Apple's Mysterious Chip Moves
The computer maker is mum on the timetable for releasing more Intel-powered machines, so let's take a look at the clues
By Stephen H. Wildstrom
OCTOBER 10, 2006
Reader Luzia Choupina Borges asks a question on a lot of Mac lovers' minds: Do you know when new Apple computers like the MacBook Pro (not desktops) will come to the market with the new Intel Core 2 Duo and new software?
Unlike every other computer maker, Apple refuses to discuss plans for incorporating new processors as they become available. Now that Macs include Intel chips, Apple finds itself on the same Intel road map as other computer makers. I hope that means Apple (AAPL ) will be more forthcoming. But I'm not going to bet on it.
For now, all I can do is offer some guesses, based on what other laptop makers are doing—and Intel's announced plans. Intel (INTC ) began shipping the Core 2 chips for notebooks this summer and they are becoming available in all but the smallest. My best guess is that the MacBook Pros and perhaps the MacBook and mini will be refreshed using the new Core 2 Duos sometime in November. (The iMac has already moved to the Core 2. The Mac Pro uses workstation-class Xeon chips).
MAYBE IN SPRINGTIME. This move to the Core 2, code-named Merom, is something of an interim step, with a more significant upgrade expected in Spring, 2007. The Merom processor is a new design that can swallow instructions and data in 64-bit bites—helping the computer handle bigger tasks more quickly than earlier chip iterations. But because of limitations in supporting chips, which were designed for older processors, it is limited to 32-bit operation.
In early spring, Intel is expected to release a new "chip set," code-named Santa Rosa, that will allow the Core 2 Duo processors to operate up to their full potential. I expect Apple will do another refresh of its line soon after the Santa Rosa chips become available.
As for software, Apple announced last January that a new version of OS X, called Leopard, is in the works. As usual, the company has remained mum on a release date, but my guess is that it will come no later than Mac World Expo, the second week of January. I think Apple would dearly love to steal Microsoft's (MSFT ) thunder by making Leopard available before Microsoft ships Vista, the next version of Windows. |
