Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by Dan Knight
- 2005.12.08
This Week's Macintel News
Apple's decision to switch to Intel CPUs means we live in very interesting
times.
PowerBook, iBook, and other portable computing news is covered
in The 'Book Review. General
Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPod news is covered
in The iNews Review.
January Macintel Debut?
News, Analysis, and Opinion
Yonah Performance
Other Intel News
January Macintel Debut?
Will Apple have new Macintel product available in
January? Or will we have to wait until June at the earliest? Steve
Jobs isn't telling....
Apple May Launch Intel Laptops in
January...
Reuters reports:
"Apple Computer Inc. could introduce its first laptop computers
based on Intel Corp. chips as early as January, which, together
with robust sales of video iPods, should drive earnings higher,
Citigroup said on Wednesday.
"Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner raised his target on the
computer maker's stock price to $71 from $51 and boosted his
earnings forecasts for the next two years....
"'We are becoming more convinced that Apple will introduce its
first Intel-based PowerBook at Macworld San Francisco,' Gardner
said in a note to clients...."
Link:
Apple May Launch Intel Laptops in January -
Analyst
...Or Not Until June 6
DigiTimes' Shawn Chen andJessie Shen report:
"Intel processors will be initially adopted in Apple Computer's
entry-level Macintosh PC lineup, including the Mac Mini, iBook, and
iMac series, with a launch in Taiwan slated for June 6 2006,
according to sources at Taiwan PC distributors.
"Apple Taiwan declined to comment on the report, noting that the
launch schedule would be released according to the company's
official statement....
"Apple is expected to unveil its new Macintosh PCs with the
'Intel inside' logo on January 9 of next year, when Macworld 2006
takes place in San Francisco from January 9 to 13, sources at
domestic PC makers indicated..."
Link: Taiwan
Market: Appleís 'Intel Inside' Macintosh to Hit Shelves on
June 6
Intel Macs 'Due 6 June'
The Register's Tony Smith says:
"Apple's Intel-based Macs may not appear until June 2006, if
claims made by sources at Taiwanese distributors are to be
believed.
"According to the moles, cited by DigiTimes today, Intel-based
Mac Minis, iBooks and iMacs have been scheduled to launch in Taiwan
on 6 June.
"That's six months after most recent speculation has suggested
that Apple will launch its x86 machines...."
Link:
Intel Macs 'Due 6 June'
News, Analysis, and Opinion
Apple 'to Stick to PowerPC for Another
Generation'
ZNet blogger Paul Murphy says:
"Quite a number of pundits have gone out and predicted the
appearance of Intel based Powerbooks from Apple this January - but
it isn't going to happen. In fact what I expect is either, or both,
an Intel based Mini and/or some Intel based iBooks. Beyond that,
however, Intel is just not going to happen for Apple next year - no
Powerbooks, no iMacs, no Workstations, and no X-Serves....
"So what can they do?
"The obvious answer is to stick to PowerPC for another
generation - pushing the first Intel products into 2007. IBM has a
low power (13 Watt) G5 that would be a big winner in new
PowerBooks, and Freescale's 8641, a dual-core PowerPC G4 with
integrated system logic and four Gigabit Ethernet media-access
controllers, offers exactly the price/performance combination Apple
needs to give both the iBook and Mini big performance boosts
without changing retail price or cutting their own margins."
Link: Apple Rumours and
Realities
Mac OS X on Linux?
ZNet blogger Paul Murphy says:
"Yesterday I talked about the pricing box Apple finds itself in
as it tries to integrate Intel CPUs into its products: basically
going from a $72 CPU in an iBook to one selling, in volume, for
about $240 destroys the financial structure needed to meet school
board demand for significant discounts on products retailing at
$999 in oneses and twoses.
"If Intel were to match PowerPC pricing from IBM and Freescale
they'd have to reduce the average price per CPU by about $200 -
meaning that Intel would be subsidizing Apple to the tune of about
a billion dollars a year.
"SInce that's just not going to happen the obvious thing for
Apple to do in 2006 is continue, as it originally said it would,
with the PowerPC line - using the dual core G4 in products like the
iBook and Mini and the low power (14W at 1.6Ghz) G5 970FX in new
Powerbooks.
"Great, but where does this leave Apple's Intel strategy? More
importantly, how will developers, particularly the PC oriented
shops dragged into the Apple house over the last six months on the
promise of lower porting costs and higher performance for PC code,
react?
"There is a simple and elegant answer: Linux.
"Apple could simply license the MacOS X shell and integration
technologies set for Linux - thereby creating an instant mass
market for its software on Intel, more than meeting its obligations
to its PC oriented developers, differentially rewarding those who
put real effort into their Mac software, and freeing itself to to
make a more reasoned CPU decision for its 2007 and later
products."
Link: Mac OS X on
Linux?
How Apple Could Fight Against OSX x86
Hacking
HardMac's Lionel says:
"While the launch date of the first MacIntel is getting everyday
closer, we keep asking ourselves how Apple will manage to protect
its OSX system from hackers who will look for solutions to install
OSX x86 on non-Mac certified PC.
"If you look at It history, it is quite clear that fighting
against the wind does not help much, whatever protections Apple
will install, there will always be a solution to run OSX x86 on a
standard PC; it is only a matter of time, and motivation (meaning
that the price difference between MacIntel and similarly equipped
PC will be big)
"So how to prevent such a move?"
Link: How Could Apple
Fight Against OSX x86 Hacking?
Yonah Performance
Yonah Performance Preview: A First Look at
Yonah
Anandtech's Anand Lal Shimpi reports:
"Intel, oh Intel, how uninteresting your processors have been to
us for so long now. Where have the days of the Northwood gone?
Prescott brought us a minor bump in clock speed, minor increases in
performance, and more importantly - major increases in power bills.
But if any company can go down the wrong path for five years and
still come out on top, it's Intel. So starting next year, we'll
start seeing a new Intel. A more power conscious Intel and to kick
it all off will be Intel's first Earth-friendly dual core
processor: Yonah.
"As the successor to the current Pentium M (Dothan) and the
predecessor to next year's Conroe, Merom and Woodcrest cores, Yonah
is a very important chip. As a mobile processor Yonah will bring
dual core to thin and light notebooks, basically anywhere you'd
find a Pentium M, you'll now be able to find two Pentium Ms. The
implications for mobile performance are huge, as multitasking on
notebooks has rarely been all that great of an experience. At the
same time, Yonah is so much more than just a dual core mobile
processor - it's a predictor of the performance of Intel's
next-generation desktop micro-architecture. Sure, it won't have all
of the architectural bells and whistles that we'll see when Conroe
debuts at the end of next year, but it'll have many and that makes
it a reference point."
Link: Intel Yonah
Performance Preview - Part I: The Exclusive First Look at
Yonah
Intel's 'Yonah' Mobile CPU Benchmarked
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel's upcoming 'Yonah' 65nm dual-core Pentium M processor
looks set to provide a significant boost to notebook performance,
if the first independent evaluation of the new CPU is anything to
go by.
"Anandtech's tests, published today, pitch a 2GHz Yonah against
a 2.13GHz 'Dothan' Pentium M, a 3GHz Pentium D 380 and a pair of
AMD Athlon X2s: the 2GHz 3800+ and the 2.2GHz 4200+. Generally, the
new part outperformed both the higher-clocked Intel chips and
proved a worthy competitor to the AMD products."
Link:
Intel's 'Yonah' 65nm Mobile Chip Benchmarked
Other Intel News
Intel Working with Companies in Entertainment
Push
Reuters reports:
"Intel Corp., the world's biggest chipmaker, on Wednesday said
it is working with more than 40 companies to use its Viiv
technology in home entertainment and consumer electronics.
"Intel is providing engineering support and other services to
software developers and device makers as part of a strategy to
develop the digital living room. The company said it plans to offer
a "one-stop shop" for home entertainment, including movies, music,
video games and home photos.
"The Viiv (which rhymes with 'five') brand, which Intel
announced in August, represents a new kind of personal computer
aimed squarely at the digital living room, the company said....
"Similarly, Apple Computer Inc. for several years has focused on
a digital hub strategy, using its Mac computers as the central
device for consumers to access and manage movies, digital
photographs, music and the like."
Link:
Intel Working with Companies in Entertainment Push
Intel to Drop Pentium Name?
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"When Intel debuts its 'Intel Core' brand-name in July 2006, it
will mark the end of the familiar Pentium name. Out too goes any
distinction between mobile and desktop versions.
"So claims Japanese-language website PCWatch.
"It's not an unreasonable claim, however. According to the
latest roadmaps to leak out of the chip giant, Q3 2006 will see the
debut of 'Merom' and 'Conroe', two 65nm, dual-core processors
pitched at mobile and desktop roles, respectively. Both are derived
from Intel's next-generation architecture, which essentially takes
key elements of today's Pentium M and combines it with features
introduced with the Pentium 4's NetBurst architecture."
Link:
Intel to Drop Pentium Name with Merom, Conroe
Debut?
Codename Cornucopia Reveals Intel's CPU
Plans
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel may be preparing to segment its next-generation 65nm
desktop and mobile processor lines by taking a leaf out of
arch-rival AMD's book and offering chips with a range of different
cache sizes.
"So we might conclude from the list of upcoming Intel CPUs for
2006 and 2007 published by Tom's Hardware. The list is a veritable
dictionary of new codenames, but you can see some patterns begin to
emerge."
Link: Codename
Cornucopia Reveals Intel's 65nm CPU Plans
Intel's Plans Include Eight-core
CPUs
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel isn't due to begin shipping processors produced using its
45nm process until 2008, but it's already naming the chips that
will be made using the technology.
"According to a list of upcoming Intel CPUs for 2006 and 2007
published by Tom's Hardware Guide, the ballooning transistor budget
made possible by the 45nm process will be used to drive up L2 cache
sizes.
"'Wolfdale' and 'Ridgefield', for example, two dual-core,
single-die desktop chips due 2008, will have 3MB and 6MB of cache
apiece.
"These should appear alongside 'Perryville' and 'Penryn',
respectively single-core and dual-core mobile parts, the former
with 2MB of cache, according to the report, the latter with 3MB and
6MB of L2.
"On the server side, we have 'Hapertown', an eight-core Xeon
with 12MB of cache shared between the cores. It doesn't look like
we're going to see a desktop CPU with eight cores until 2008/2009,
with the debut of 'Yorkfield', also sporting 12MB of cache."
Link: Intel's
45nm Shift Will Mean Octo-core Desktop CPUs
Intel Building Second 45-nm Fab
ExtremeTech reports:
"Intel Corp. said Thursday that it plans to build a new 300-mm
wafer fab in Israel, which it will design with 45-nm processes in
mind.
"The new Fab 28 will cost $3.5 billion, Intel estimates, and
will be located in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which also houses Intel's
Fab 18. Construction of the new Fab 28 will begin immediately,
Intel said. When completed, it will enclose approximately 200,000
square feet of clean room space, Intel said."
Link: Intel
Building Second 45-nm Fab
Intel Could Raise Q4 Revenue
Guidance
Forbes' Ed Lin reports:
"Piper Jaffray analyst Les P. Santiago expects Intel to raise
fourth-quarter revenue guidance to a range from $10.5 billion to
$10.9 billion, up from a range from $10.2 billion to $10.8
billion....
"The analyst said first-quarter seasonal weakness could be
partially offset by inventory build and contributions from Apple
Computer, which is transitioning its Macintosh computers to Intel
chips."
Link:
Intel Could Raise Q4 Revenue Guidance
More Mac News
PowerBook, iBook, and other portable computing news is covered
in The 'Book Review. General
Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPod news is covered
in The iNews Review.
