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Quad-Core Nehalem Apple Notebooks Possible in Q3 2009?

t0mat0 said:
With the Nvidia Intel court case, might Apple just skip the quad cores, and just go to Arrandale in the next cycle 8 months later in Feb 09? Seems to make sense now. Means they sidestep the Nvidia Intel problem potentially.
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Please elaborate.
 
Eidorian said:
Please elaborate.
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Intel is already squeezing Nvidia over Atom/Ion - a definite window of opportunity that is slowly getting smaller. Currently Intel's is making a fuss over Nvidia over Cor i7, but doesn't that potentiall mean problems about a MB/MBP with Core i5 ?

I'd imagine Intel might compromise for Arrandale - Intel gets the integrated graphics, Nvidia gets the discrete. For the user, you can at least apparently swich between the two (though runnning them together might be an issturn both off and on. It's currently an either or system for the 9400M/9600M GT anyhow, and it doesn't currently seem that a MB/MBP would be running both at the same time, so the next model presumably will have the successor to the 9600M GT in. (When Nvidia sorts out manufacture...)

Just a guess, but Apple might be able to at least smooth waters for the next round of MacBooks and MacBook Pros. If they go Arrandale in Feb 2010 or so.
 
nVidia already has the license for DMI though. Still no news on support controllers for Nehalem mobile from anyone but Intel right now though.

Intel has effectively killed off any IGP competition with the IGP being onboard alongside the CPU. You're not going to see many, if any, manufacturers going with an off CPU IGP due to the additional motherboard costs. The same goes for their desktop Core i5 platform.
 
Personally, I’d hate to be the guinea pig that buys Rev A of MacBooks with quad cores.

Anyone else feel the same way?
 
Eric S. said:
I try to avoid the first version of any hardware, especially computer platforms.
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Just as an aside - Will the use of GPUs for computer power change things? Will Apple still keep their standard level of TDP for their Macs, whilst having CPU and GPU being more active presumably in the near future through Snow Leopard?
 
t0mat0 said:
Just as an aside - Will the use of GPUs for computer power change things? Will Apple still keep their standard level of TDP for their Macs, whilst having CPU and GPU being more active presumably in the near future through Snow Leopard?
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I don't know where people are getting this. You can already push your processor and GPU to 100% load without using a single GPGPU application or OpenCL.
 
Eidorian said:
nVidia already has the license for DMI though. Still no news on support controllers for Nehalem mobile from anyone but Intel right now though.
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(Reiterating the note up front: I am a contract employee working at an Intel facility. I have zero knowledge of any of this from 'inside', all of my sources are publicly available third-party sources.)

nVidia claims they have a license for DMI, Intel claims that they don't. That's what it comes down to. The legal challenge is over whether nVidia really has a DMI license or not. I have no idea about it either way.
 
Then Octy cores, then 10...

I'm still on my 17" PPC and satisfied but I am not even a pro-sumer.

Its seemed Nahelem was the big deal but as I read it seems the machines are still yet to optimize them?

Appreciate your guys back and forths...
 
ehurtley said:
(Reiterating the note up front: I am a contract employee working at an Intel facility. I have zero knowledge of any of this from 'inside', all of my sources are publicly available third-party sources.)

nVidia claims they have a license for DMI, Intel claims that they don't. That's what it comes down to. The legal challenge is over whether nVidia really has a DMI license or not. I have no idea about it either way.
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This is going to be fun.
 
I think I'll jump on a quad-core 8gb MBP no problem, just show me the purchase link and you can have my money Apple.
 
TurboSC said:
I think I'll jump on a quad-core 8gb MBP no problem, just show me the purchase link and you can have my money Apple.
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Unless Apple decides to go with the Core 2 Quad, Arrandale is still two cores, four threads. 4 GB density RAM prices are still outrageous as well.
 
nahsor said:
I agree. With Sandy Bridge being introduced in 2011, Arrandale only gets a 1 year mobile life. Might as well upgrade now with the low prices and then upgrade when the quad core comes out.
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I agree that trying to chase the latest technology doesn't make sense, but neither does putting off a decision to upgrade, necessarily. What if you're not ready to upgrade now but you are when Arrandale comes out? Then I can't see putting off the upgrade for another year because something better is coming, because that will always be the case. So upgrade to Arrandale in 2010 and in 2012/13 move to the second version of Sandy Bridge or its successor.
 
Any price listings on Arrandale yet? I know that Clarksfield is showing up soon but you're paying quite a bit for the processors and there's no chance of an IGP.

One wonders if Apple will ever get a quad core outside of the Mac Pro.
 
Eric S. said:
I agree that trying to chase the latest technology doesn't make sense, but neither does putting off a decision to upgrade, necessarily. What if you're not ready to upgrade now but you are when Arrandale comes out? Then I can't see putting off the upgrade for another year because something better is coming, because that will always be the case. So upgrade to Arrandale in 2010 and in 2012/13 move to the second version of Sandy Bridge or its successor.
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I completely agree with you. My point was not that people should not upgrade next year and then wait for Sandy Bridge. What I am trying to say is that it doesn't make sense for people who need to upgrade now but are just holding out for a little bit longer for Arrandale (Obviously, this is just my opinion). I don't think people should keep postponing plans to upgrade as there will always be something better and within a year from Arrandale's release, it too will be old.
 
nahsor said:
I completely agree with you. My point was not that people should not upgrade next year and then wait for Sandy Bridge. What I am trying to say is that it doesn't make sense for people who need to upgrade now but are just holding out for a little bit longer for Arrandale (Obviously, this is just my opinion). I don't think people should keep postponing plans to upgrade as there will always be something better and within a year from Arrandale's release, it too will be old.
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We might be giving Intel too much credit. Don't forget that the Clarksfield processor was delayed a little bit. Heck, the Auburndale processor (the dual core version of Clarksfield) was cancelled outright. Goodness only knows when Sandy Bridge will actually come out...
 
Lessee,
Me wanna 3.06 Quad Core processor,😱 in a 17MBP and a 24" iMac as well.
Me wannit NOW😱, um yes and 8MG of RAM too😀😀😀😀🙄
 
nahsor said:
I completely agree with you. My point was not that people should not upgrade next year and then wait for Sandy Bridge. What I am trying to say is that it doesn't make sense for people who need to upgrade now but are just holding out for a little bit longer for Arrandale (Obviously, this is just my opinion). I don't think people should keep postponing plans to upgrade as there will always be something better and within a year from Arrandale's release, it too will be old.
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i'm in the buy or wait boat right now. there is nothing wrong with the 13"MBP right now aside that I don't need it. however i prefer to have two fully functional notebooks in case my nvidea 8600 dies.

So i think about buying now and then upgrade in 2 years when there is a 15" 3 GHz quadcore with fast GPU and good battery life available. I want to end up with one fast portable and one powerful desktop replacement notebook They get then upgraded alternatingly every ~2 years.

Waiting now for Arrandale would be an option as well but as you say it brings you closer to the quadcore release dates. They will have a lot more impact than the 15-50% speed increase from Arrandale (depending on what numbers one chooses to believe). Also I expect the quadcores to come with a much more powerful GPU. For Arrandale in January I expect something in the performance like the 9400M. Maybe as a dedicated GPU but not much faster.
 
iAlexG said:
Wow quad-core is a Macbook!! That has got to be blazing fast
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Only is the application can use multiple cores. If you're limited to one core at a time, it might actually be slower than the available dual cores...
 
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