New Mobile Sandy Bridge CPUs

[Battlefield Fan]

Intel just released new mobile processors. They're just slight clock bumps. Should be interesting to see if they adopt them.


New "Sandy Bridge" for Mobile

Core i7-2960XM 4 / 8 2.7 / 3.7 GHz 8 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 55 W $ 1,096
Core i7 2860QM 4 / 8 2.5 / 3.6 GHz 8 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 45 W $ 568
Core i7 2760QM 4 / 8 2.4 / 3.5 GHz 6 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 45 W $ 378
Core i7-2640m 2 / 4 2.8 / 3.5 GHz 4 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 35 W $ 346
B840 Celeron 2 / 2 1.9 / - GHz 2 MB 650 / 950 MHz 35 W $ 86

 

[jinnyman]

Intel just released new mobile processors. They're just slight clock bumps. Should be interesting to see if they adopt them.


New "Sandy Bridge" for Mobile

Core i7-2960XM 4 / 8 2.7 / 3.7 GHz 8 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 55 W $ 1,096
Core i7 2860QM 4 / 8 2.5 / 3.6 GHz 8 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 45 W $ 568
Core i7 2760QM 4 / 8 2.4 / 3.5 GHz 6 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 45 W $ 378
Core i7-2640m 2 / 4 2.8 / 3.5 GHz 4 MB 650 / 1,300 MHz 35 W $ 346
B840 Celeron 2 / 2 1.9 / - GHz 2 MB 650 / 950 MHz 35 W $ 86

$500 for 0.2 clock increase? ouch.

 

[yusukeaoki]

$500 for 0.2 clock increase? ouch.

Yeah never going to happen on Macs.
Ivy's comin in

 

[Battlefield Fan]

$500 for 0.2 clock increase? ouch.

Its an extreme processor meaning it has an unlocked multiper for overclocking. Most people can take it to 4GHz.

What? its more than 1GHz increase.
The most Apple has for mobile i7 is 2.3GHz quad.
The new one more than 3GHz.

It's only a 200MHz bump. The fastest 45Watt processor is now @ 2.5GHz with turbo to 3.6GHz instead of 2.3 GHz and 3.4GHz turbo.

 

[yusukeaoki]

Its an extreme processor meaning it has an unlocked multiper for overclocking. Most people can take it to 4GHz.


It's only a 200MHz bump. The fastest 45Watt processor is now @ 2.5GHZ with turbo to 3.6GHz.

Yeah just noticed it was set to Max turbo frequency.
But I doubt it comes to apple.
New Ivy Processor is coming and they wont let people overclock their CPUs.

 

[Battlefield Fan]

Yeah just noticed it was set to Max turbo frequency.
But I doubt it comes to apple.
New Ivy Processor is coming and they wont let people overclock their CPUs.

Apple in past has added these processors as upgrades. It doesn't chance the model # or count as a revision. I bet we could see these. Just wait for the back to school sale to end. They'll need to stay competitive through out the holidays considering ivy bride won't be out till the march of next year

 

[DWBurke811]

Apple will silently add the 2.4 and/or 2.5 as a CTO option on the high end 15" and 17", they've done it in the past and isn't really all the big of a deal/shocker.

 

[yusukeaoki]

Apple will silently add the 2.4 and/or 2.5 as a CTO option on the high end 15" and 17", they've done it in the past and isn't really all the big of a deal/shocker.

True.
Just like how they added 2.8GHz after couple months release on 2010 model.

 

[mark28]

Apple will silently add the 2.4 and/or 2.5 as a CTO option on the high end 15" and 17", they've done it in the past and isn't really all the big of a deal/shocker.

Or use them in the new 15" and 17" MBA / MBP that is rumored to come this year.

 

[dusk007]

I doubt there will be a new design this year. There has only been talk about a 15" Air and that will definitely only sport a Dual Core with no dedicated GPU.
Ivy Bridge brings Intel SRT, somewhat different thermal limits and it wouldn't make a lot of sense to release something new with the current hot hardware. Why would they?

 

[yusukeaoki]

I doubt MBP coming out this year.
Apple always have updates the next year after the refresh.
I wouldnt count on it.

And if it did come with these processors and calling it new, id be disappointed.
A brand new refresh for just +0.2GHz? I dont think so

 

[Ulf1103]

I doubt MBP coming out this year.
Apple always have updates the next year after the refresh.
I wouldnt count on it.

And if it did come with these processors and calling it new, id be disappointed.
A brand new refresh for just +0.2GHz? I dont think so

It's a 10% speed increase, you know...
And it's a quad-core, so actually that's a lot (but not huge)...
4 times 0.2

 

[dusk007]

4 times 0.2 is still only 9.1% or 8.7% and it really isn't that much. It is a little speed bump as Intel has always released them as soon as the yields allowed it. In History Apple introduced such chips sometimes also really quietly without any mention or press release. They just popped up on the Apple Store.

 

[mark28]

4 times 0.2 is still only 9.1% or 8.7% and it really isn't that much. It is a little speed bump as Intel has always released them as soon as the yields allowed it. In History Apple introduced such chips sometimes also really quietly without any mention or press release. They just popped up on the Apple Store.

Apple never waited for more than 1 year for an upgrade. Ivy Bridge is way too long in line with Apple's update history.

 

[yusukeaoki]

But to be honest, Mac Pro hasnt been renewed for about 2 years now...

But with only 10% increase,, I dont think Apple really cares much.
As stated above, it might just be added for extra options in configuration.

My guess is that next update will be the Ivy Bridge CPU.
Kinda excited for the graphics too.

 

[mark28]

But to be honest, Mac Pro hasnt been renewed for about 2 years now...

But with only 10% increase,, I dont think Apple really cares much.
As stated above, it might just be added for extra options in configuration.

My guess is that next update will be the Ivy Bridge CPU.
Kinda excited for the graphics too.

I'm talking about the Macbook Pro. Here are some of the releases of the MBP, taking from the buyers guide.

Recent Releases
???195 days
02/2011 317 days
04/2010 309 days
06/2009 237 days
10/2008 231 days
02/2008 266 days

Historically Apple never waited for more than 1 year for a new refresh. And the next refresh is just more than just a CPU bump, it's a complete hardware redesign if the 15" and 17" MBA rumors are correct.

No way Apple is going to wait 1.5 years for Ivy Bridge based on the update pattern of Apple.

edit: As you can see, Apple has even released 2 MBP's in the same year. So it has happened before.

 

[dusk007]

Your reasoning is simple but there is some more evidence one might care to check out.
a) There really isn't too much great stuff they could do and a full redesign doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering the hot current MBP and the possibility of making thinner ones with Ivy Bridge.
b) The update cycle grew longer for past 3 years every time and correlates very much with Intels CPU launches or to put it differently with new tech on the market. Now 32nm Arrendale showed up really quickly without any delays. That was fortunate. I mean to say that it just happened to work out the last few times around but statistics alone dictate nothing, especially with only 2 measurements. The 2 before were much shorter who is to say the next two won't be 13 or 15 months.
c) There is a decreasing interest in the whole product from Apple. The cycles got longer. Compared to ipad and iphone they really don't make all that much money in this business. Despite offering a really good product growth isn't really that spectacular. Also there is still no PC Notebook that really threatens its Positions.
Therefore if you look at it from Apples perspective there really is no need to put out a new design just for the sake of doing it before 12 months run out. Also Apple isn't one who likes to launch products that are only half baked and not really that impressive.
d) They might have planned for Ivy Bridge to be available at the beginning of next year and built their prototypes around it. This might be their plan A which gets delayed but there is no Plan B, because of a), b) and c). Ergo they sit it out.

I am not saying it isn't possible. The rumored 15" MBA is very likely and maybe they do a redesign of the current MBP but I wouldn't bet money on it. The thermals are bad as it is. A redesign would probably be 16:9 which means less space at the same thickness or less portable. The tech is the same which means the heat is the same. They cannot release something slower but it'd have to be at least as fast and it is doubtful they can make them slimmer.
A lot is possible in terms of new features with IB but right now it would probably not make the most compelling product.