed then let the case be the size that is required. This allows a numeric keypad on 17" laptops. Memory card readers on most portables. I just attended a VMWare User's Group here in Omaha. One gentleman there showing his companies VDI equipment used a 4.5 lb 15" laptop with card reader & a slot to hold & recharge its included remote. This is just another example of function determining form but still having a lower weight than the Intel Mac Book Pro. His personal home computer is a 15" Intel MacBook Pro.

As the above shows Apple lets form rule over function, even though they seems to still lose the weight war. For this reason our Intel Mac Pros will always be second class laptops that are sold at a premium price. This just shows you that form costs more than function.

I'd like to see an Intel MacBook Pro that did not have to compromise on function because of the form requirements. When I add in the weight of the needed keyboard to have a numeric keypad then there is that missing fax modem for when an analog fax must be sent. Then all of the other items that Many others need & would like to see included with an Intel MacBook Pro. These things inclue the extreme version of the soon to be released Intel processors.

Bill the TaxMan

 

[Thomas2006]

It would be foolish to buy a Quad-Core now, best to save up and purchase it when Snow Leopard is released.

Also, the iMac will probably get another refresh by the time Snow Leopard is released, as well as, the newest iLife suite will be included.

 

[~Shard~]

Also, the iMac will probably get another refresh by the time Snow Leopard is released, as well as, the newest iLife suite will be included.

Yeah, I see the stars aligning in that respect as well - that would deifnitely be a good time to buy, depending of course on one's purchasing time horizon.