Intel's Plans for Low-Power Chips

[MacRumors]

Cnet reports on Intel's road maps which were discussed at the Intel Developer's Forum today.

...the dominant theme revolves around reducing power consumption, a concept the company has hammered on since the beginning of the decade.

The newer architecture pushing the higher performance per watt appears to be targeted in late 2006. In the meanwhile, Intel has other chips coming to fill the gap in late 2005/early 2006.

Notebooks:
Yonah - notebook chip. 1st half of 2006.
Merom - notebook chip coming in the second half of 2006. 5 watts.

Desktops:
Presler - Desktop chip based on Pentium 4 line. 1st half of 2006.
Conroe - Desktop counterpart to Merom. Late 2006. up to 65 watts.

Servers:
Paxville - late 2005. Dual core.
Woodcrest - Server processor, up to 80 watts.

The newly announced chips (Meron, Conroe and Woodcrest) aimed at late 2006 will utilize the new architecture (65-nm) to replace the aging Pentium 4 architecture. Apple anticipates their first Intel-based Macs to start shipping in 2006 and the transition to be complete by the end of 2007.

 

[capone2]

Merom and Yonah!!

Can not wait, its going to be amazing!!

 

[AoWolf]

Can not wait, its going to be amazing!!

I agree I think this switch needed to happen and will only make things better for mac users... Never thought I would say this but go intel

 

[Gatorman]

I can already see it...MWSF...me watching the live stream keynote when Steve announces the New Intel Powerbooks! It'll be just in time for me to order one when I start grad school. Oh yeah!

I know, I know...wishful thinking. But a guy's got to have dreams!

 

[ART5000]

exclusives

FANTASTIC,

wondering if the powerbooks will have, specially made processors exclusive for apple.

could anyone put the performance bumo into perspective compared to theG4s or G5

cool

 

[RHutch]

I agree I think this switch needed to happen and will only make things better for mac users... Never thought I would say this but go intel

I think we should wait and see. IBM promised 3 GHz, which seemed like a really good thing, and everyone thought that the switch from Motorola to IBM needed to happen. I agree that it made things better, but we're still not at 3 GHz, more than a year later than we were supposed to have it. My point: Just because Intel promises great things, that doesn't mean they are going to happen. Didn't Intel also promise 4 GHz P4's?

 

[0098386]

I know there are people against Mactel, but this sounds good. the next gen macs are going to be powerhouses

 

[w_parietti22]

Dang... I was we could have this chips right now in our Macs... I cant wait! This is the best thing thats ever gonna happen to Apple!! (besides the iMac)

 

[w_parietti22]

I think we should wait and see. IBM promised 3 GHz, which seemed like a really good thing, and everyone thought that the switch from Motorola to IBM needed to happen. I agree that it made things better, but we're still not at 3 GHz, more than a year later than we were supposed to have it. My point: Just because Intel promises great things, that doesn't mean they are going to happen. Didn't Intel also promise 4 GHz P4's?

But Intel has delivered great chips for the PC world in the past years. And IBM was basically delivering to Macs and a couple other people... which is a small business... Intel is practically delivering to the entire PC/Mac world.

Now that I think about it... that might not be such a good thing. If Intel falls (AMDs Dream) the PC/Mac world falls onto AMD and I dont think AMD is ready for taking over the PC/Mac world...

All I no is that I cant wait for a Mac with an Intel Inside Sticker on it!

 

[shawnce]

NetBurst is toast! (ok it always ran hot...)

More found on AnandTech

 

[geerlingguy]

FIVE watts??? That's crazy! If that thing's as fast or faster than the current G4 offerings, that is quite a leap in terms of design...

Now we just wait and see if Intel can deliver.

 

[untamedhysteria]

the intels already show very promising results, according to some hackers that have hacked osx onto multiple pc's. with the speed being about the same on the specks for the yonah processors and some current p4's, i have no doubt that intel will be delivering some other great processors in 2006 to knock out what they already have.

 

[~Shard~]

Cool, I submitted a similar story to MR and now I see it is posted.

The other thing I found interesting coming out from the IDF was Intel's statement that a new category of machines called handtops was in the works, and Intel will be introducing reference versions of these machines sometime in 2006. The return of the Newton?

 

[untamedhysteria]

5 watts though, seems really impressive...i'm not betting if they can get that low on watts and also deliver great speeds, but, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[~Shard~]

I cant wait! This is the best thing thats ever gonna happen to Apple!! (besides the iMac)

I'm sure many people said the exact same thing when Jobs announced the move to IBM chips as well. "Sweet, 3 GHz in a year, this is the best thing thats ever gonna happen to Apple!!"

I'm excited as well as I see a lot of potential in Intel's roadmap, but I'm definitely erring on the side of being realistic as opposed to optimistic.

 

[gkarris]

the intels already show very promising results, according to some hackers that have hacked osx onto multiple pc's. with the speed being about the same on the specks for the yonah processors and some current p4's, i have no doubt that intel will be delivering some other great processors in 2006 to knock out what they already have.

It'll be a knockout all right! Think how fast things are going to be - and we can dual boot into Windows Vista! Enough to make any PC user envious.

I don't know why users are still touting Powerbook G5's in the forum on the upcoming September announcements (G5 Mini????). I'm not purchasing anything until the Mactels come out...

 

[Lacero]

Everybody beat me up when I said PPC sucks and that Intel rocks! Now I see I have been right all along.

 

[SiliconAddict]

wondering if the powerbooks will have, specially made processors exclusive for apple.

They won't. Period.

 

[Eevee]

Cool, I submitted a similar story to MR and now I see it is posted.

The other thing I found interesting coming out from the IDF was Intel's statement that a new category of machines called handtops was in the works, and Intel will be introducing reference versions of these machines sometime in 2006. The return of the Newton?

What are handtops ~Shard~ ? Neat idea.

MacIntel is really exciting. But there will be bugs to fix here and there. I just know it...

 

[AmigoMac]

Amazing, from the paper point of view. Now, wait and see, I hope not to see Steve in a couple of years telling as why it's a great opportunity to have PPC again RDF .

Handtops next tuesday in a year!

 

[Eevee]

Everybody beat me up when I said PPC sucks and that Intel rocks! Now I see I have been right all along.

We're not worthy, we're not worthy...

 

[kenstee]

Why would anyone get a Yonah-based laptop in 1H'06 with Merom on the way a few months later in 2H'06? This is going to be very interesting!

 

[Spock]

Please excuse my ignorance toward Intel chips, but are any of these 64 bit?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

This is just enough info to cause massive speculation, but very little hard data.

I guess It will be a long wait to find out:

1. What order Apple will choose to change out the PPCs for Intels (I'm guessing PowerBooks first but then what?)

2. Which CPU's Apple will choose for it's various different computers - will they focus strictly on low power consumption or will the Power Mac get Intel's fastest CPU, whatever that is in 6 months?

3. A million other questions.

 

[outerspaceapple]

how many times are these roadmap links gonna be posted!!!



geez