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Official Merom Discussion Thread

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boredstiff

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 9, 2006
1
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I need some info on merom.

Is a 64 bit processor really worth the wait for someone who pretty much only uses the basic iLife apps? We all know by now that Leopard will be made for 64-bit and ADAPTED for 32-bit. If I look at these two processors now, they both have their pros and cons, but will 64-bit really be that much more important in the future?

Lots of questions but i hope you guys can maybe give me your opinions.
 
All things being equal (cache, size of buses etc) for normal use 64 bit buys you very little (more memory addressability and quicker use of doubles for high precision scientific work).

It's more of a marketing term than anything else, I mean will all apps ship in 32bit and 64bit flavours?
 
If you aren't going to utilize the 64 bit then it really isnt worth the wait. The only reason any of the Mac Laptops will be getting Merom is because everyone else on the market will be going that way.

I highly doubt that 64-bit will be a major selling point for consumer macs.

Merom is great as it does boost performance, but that is all a consumer is going to see. Memory addressability is moot, as the standard is 1-2GB right now. We've got that covered. Maybe 5 years down the line 64-bit will be more useful, by then you will have a new computer.

Unless all apps start to taken advantage of 64-bit it is unecessary in a consumer computer.
 
kevin.rivers said:
Unless all apps start to taken advantage of 64-bit it is unecessary in a consumer computer.
Click to expand...

can you elaborate on how apps might be taken advantage of 64-bit, and would the speed difference between merom and yonah (at that time) be very significant, any links i can read on?
 
The core advancement in leopard is that its nuclei is 64-bit. may seem irrelevant, but its worlds apart from 32-bit. it will take time to feel the difference, as all apps will have to migrate, which will happen slowly.

however, is your computer is not 64, you will not be part of the developments that will surely and steadily come. I would recommend waiting for merom to those who intend to spend at least 3 years with their laptops
 
If you only use basic apps, no you do not need Merom. 64-bit is not important to the average consumer, so you can feel free to buy whenever you like.
 
I am wondering all this too. I'm waiting for a notebook with merom just because I actually want my notebook to last me through 3 or 4 mac os's. I'm sure everyone with 32-bit computers will be fine for the next 2, but what about later down the road. Will there be a more significant speed increase as a result of an increase in 64 bit applications?
 
isnt the merom chip better on battery life? what about the rumor of a new case for the mbp when it adopts the new chip?

Im leaving for college in about 2 weeks, but im still holding out for the new mbp because waiting 2 or 3 more weeks for a new mbp would be worth waiting a lil bit longer for
 
ricgnzlzcr said:
I am wondering all this too. I'm waiting for a notebook with merom just because I actually want my notebook to last me through 3 or 4 mac os's. I'm sure everyone with 32-bit computers will be fine for the next 2, but what about later down the road. Will there be a more significant speed increase as a result of an increase in 64 bit applications?
Click to expand...

3 or 4 Mac OSs? Very few people would have their main computer for 10 years AND want to know about speed increases.

If you use light apps, like iTunes, Pages/ Word, Safari/Firefox/Camino, Mail etc. etc. and want support for around 5 years, you can buy now and be fine.

For all others, I suggest you wait for Merom, even though it'll only be about 10% faster and barely cooler.
 
I wouldnt wait for Merom. It is a BIT faster. It isnt 10% faster in all around tests. Games for example (on the PC) you see almost little to no performance increase. It only shines in professional applications. For the average user it translate to, you just wasted your time waiting for Merom. Only benefit I see from it is a 64bit which makes the system more future proof.


As for people saying when all applications become 64bit and what not, then you will feel the performance increase, it is true there will be a performance increase but it is too small to feel the increase. Windows XP x64 with all its many ported applications to 64bit, I feel nothing. It is faster according to the numbers, but I see and feel no difference.
 
It depends on how 'future-proof' you want your mac to be. If you wait for the 64 bit then your computer will last longer in the future (in the sense of keeping up with technology and applications) All applications will run faster once they are designed to take advantage of the 64 bit systems. In general the merom chips run more efficiently. more computations and less watts used. this is very good for a notebook, especially if you want your battery to last a long time. that is probably the biggest advantage you will notice until all apps are designed specifically for 64 bit processors.
 
Well I always think I'll keep my computer for 4 years but have sold each one after a year for 3 years now:D . These have been transition periods for me though. First computer was a really nice pc which I sold for my first mac. The powerbook I bought was amazing, but the transition to intel macs scared me a bit plus I wanted a bigger screen. Now I want to get a 15 inch macbook pro and hopefully won't have to upgrade again till there are 4 core mbp's!!! Who knows when that will happen though. If everything goes according to plan, this next computer should actually last me more than a year
 
BlizzardBomb said:
3 or 4 Mac OSs? Very few people would have their main computer for 10 years
Click to expand...


Actually, I've had mine for 6 and have been through 5 OS's on it Mac OS 9-10.3! It's done me just fine, still going strong, but in terms of the rest of the community, is on its last leg. So I'm waiting on Merom. I want to be able to go as long and keep up with the pack, until the next major improvement comes along.

I don't have the luxury like most people of buying a new computer every time Apple puts out the latest and greatest. Sucks being a poor grad student! :D
 
I am in a similar situation. I am going to get a MBP. My Toshiba laptop is dead, blue screens all around. I want to get it now, I can wait and use this 4 year old Gateway desktop (in great condition btw) but isn't portable and I need to take my computer to school.

I am trying to wait for Merom, but the Gateway desktop isn't getting any lighter.

I have seen the test results comparing Core Duo to Core 2 Duo. Yeah Merom looks a bit better, but we are talking about seconds here and practically no difference in battery life.

I plan on using my MBP routinely for mail, internet, iLife, heavy-duty document preperation, presentations, LabView Programming, and Matlab/Mathematica work (not big calcualtions; I will find a Mac Pro for that).

Do you see 64 bit adding *significant* improvement to these kinds of apps?

Secondly, since they are making Leopard 64bit this means they will all be moving all Macs to 64 bit by then. Will Leopard run *significantly* slower on a 32 bit machine?
 
Is it true that it would be really easy to switch out the chip of a early MBP with that of a merom chip on your own?
 
redrabbit said:
Is it true that it would be really easy to switch out the chip of a early MBP with that of a merom chip on your own?
Click to expand...

That's not true. The laptops are socketted, you can't change the CPU. Mac Mini and iMac are though.
 
ChickenSwartz said:
I am in a similar situation. I am going to get a MBP. My Toshiba laptop is dead, blue screens all around. I want to get it now, I can wait and use this 4 year old Gateway desktop (in great condition btw) but isn't portable and I need to take my computer to school.

I am trying to wait for Merom, but the Gateway desktop isn't getting any lighter.

I have seen the test results comparing Core Duo to Core 2 Duo. Yeah Merom looks a bit better, but we are talking about seconds here and practically no difference in battery life.

I plan on using my MBP routinely for mail, internet, iLife, heavy-duty document preperation, presentations, LabView Programming, and Matlab/Mathematica work (not big calcualtions; I will find a Mac Pro for that).

Do you see 64 bit adding *significant* improvement to these kinds of apps?

Secondly, since they are making Leopard 64bit this means they will all be moving all Macs to 64 bit by then. Will Leopard run *significantly* slower on a 32 bit machine?
Click to expand...

I'm in the same shoe as you. For all the apps now, I'm sure the 2.16yonah won't be "feeling" slow at all, and probably won't for a while. I just want to make sure that when leopard comes out, none of its apps will be "feeling" slow on 32bit, and esp none should be incapatible with 32bit. I will get mac pro sometimes next year, so I guess really heavy computation isn't really the problem here.
 
I think we're all in the same boat. I know that a lot of us are using computers hanging by a thread just waiting to buy a new Mac. I sincerely hope that a Merom MBP is released before September. I don't care about a new case, it would be nice but not essential. I just don't want to wait until October, November, or even December in order to see a Core 2 Duo chip in a MBP.
 
boredstiff said:
I need some info on merom.

If I look at these two processors now, they both have their pros and cons, but will 64-bit really be that much more important in the future?

Lots of questions but i hope you guys can maybe give me your opinions.
Click to expand...

Im sorry but...what exactly are the 'cons' of merom when compared to yonah? Anything you read anywhere only gives signs of better things to come from Core 2, we arent moving backward by any means as far as I can tell
 
redrabbit said:
Is it true that it would be really easy to switch out the chip of a early MBP with that of a merom chip on your own?
Click to expand...

It would be really difficult.

You would be hard pressed to find someone willing to toouch your MBP with a soldering iron...
 
Core Trio said:
Im sorry but...what exactly are the 'cons' of merom when compared to yonah? Anything you read anywhere only gives signs of better things to come from Core 2, we arent moving backward by any means as far as I can tell
Click to expand...

The only "con" of Merom I can think of is possible problems that arrive with new stuff. Since this chip is so similar to Yonah I doubt there will be many problems.

The million dollar question:
Are the "pros" of Merom worth the wait?
 
ChickenSwartz said:
The million dollar question:
Are the "pros" of Merom worth the wait?
Click to expand...

And the two million dollar question:
How long is the wait?
 
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