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SantaRosa (whats in it for me?)
- Thread starter zoran
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Flash memory caching of frequently used files, essentially.
princealfie said:
The only people who can answer that are under NDA.
Having said that, the main power draw on any laptop is the display backlight and the HD, so unless Apple moves to LED backlighting or flash-based HD, it seems unlikely things will change much.
Santa Rosa offers some power saving with the new variable-speed FSB but that could well be offset by a greater powerdraw by the chipset -- the early samples were somewhat higher in TDP than the current Napa platform's requirements. However, that was months ago and engineering samples are just that -- samples.
Unless you're finding the 2GB limit a major issue, I'd stick with that system for now. With Leopard due later this year and Penryn early next year, I think I'd be waiting at least for the Montevina-based systems.
Of course, by then you might be tempted to wait for Nehalem...
Once the next chipset name is announced, ones that preceded it tend to be unceremoniously kicked to the curbside waiting for the next passing bus to crush them. If you are anything close to a "typical" user, your system will serve you well. Get full value for the price paid and focus on current enjoyment and productivity, not future changes and capabilities.
Should the next big release be named Supreme Zeus, it will not create anything close to imminent practical obsolescence on currently used computers. People should not be so susceptible to doubts about what they own since the volatile tech area changes like a weather forecast.
Unless you're finding the 2GB limit a major issue, I'd stick with that system for now. With Leopard due later this year and Penryn early next year, I think I'd be waiting at least for the Montevina-based systems.
Of course, by then you might be tempted to wait for Nehalem...
It's not the processors I am waiting for really... it's a computer that will last me years. More to the point, I have always suffered MBP (powerbook) envy, as I only ever had the white computers and yearned for a silver beast.
I'll just hold off. I do some pretty harsh programming, but my computer still kicks the butt of everyone elses computers in my department. It is OSX though
I think I will wait. I'll have another week's holiday and get my silver laptop some day in the future. They are just so pretty.
Also, it'll be nice to have 2GB RAM or something and still have room for another 2GB. I remember how much 1GB gave my iBook a kick up the ass. Insane difference.
i know, god only knows, but i'll ask anyway (sorry i'm italian)
i want a macbook, and i decide to wait for santarosa but
today somebody told me that i should take it now
because a new new new computer, just updated could have bug (not in the OS but in his mechanical part (sorry i'm italian)
the fact the santarose comes out the 8 of may, means that if apple uploads the MB on june the will not even try the santarosa.
so, we could be the tester of the new computer. (like the macbook-beta)
i hope somebody had understood me.
if you have grammatical corrections you're welcome.
i want a macbook, and i decide to wait for santarosa but
today somebody told me that i should take it now
because a new new new computer, just updated could have bug (not in the OS but in his mechanical part (sorry i'm italian)
the fact the santarose comes out the 8 of may, means that if apple uploads the MB on june the will not even try the santarosa.
so, we could be the tester of the new computer. (like the macbook-beta)
i hope somebody had understood me.
if you have grammatical corrections you're welcome.
New hardware (the "mechanical part") sometimes has teething problems (troubles when then design is new).
Santa Rosa could ship in June. The May launch is when Intel ships the actual parts. The engineering samples will have been available to hardware designers for months.
It's true it will be a new design, so if you're worried about it like the Macbook Beta, you might be more comfortable getting a current system rather than waiting.
However, with Santa Rosa, you'll be getting a better system. So, I guess it's a gamble of sorts.
Can u plz explain in what ways is it a better computer than the current MBPro? Cause "better" is only a subjective way to discribe superiority!
Can u plz explain in what ways is it a better computer than the current MBPro? Cause "better" is only a subjective way to discribe superiority!
Better in every way.
Better GPU
Better CPU
Better FSB
Possibly better LCDs.
Simply better.
The two first i dont understand, what better cpus and gpus will it hold? And are the new ones worth waiting for?
Can u plz explain in what ways is it a better computer than the current MBPro? Cause "better" is only a subjective way to discribe superiority!
There's a ton of threads that go into this in detail. However, sticking only to SR alone, and not any other improvements that Apple may or may not bestow upon the MBP (ie GPU, LED backlit display, etc.), we have the ability to have more memory (at least 4GB, maybe 8GB vs 3GB on current systems), faster FSB, variable speed FSB, flash-based caching technology (assuming they use it), and very slightly faster processor.
Intel Dynamic Acceleration was originally planned for Santa Rosa, but the lack of mentions of it of late, coupled with a recent document on Penryn that claimed IDA will be a Penryn innovation suggests it didn't make the cut for SR, which is a shame since it was probably the most interesting thing about SR. IDA is the ability to clock the cores differently, such that when one is idle and the other going flat out, the idle one can drop to a lower power state and the busy core can go above the usual maximum clock-speed (e.g. 2.4GHz part might run a single core at 2.6GHz). Pity...
So, it's not a huge leap forward. I'm more interested in what else Apple might add to the mix than SR per-se, but even if that's all that's added, it's an improvement.
I was asking the same questions.
I was asking the same questions on the "Official Waiting for Santa Rosa Thread" and yes I am waiting cause it's only about a month left, June is right around the corner. But yea, a good guy over at that thread posted this
http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2007/04/17/Intel-Santa-Rosa-Revealed/p1
and it helped me decide instantly. I learned a lot from it, hopefully it helps you out like it did me.
I was asking the same questions on the "Official Waiting for Santa Rosa Thread" and yes I am waiting cause it's only about a month left, June is right around the corner. But yea, a good guy over at that thread posted this
http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2007/04/17/Intel-Santa-Rosa-Revealed/p1
and it helped me decide instantly. I learned a lot from it, hopefully it helps you out like it did me.
The new integrated graphics chip is good for machines like Macbooks and Mac Minis.
The new CPUs will run at higher FSBs.
DDR3 won't become mainstream until 2009, so forget about reasonably priced 8GB RAM anytime soon. 4GB v. 3GB, that's what you'll get for the foreseeable future.
667 v 800Mhz FSB, not a huge increase, and until 800Mhz DDR3 support, no power savings.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2115031,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2845&p=4
How much powersaving can be expected with SR is debatable for now (NAND flash drives/Robson tech may amount to rather meger energy savings and slightly faster boot times will not be a great marketing point- the major benefit of Robson. Montevina/Penryn should be more significant advancements than SR/Merom, but that's more, far more than 6 months away at best.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=2971
Robson 2.0 with Montevina maybe academic- if NAND mem. for SSD's result in price competitive 128GB or higher capacity SSD, should Montevina not be released until summer 2008.
Additional hardware upgrades besides SR chipset/platform are what make the SR MBP/MB/iMac a more interesting possibility.
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2845&p=2
DDR3 is irrelevant to current systems, since it requires a new memory controller.
The new FSB's power-saving comes from the fact it can dynamically change frequency a la EIST on the CPU, albeit with lesser savings. Still, Intel's predicted a small saving there (and a bigger one for Penryn, which will be able to disable the FSB altogether when running purely out of L2 and in sleep modes).
Hard to say. If you're hitting VM, caching the static code pages of executables is a fair win in terms of reducing HD thrashing. Of course, that's an implementation detail. That's where the real win comes in, by reducing HDs thrashing as they try and swap both data and code pages back in, especially on notebooks with their comparitively slow HDs.
Of course, adding more RAM is a much better solution, but flash is really cheap. Beyond that, it gives Intel another bullet point -- and most people don't understand what it all means, so more bullet points is generally better, thus explaining the really ludicrous "features" one finds listed on packaging/ads...
Indeed, but that's quite a big "if". Intel's solution also means that as SSD prices drop you can keep most of the advantages of an SSD HD and still have the cheap prices of the rapidly-increasing traditional HD.
The SSD guys don't expect price parity quite so soon, but who knows; prices crash. Just look at RAM.
I agree (and said as much in one of the SR threads). The above was to specifically answer a question on Santa Rosa itself.
Santa Rosa per se doesn't bring a huge amount to the table; it's an evolutionary step and arguably its biggest selling point in terms of hardware was the WiMAX integration that was dropped. The other big selling point would be the remote management aspects that presumably put the "Pro" in "Centrino Pro", which isn't terribly relevent here.
Other options such as a long-overdue better GPU (and, I read, GeForce Go 8600's are due in April), LCD backlighting, etc. are rather more interesting.
I do wonder how long Apple's known of the Leopard delay. Some are convinced that no new hardware will appear until Leopard, but if the plans had been to do that, then the hardware was originally planned for June, and hardware has a much longer lead time than software.