New CPUs aren't just about raw speed, they come with new capabilities too. Recent Intel processors have featured AES-NI (accelerates encryption) and QuickSync (accelerates video encoding/decoding). I'm interested to know what use Apple makes of these in Lion.
AES-NI - Given Lion offers full-disk encryption, with FileVault, the use of AES-NI seems like a no-brainer. CPUs supporting it have been out since January 2010. When AnandTech benchmarked a Windows PC using Bitlocker the performance impact of encryption was significantly reduced by AES-NI[1]. The only fly in the ointment is that Intel don't enable AES-NI in all processors[2]. This would have most impact for machines using SSDs and ought to increase battery life too (less CPU load from encryption).
QuickSync - Offers very fast[3] video encoding/decoding. I believe this is already used by FaceTime. However, if Apple were to make use of this in CoreVideo/Quicktime and expose it via the Video Decode Acceleration Framework[4] then watching video would put much less load on the CPU and encoding would be very fast. The good news is it's included in all Sandy Bridge CPUs. This would be especially advantageous for the MacBook Air, increasing battery life and reducing heat.
[1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901/5
[2] You can see which at http://ark.intel.com
[3] http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/9
[4] http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#technotes/tn2267/_index.html
AES-NI - Given Lion offers full-disk encryption, with FileVault, the use of AES-NI seems like a no-brainer. CPUs supporting it have been out since January 2010. When AnandTech benchmarked a Windows PC using Bitlocker the performance impact of encryption was significantly reduced by AES-NI[1]. The only fly in the ointment is that Intel don't enable AES-NI in all processors[2]. This would have most impact for machines using SSDs and ought to increase battery life too (less CPU load from encryption).
QuickSync - Offers very fast[3] video encoding/decoding. I believe this is already used by FaceTime. However, if Apple were to make use of this in CoreVideo/Quicktime and expose it via the Video Decode Acceleration Framework[4] then watching video would put much less load on the CPU and encoding would be very fast. The good news is it's included in all Sandy Bridge CPUs. This would be especially advantageous for the MacBook Air, increasing battery life and reducing heat.
[1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/2901/5
[2] You can see which at http://ark.intel.com
[3] http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/9
[4] http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#technotes/tn2267/_index.html
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