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Intel to Ship Dual-Core Sandy Bridge CPUs on February 20th

arn said:
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I think the meaning is clear, and I mentioned it's not a flaw in the CPU.

The anandtech article you referenced calls it the SATA Controller

"Intel just*announced that it has identified a bug in the 6-series chipset, specifically in its SATA controller"

I guess more precise would be the SATA controller for the sandy bridge chipset.
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A poster named jonup over at anandtech just wrote (on p.4) in the comments:

I just read that Intel allowed partners to ship devices if the partners guarantee that they are not using the faulty controller. So we should start seeing some Sandy Bridge lappy's soon.


According to the discussion there, this would mean that an OEM could use the faulty chipset if they agree to use only the unaffected SATA 3 ports. Does anyone know where jonup might have read this? Very disturbing, IMO, if true. I wonder what other problems might creep up with time.
 
KPOM said:
True, but perhaps the 13" MacBook Pro will be slimmed down a bit and offer a less expensive SSD option.
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In theory, the 13" MBA could replace the 13" Pro model. The only thing lacking from the 2010 MBA is a backlit keyboard. Perhaps when this model is refreshed they might throw in a i3/i5 LV CPU to replace the C2D?
 
Val-kyrie said:
Does anyone know where jonup might have read this? Very disturbing, IMO, if true. I wonder what other problems might creep up with time.
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He got it from the article that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal and now is cropping up everywhere.

I wouldn't get too panicked about this. Other issues will creep up with time, no matter what you start out with.
 
greytmom said:
He got it from the article that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal and now is cropping up everywhere.

I wouldn't get too panicked about this. Other issues will creep up with time, no matter what you start out with.
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Thanks. Looks like Anonymous Freak beat me to it.
 
I'd take a quad core with IGP over dual core + discrete any day, assuming i'm not wanting to play games on it (which I'm not).

Whats the total TDP of a dual core i7 and whatever the latest equivalent of a 320M would be? And how does that compare to a quad i5 with IGP?
 
Adidas Addict said:
They will have had test units for a long time now, it's not like the official release is when they first get their hands on them, it's just when they can order for production.
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oh ok , i like your username , i'm an Adidas addict too lol
 
Val-kyrie said:
According to the discussion there, this would mean that an OEM could use the faulty chipset if they agree to use only the unaffected SATA 3 ports. Does anyone know where jonup might have read this? Very disturbing, IMO, if true. I wonder what other problems might creep up with time.
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Not at all disturbing. These chipsets come with two 6GB SATA ports that work absolutely fine, and four 3GB SATA ports that don't work well at all. My MacBook Pro has two SATA ports, one for hard drive, one for DVD drive. There is no way I can add more SATA devices. Why would I care if a chipset has four disabled ports that I couldn't use anyway, because there is no space in my MBP for more drives anyway?

The exact same chipset is either a broken 6 port chipset, or a perfectly fine 2 port chipset, depending on use. Just like your hard drive or SSD drive or the cache memory in your CPU have some areas that are not working, but they are hidden and you never notice.
 
j-traxx said:
iPhone5
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I definitely did not miss that one... it was point #5. :)

The iPhone 5 is the primary product I plan to give money to Apple for this year. I try to keep my portable devices for at least two years before upgrade, so I will likely pass on iPad 2 unless it is really extraordinary, but this is my year for an iPhone upgrade (bye bye 3Gs, but I will likely miss the first-year LTE iPhones in 2012). I'm sure I will pick up Lion as well, and probably the iWork apps (at least Keynote) in the Mac App Store.

In the past I have kept my PCs for 5 years before upgrade (usually augmenting video cards or memory along the way). But after 5 years they are painfully slow when it comes to running newer software. I'm thinking 4 years may be the max with Apple since they tend to abandon older hardware sooner and the only upgrade my 27-inch Core-i5 iMac can really get is going from 8GB to 16GB at some point (probably at the 2 year mark at end of 2011).
 
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Virtute said:
The only problem is that I cannot live without a FireWire port. My mixing board/recording interface is FireWire based, and I'm not willing to part with it. Would the advent of USB 3.0 likely mean an abandonment of FireWire? I guess I could always fall back on an SD slot adapter, right?
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The future of FW is pretty unclear. In theory, you can do FW (and USB 3.0 and eSATA) over Light Peak + an adapter, so your board may not be deprecated. In your particular case, assuming the Sandy Bridge MBP has FW, I would wait for the Ivy Bridge refresh announcement. At that time, you could either: a) Get an Ivy Bridge machine + LP->FW adapter, b) get a Sandy Bridge machine as a heavily discounted refurb or c) get either and a kickass new board.

That's a lot of options if you wait.
 
Looking forward to an update. My 2.4 pre-unibody MBP is about to go off warranty. Had 2 hard drives replaced, the screen replaced twice, the keyboard once and the power block died this weekend. Never had this many issues with a mac in my life. Sucks getting a lemon.
 
Steve121178 said:
I think people need to stop obsessing over the latest and greatest. I'm certain quad-core chips will be an option on the MBP's, but the drawback to a performance gain is heat & battery life. Dual-core chips seem to tick the boxes for the vast majority of users needs, you get performance, less heat & you will last longer when running on battery.

There's nothing my 2010 MBA hasn't been able to accomplish so far and it uses a 3 year old C2D for goodness sake.
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I think people need to stop grouping everyone's needs/wants into a limited category. The category being "if it's good enough for me it should be good enough for everyone."

Yes, the drawback is extra heat and power, we know this but it should be an option the end user can decide for themselves if they want to have or not. This will allow people such as yourself to have your more efficient laptop AND keep other people who would rather have the power happy as well. You as a consumer lose absolutely nothing by having this available, which is why I'm confused as to why anyone would welcome not having the ability to choose. When you're paying top dollar for a laptop, especially one that is suppose to be Apple's high end, it is perfectly reasonable to want the latest and greatest technology in there.
 
Meh ....

You're not wrong, except I'll never understand that whole mentality of "I can buy a new one every year and STILL save money!" ??

For that to make ANY kind of sense, it would mean you value your time at nothing - since every time you have to replace a computer, you've got to transfer all your data over to the new system, reconfigure everything to suit you, etc. etc.



alent1234 said:
with the build quality of dell/hp these days as well the battery life with sandy bridge SSD is the only thing apple has to do to maintain prices.

dell/hp build quality and support is not as good as a MBP but i can buy a nice wintel laptop for $600 or $700. if it breaks i'll buy a new one every year and will still be ahead price wise than buying a 15" MBP and applecare.

i like iphones and ipads but the computers are way too expensive
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So my question is: How big of a difference would it be to a casual user (browsing, videos, occasional video converting, music, some photo apps) to go from an i5 2.4 to a Sandy Bridge. Based on my needs above, will I see much of a difference in the general experience?? Would it be a major change if I upgraded to the upcoming 15" MBP? I got my current MBP in the fall, but could upgrade if needed..
 
if you run a business like photo editing on a MBP then the price is worth it just for the quality and support. since every day the machine is down is lost revenue.

for us home users it's not that big a deal. the last few store bought laptops i've seen weren't too bad. no crap ware like 5 years ago. i bought a $299 toshiba laptop as a gift 6 months ago and the build quality was pretty good.

there is not much to restore when buying a new machine and the time is not worth the price difference between a MBP and a dell/hp these days. It's $2000 or more for a 15" MBP and around $600 or so for a similar dell.

in my case $2000 is a dell, 2 ipads and a iphone5 with the latter to be used a lot more than a new laptop. so i see no reason to spend all that money for something that will sit unused most of the time. i need a lot of HD space, don't care about SSD
 
gameface said:
Looking forward to an update. My 2.4 pre-unibody MBP is about to go off warranty. Had 2 hard drives replaced, the screen replaced twice, the keyboard once and the power block died this weekend. Never had this many issues with a mac in my life. Sucks getting a lemon.
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I agree.... I have until April... Getting my 2nd defective battery replaced tonight, and have had my DVD replaced. Hoping that this isnt a trend...
 
blue22 said:
Not happening because the chips get too hot and Apple targets 35w for their MBP's to help optimize battery life. We'll see quad's in Ivy Bridge, as they'll fit within the 35w spec.
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I don't think that it's quite that simple. Currently, in the 15"/17" MBP, Apple uses dual-core processors with a 35w TDP. You're correct that they don't use higher-wattage processors to help with battery life; heat dissipation is another issue, especially in thin laptops.

That said, TDP doesn't tell the whole story. 13" MBP have a CPU, a north-bridge (with integrated nVidia graphics) and a south bridge; 15"/17" have a CPU (with on-chip Intel graphics and an integrated memory controller) + a south bridge + discrete GPU. Sandy Bridge will have a CPU (with on-die Intel graphics/memory controller) + a minimal south bridge +/- discrete GPU.

Including a quad-core CPU may be possible with a TDP higher than 35w - if the total system TDP is the same (or less) than current machines, assuming that heat dissipation isn't an issue. You are correct that it is unlikely in the 13" MBP until Ivy Bridge (need for product differentiation, smaller computer = smaller battery, etc.).

Personally, I would prefer the quad-core if possible. Most applications don't need a quad-core - but Grand Central is helping to change that. Also, with Sandy Bridge's Turbo mode, the processor will dynamically spend it's TDP on an overclocked single or dual-core mode when the quad-core isn't needed, so you get the best of both worlds.
 
Jacquesass said:
13" MBP have a CPU, a north-bridge (with integrated nVidia graphics) and a south bridge;
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13" MBP has two chips, the CPU and the 320M. The features of North- and Southbridge are integrated into the 320M.

Sandy Bridge will have a CPU (with on-die Intel graphics/memory controller) + a minimal south bridge +/- discrete GPU.
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The Southbridge or Platform Controller Hub (PCH) as it's known in current chipsets is only ~7% smaller (625mm^2 vs 675mm^2) in HM65 than it is in the current HM55. HM65 actually has 0.4W higher TDP.
 
Jacquesass said:
I don't think that it's quite that simple. Currently, in the 15"/17" MBP, Apple uses dual-core processors with a 35w TDP. You're correct that they don't use higher-wattage processors to help with battery life; heat dissipation is another issue, especially in thin laptops.

That said, TDP doesn't tell the whole story. 13" MBP have a CPU, a north-bridge (with integrated nVidia graphics) and a south bridge; 15"/17" have a CPU (with on-chip Intel graphics and an integrated memory controller) + a south bridge + discrete GPU. Sandy Bridge will have a CPU (with on-die Intel graphics/memory controller) + a minimal south bridge +/- discrete GPU.

Including a quad-core CPU may be possible with a TDP higher than 35w - if the total system TDP is the same (or less) than current machines, assuming that heat dissipation isn't an issue. You are correct that it is unlikely in the 13" MBP until Ivy Bridge (need for product differentiation, smaller computer = smaller battery, etc.).

Personally, I would prefer the quad-core if possible. Most applications don't need a quad-core - but Grand Central is helping to change that. Also, with Sandy Bridge's Turbo mode, the processor will dynamically spend it's TDP on an overclocked single or dual-core mode when the quad-core isn't needed, so you get the best of both worlds.
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Right on:)

I just really hope SB's IGP doesnt lull people into accepting lack luster GPU options. SB is great and all...but for $1300.00+ a MBP deserves some graphics oomph. Anyhoo, I was thinking that IF they do nerf the optical drive (which I have mixed feelings on)...that would allow a perfect dual drive set up (i.e., newly released Toshiba ipod HDD + SS module as in the air)...all at under an inch thick. Whoa whoa wee wow.
 
I'm really hoping the new MBP will be SSD only, using the form factor from the new Air. More efficient chipset and CPU, plus more room for battery capacity could mean 10-12 hours of battery life for the entire product line.

I would like the following, but don't expect to see much or any of it. Another resolution bump on the 15" antiglare display (1920x1080 or 1200?), HDMI instead of displayport, 4G LTE Radio, USB 3, drop the optical drive (I'd buy the external, cause I'm an IT guy and need to burn CDs frequently, but I'd just leave it at work and not haul it around the rest of the time).

I wouldn't be too surprised if the CD got dropped on the next MBP update, with the new App Store and Apple's resistance to Bluray I do think they're trying to move away from physical media and I really couldn't agree more. Optical drives are huge, why haul it around?

I'm really not concerned about a Quad Core CPU... If they released quads now, they'd probably have to be slower cores, requiring lots of power while not giving you a significant performance benefit over the 2.8Ghz i7 dual-core.

I'm running an old Core2Duo Black 13" Macbook, def ready for Unibody construction and i7 or better CPU.

A thinner, more powerful and efficient 15" MBP with SSD and no optical while using some of the design cues from the Air could be a spectacular laptop.
 
Lawsuits???

How long before the first class action lawsuit over the disabled SATA ports? I guess 90 days.

As far as a new portable, I'll be waiting until September or Christmas. :(
 
I want:

1. i7 2600m
2. 512GB SSD x 2
3. 0.75 inch at thickest point
4. 4 x USB 3.0 ports
5. Firewire Cajillion
6. nVidia GTX 580m in SLI
7. 12 hours of battery life
8. 15inch 2650x1440 anti-glare screen res
9. titanium uni-body
10. very cool to the touch



and some crack to smoke. yeesh!
 
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