Compiled by Charles Moore
and edited by Dan Knight
- 2006.01.05
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.
Macintel News
Other Intel News
Macintel News
Apple Developers Ready for Intel, New Macs
Architosh Staff reports:
"Latest Evidence from Software Developers Shows They Are Ready
for New Intel Machines
"While analysts and Mac aficionados ponder an early delivery for
Intel-based Macintosh computers at Macworld Expo - to be held in
the second week of January, 2006 - it appears from announcements
made by Mac developers that this indeed is a real possibility.
Several Mac developers have announced they are ready to support
upcoming Intel Macs with current software products."
Link: Apple
Developers Ready for Intel - Possible New Macs at Macworld
Expo
Intel Goes Apple Polishing
Techweb's Alexander Wolfe reports:
"Looks like Intel may be jumping in to help Apple, by signing on
to design the motherboards for Apple's upcoming Intel-based Macs,
expected to launch in early 2006."
Link: Intel
Goes Apple Polishing
Apple and Intel: Oil and Water?help design
Gene Steinberg, the Mac Night Owl, says:
"I still remember the scene at the WWDC keynote where Steve Jobs
and Intel CEO Paul Otellini embraced. It was all show business of
course, a symbol to show the spirit of cooperation between the two
companies. It doesn't mean the two hang out Friday evenings at one
of the local pubs in Cupertino or Mountain View to share a
brew."
Link: The
Apple/Intel Report: Oil and Water?
Mac OS X on Intel?
CIO Update's Steven Warren says:
"For as long as I can remember, there has been a battle of
operating systems. Which operating system is better, Microsoft or
Apple? The debate rages on but what we do know is this: Currently,
your organization does not have the ability to dual-boot a Windows
and an Apple operating system.
"Well, times are a changin' and new Intel machines are gearing
up for Apple and its OS X operating system.
"In June 2005, Apple announced a brilliant strategy. They
decided to abandon the IBM PowerPC processors to move to the Intel
engine. Can you imagine the possibilities? We could live in a world
where you could now buy a brand- name computer or clone and load
Apple OS X Tiger on it or dual-boot your computer with OS X
and Windows. You may even be able to run Windows on an Apple
computer. Seriously."
Link: Mac OS X on
Intel?!?
Yes, a Macintel Is Still a Mac
Gene Steinberg, the Mac Night Owl, says:
"Whenever you read a report about someone cracking Mac OS X for
Intel and making it run on a plain, vanilla PC box, you have to
wonder whether it's something you need to take seriously. Lest we
forget, we're still talking about a beta operating system. You
don't know what sort of software and hardware protections Apple
will place on its new Macs to prevent such shenanigans."
Link: The
Apple/Intel Report: Yes, it's Still a Mac!
What the Apple-Intel Deal Could Mean for
PCs
Mac Observer says:
"TechNewsWorld columnist Rob Enderle on Monday published his
thoughts on the technology business at the end of 2005. Among other
things, he speculated on how Apple's new relationship with Intel
could alter the overall PC business, given both companies' history
of being difficult to work with.
"'When it comes to the company they are most frustrated with,
the OEMs tend to switch between Microsoft and Intel,' Mr. Enderle
wrote. Noting that he thinks Intel 'clearly has the lead right now
in terms of aggravation,' the columnist said that the company's
biggest problem is its tendency to make decisions without taking
into account how they will affect its partners.
"Apple, of course, likes to dictate terms to its partners too.
With AMD suing Intel for alleged anti-competitive business
practices and the OEMs believing that Intel has 'cut two sweetheart
deals with Apple,' Mr. Enderle expects 2006 to be 'a really
interesting year' in the computer business. If AMD makes headway in
its lawsuit and the OEMs dig up proof that Intel is treating Apple
differently, the competitive landscape could change
dramatically."
Link: What the
Apple-Intel Deal Could Mean for PCs
Apple, Intel Others Working on HiDef TV
Spec
Macsimum News' Dennis Sellers reports:
"Apple is working with Intel and companies to create a better
link for connecting computers to high-definition televisions and
other consumer devices, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"The spec is known as UDI (unified display interface). The need
for an improved interface standard, addressing the unique
requirements of non-CRT display technologies, is currently one of
the major obstacles preventing the wider acceptance of such
products as replacements for the traditional CRT-based monitor,
according to B. Myers of HP in a paper written for the Society of
Information Display.
"The goal is to replace VGA, a nondigital technology. Instead
HDMI, for high-definition multimedia interface, would be used."
Link:
Apple, Intel Others Working on UDI Spec
Other Intel News
Intel to Unveil 'Leap Ahead' Branding
Strategy
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Intel Confirms 'Core' Branding
The Register's Tony Smith
reports:
"Intel today made public the new processor branding scheme that
leaked out of the company late last year.
"The launch confirms the company's plan to brand upcoming
Centrino notebooks in 'Duo' and 'Solo' forms, to indicate dual- and
single-core implementations of the platform. Where OEMs want to
stress the CPU - for desktops and servers - there are 'Intel Core
Duo' and 'Intel Core Solo' logos to suit."
Link:
Intel Confirms 'Core' Branding
Intel's Site Unveils New Chips Before Official
Introduction
eWeek's John G Spooner reports:
"Intel Corp. has unveiled new details about its 2006 chip
lineup, which includes its first dual-core notebook chips, on its
Web site ahead of their official introductions.
The chip maker, in an update of its online price sheet over the
past weekend, unveiled new model numbers, speeds and pricing of its
Core processor, a chip that's otherwise known as Yonah and that
will replace its Pentium M. It did the same with its desktop
Pentium D 900, otherwise known by the code name Presler."
Link: Intel's Site
Tips Off New Chips
Intel Announces Prices for Dual,
Single-core 'Yonah'
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel has started shipping its 65nm dual-core mobile Pentium
processor, Yonah, along with Centrino bundles based on the new
processor.
"As expected, the chips use Intel's new model-numbering scheme.
The T2600, T2500, T2400 and T2300 are dual-core parts - hence the
'2' - and are joined by one single-core chip, the T1300. The five
processors are clocked at 2.16 GHz, 2 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.66 GHz
and 1.66 GHz respectively, and operate on a 667 MHz frontside bus,
connecting across a FCBGA6 or FCPGA6 pin-out. All processors sport
2 MB of L2 cache.
"Intel has also launched a pair of low-voltage dual-core Yonahs,
the L2400 and L2300, clocked at 1.66 GHz and 1.5 GHz respectively.
Both use a 667 MHz FSB, and are priced at $316 and $284
respectively. They debut alongside the 1.3 GHz ultra-low voltage
Pentium M 733, which costs $273 in batches of 1,000 chips."
Link: Intel
Prices Up 65nm Dual, Single-core 'Yonah'
Intel Unwraps 'Presler', 'Cedar Mill'
CPUs
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel has debuted its latest dual-core desktop Pentium D
processors, launching the chip family as the 9xx series.
"The chip giant this week added four models to its price list:
the 920, 930, 940 and 950, all containing 4 MB of L2 cache
split into two 2 MB chunks, one for each of the two cores in
the chip package. All four operate on an 800 MHz frontside bus. The
CPUs are clocked at 2.8 GHz, 3 GHz, 3.2 GHz and 3.4 GHz,
respectively."
Link:
Intel Unwraps 65nm 'Presler', 'Cedar Mill'
Intel Moves Release Date for Conroe
Forward
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
"Intel is to align the launch of its next-generation desktop
processor, 'Conroe', and its upcoming 965 family of chipsets,
delaying the latter and bringing forward the former.
"So claim Taiwanese motherboard-maker sources cited by
DigiTimes.
"Conroe is the first desktop processor to be based on Intel's
next-generation architecture, the successor to today's NetBurst
technology. Essentially, Conroe takes key NetBurst features and
integrates them into a new core developed on the back of what the
company learned when it created today's Pentium M chips."
Link:
Intel to 'Bring Forward' Conroe Release Date
Intel Core Duo 'Yonah' Performance
Preview
AnandTech's Anand Lal Shimpi reports:
"At the end of November, we finally did what we had been waiting
to do for so long - provide the first performance benchmarks of
Intel's Yonah processor, the dual core successor to the highly
acclaimed Pentium M. However, our initial performance investigation
was not without its flaws. Given the short amount of time that we
had for benchmarking, we were forced to compare to older numbers
from previous reviews, which unfortunately lacked updated gaming,
encoding and 3D rendering tests.
"Despite the shortcomings of the initial article, we did manage
to get a good look at the performance that we could expect from
Yonah. Mainly, it was a fairly strong successor to the single core
Pentium M and even more impressive was that it offered performance
equal to that of AMD's Athlon 64 X2 without an on-die memory
controller....
"So for this follow-up, we've done two important things. For
starters, we've updated the benchmark suite considerably, including
modern day games and a few professional-level applications
hopefully to get a better perspective on Yonah's performance. We've
also included an Athlon 64 X2 running at 2.0 GHz, but with each
core having a full 1 MB L2 cache, making the Yonah vs. X2
comparison as close to even as possible (not mentioning the fact
that AMD has twice the advantage in this round, with both a larger
L1 cache and an on-die memory controller, but it should make things
interesting)...."
Link: Intel
Core Duo (Yonah) Performance Preview - Part II
64-Bit Power Struggle Heats Up
eWeek's Anne Chen reports:
"News Analysis: In 2005, vendors competed to provide
ever-increasing processor power, with 64-bit chips and dual-core
technology. Now AMD and Intel are shaping their multicore plans for
2006 and beyond."
Link: 64-Bit Power
Struggle Heats Up
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.
