Wait for 64-bit Conroe this July?

[~Shard~]

My bet is that Intel's 64-bit server chips are going to go into the replaement for the Power Mac.

Woodcrest? Nah, Apple will put that chip in the Xserve. Apple will put Conroe in the PowerMac.

Likely if you wait 6 months you will see an incremental bump in the iMac's clock speed but going away from the Core Duo would be a total redesign. You can't simply swap CPU chips.

You are incorrect. The Yonah and Merom are pin-compatible, so you can simply swap chips, with the appropriate firmware update, etc.

 

[cb911]

i doubt that the Conroe will be used in the iMacs anway. so stick with your new Intel iMac, unless you plan to purchase an Intel PowerMac when they arrive.

 

[FFTT]

Unless you ABSOLUTELY NEED a new machine right now, I would wait.

We don't know what kind of power consumption or heat statistics the
lower power 64 bit chips will have.

My gut feeling is that some time between Rev B and Rev C we could in fact get 64 bit single dual cores in the MBP's and the iMacs with
Quad ( 2X2 ) in the the Pro Workstations.

There's going to be a Core War blood bath between Intel and AMD and it could all work out to our benefit.

 

[~Shard~]

i doubt that the Conroe will be used in the iMacs anway. so stick with your new Intel iMac, unless you plan to purchase an Intel PowerMac when they arrive.

I agree - not until 2007 at least, and even then that might be pushing it. The Yonah and Merom are pin-compatible, so whenever Apple decides to upgrade the iMac, it'll be to a Merom, is my guess, even though that's technically Intel's mobile solution. And if the iMac does indeed go Merom, that's going to last it for a long time, I'm thinking...

 

[Sdashiki]

I understand all the hooplah about low wattage and power consumption for laptops and even for the thin iMac, but in reality do you honestly think that in the highest end machine apple will produce this year with Intel chips will be low power?

I mean yes it will definetely be more efficient than the current G5 hot powah towahs, but when its plugged into the wall and you need raw computing power why would you sacrifice some power just to save some energy?

The towers are for "professionals" and apple is notorious for never stepping backwards, so their laptops will never be thicker than what they are now and will only be thinner, even if it means not producing a new laptop design for years (LoL). And Apple wont drop the 16GB capacity of the Quad G5, meaning the next Intel Tower will be 64Bit and it will be something we havent seen.

but even then it has to be seen whether those Towers are worth waiting for, Rev. A machines is what I mean.

m2c

 

[Diatribe]

Precisely - if you play the waiting game, you'll always be waiting.

Says the one still using Panther on a 17" 1.25 GHz G4 iMac


I disagree though, the more I think about it I am inclined to wait about a year longer until there is more software is optimized and more important working with the Intel procs.
Merom looks a lot more promising, especially regarding speed and energy savings. And by then all apps should be universal too. So I guess I am going to wait at least a little bit longer.

 

[~Shard~]

Says the one still using Panther on a 17" 1.25 GHz G4 iMac

Hey, I am not just blindly waiting, I know what I want in my next machine, and am waiting until it is available. Good one nonetheless....

I disagree though, the more I think about it I am inclined to wait about a year longer until there is more software is optimized and more important working with the Intel procs.

And I agree with this - further to the above, if there is a specific reason for waiting with some rationale behind it, by all means - that is what I am doing. But until my 64-bit iMac (Conroe/Merom) with at least 1 GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD, Blu Ray optical drive, OS X 10.5 pre-installed and iLife 07 pre-installed is a reality, along with optimized x86 software, etc., I, too will be waiting.

 

[Diatribe]

Hey, I am not just blindly waiting, I know what I want in my next machine, and am waiting until it is available. Good one nonetheless....



And I agree with this - further to the above, if there is a specific reason for waiting with some rationale behind it, by all means - that is what I am doing. But until my 64-bit iMac (Conroe/Merom) with at least 1 GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD, Blu Ray optical drive, OS X 10.5 pre-installed and iLife 07 pre-installed is a reality, along with optimized x86 software, etc., I, too will be waiting.

I think you'll have all that this time next year. By that time we'll also have 802.11n Airport cards and other goodies. So all in all I guess it's a good decision to wait.

 

[gunm]

I've never owned any Apple computer before, so I think I've "waited" long enough.

My new Intel Imac should be arriving in the next 24 hours or so.

 

[andiwm2003]

.......................................But until my 64-bit iMac (Conroe/Merom) with at least 1 GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD, Blu Ray optical drive, OS X 10.5 pre-installed and iLife 07 pre-installed is a reality, along with optimized x86 software, etc., I, too will be waiting.

64-bit iMac (Merom) with at least 512 of RAM, X1600 256 VRAM, 250 GB HDD, Superdrive, OS X 10.4.5 pre-installed and iLife 06 pre-installed would be good enough for me.

Or i can get a current Core Duo for cheap from somebody who absolutely needs to have a Merom

But seems i'll wait till July anyway.

 

[~Shard~]

I've never owned any Apple computer before, so I think I've "waited" long enough.

My new Intel Imac should be arriving in the next 24 hours or so.

I don't blame you at all - I know you'll enjoy your new Mac and have no regrets.

 

[~Shard~]

64-bit iMac (Merom) with at least 512 of RAM, X1600 256 VRAM, 250 GB HDD, Superdrive, OS X 10.4.5 pre-installed and iLife 06 pre-installed would be good enough for me.

...

But seems i'll wait till July anyway.

2007 is what I'm targetting, and I definitely want one of those nice new fancy schmancy Blu Ray drives and Leopard. I'm just skipping Tiger.

 

[maxvamp]

Two things..

First, Has anyone noticed that Apple has done a pretty decent job on keeping binary compatibility Between two very different processors?

If/when Apple goes 64-bit, they will, as they always have, make sure there is a smooth transition with several generations of support. Only now with Tiger is the PowerMac G3 starting to be clasified as obsolete. This, a machine designed for Mac OS 8.6.

It will be at least 5-6 years before people that buy any Mac today will not be able to use thier existing system.

As far as 64-bit. Only the current UNIX under-pinnings are 64-bit. Almost all of Cocoa and Carbon are 32-bit. Unless you start doing scientific math, you are not going to see any 32-64 bit issues any time soon.

Max.

 

[Diatribe]

2007 is what I'm targetting, and I definitely want one of those nice new fancy schmancy Blu Ray drives and Leopard. I'm just skipping Tiger.

You know, I'd really rather have HD-DVD win the format war. This way at least there'll be no region codes anymore. With Blu-Ray this **** starts all over again.

 

[cr2sh]

i doubt that the Conroe will be used in the iMacs anway. so stick with your new Intel iMac, unless you plan to purchase an Intel PowerMac when they arrive.

Intel Powermac... something tells me it'll be simply the 'Mac Pro.'

 

[Glen Quagmire]

Woodcrest? Nah, Apple will put that chip in the Xserve. Apple will put Conroe in the PowerMac.



You are incorrect. The Yonah and Merom are pin-compatible, so you can simply swap chips, with the appropriate firmware update, etc.

I think they'll put Woodcrest (Xeon) in the PowerMac. You've been able to buy a PowerMac with dual CPUs for years. Why would they stop now? Conroe is a single CPU solution - Woodcrest is two or more. If Apple released a PowerMac with Woodcrests later on this year, I'd buy one like a shot to replace my PC (funds permitting) and dual boot/run VPC for Chief Architect/VS.Net and the few other Windows apps that I need to be able to run.

I see it panning out like this:

iBook ("MacBook")/iBook Thin(?) - Merom (no brainer)
Powebook ("MacBook Pro") - Merom (ditto)
Mac mini (Merom - for reasons of space, low heat, etc)
iMac - Conroe
PowerMac - Woodcrest
Xserve - Woodcrest

Why Conroe in an iMac? Intel's current desktop offerings - think Pentium D - are totally unsuitable for anything Apple would want to put a desktop chip in. Can you imagine a piping hot Pentium D with a massive heatsink in the back of an iMac? If Apple want to compete with Dell et al in the "home PC" market, they'll need to use Conroe, as that's what Dell/HP/whoever will be using. Yonah, as used in the new iiMacs is a laptop chip. Used in a desktop. Doesn't make much sense.

All IMHO, of course.

 

[~Shard~]

You know, I'd really rather have HD-DVD win the format war. This way at least there'll be no region codes anymore. With Blu-Ray this **** starts all over again.

Good point actually. I guess I just find Blu ray "cooler", hence why I want it. Plus, it's going to be in the new PS3 and I was always a PS fan as well...

 

[truz]

Sure hope I have some extra money when 64bits come out I'll have to buy a 17" macbook pro!

 

[yankeefan24]

I think they'll put Woodcrest (Xeon) in the PowerMac. You've been able to buy a PowerMac with dual CPUs for years. Why would they stop now? Conroe is a single CPU solution - Woodcrest is two or more. If Apple released a PowerMac with Woodcrests later on this year, I'd buy one like a shot to replace my PC (funds permitting) and dual boot/run VPC for Chief Architect/VS.Net and the few other Windows apps that I need to be able to run.

I see it panning out like this:

iBook ("MacBook")/iBook Thin(?) - Merom (no brainer)
Powebook ("MacBook Pro") - Merom (ditto)
Mac mini (Merom - for reasons of space, low heat, etc)
iMac - Conroe
PowerMac - Woodcrest
Xserve - Woodcrest

Why Conroe in an iMac? Intel's current desktop offerings - think Pentium D - are totally unsuitable for anything Apple would want to put a desktop chip in. Can you imagine a piping hot Pentium D with a massive heatsink in the back of an iMac? If Apple want to compete with Dell et al in the "home PC" market, they'll need to use Conroe, as that's what Dell/HP/whoever will be using. Yonah, as used in the new iiMacs is a laptop chip. Used in a desktop. Doesn't make much sense.

All IMHO, of course.

i agree with you on what the product line-up will be. The only thing is that i think that the laptop line will be split into a regular line, as it is now, and a ultra-portable line, lightweight,small, thin, and powerful. The regular laptop line will be split into more powerful computers (pro) and the consumer based line (not pro). As far as putting yonah in an iMac, they wanted a dual core chip in the iMac. They wanted their two best selling machines to have the best chip possible, the yonah, despite being a mobile chip, is the best intel chip out there right now.

 

[~Shard~]

Conroe is a single CPU solution - Woodcrest is two or more.

Is this stated somewhere on Intel's site, as I haven't heard this one before. Link please.

Regardless, one could argue that the 970MP is a "single CPU solution", hence why they put one in the low end PowerMacs, yet they also made it a "multiple CPU solution" by including two of them in the quad.

If Apple released a PowerMac with Woodcrests later on this year, I'd buy one like a shot to replace my PC (funds permitting) and dual boot/run VPC for Chief Architect/VS.Net and the few other Windows apps that I need to be able to run.

No question, if Woodcrests did go into the PowerMacs those would be sweet machines!

iBook ("MacBook")/iBook Thin(?) - Merom (no brainer)

In the future, but not right away. Look for the iBooks to get the single core variants of the Yonah for starters (so that they will not be on par with the existing PowerBooks) and then later receive the dual core Yonahs when the PowerBooks move to either Merom or at least the performance edition of the dual core Yonahs in a few months.

Powebook ("MacBook Pro") - Merom (ditto)

Yep, this is definitely Apple's long term plan!

iMac - Conroe

I say Merom for starters. Sure, the iMac is technically a desktop, whereas Merom is a "laptop processor", however the iMac is pretty small and not your average desktop. Plus, Merom and Yonah are pin-compatible, so making the switch would be easy. Mermo would give the iMac a substantial boost, and although the line will of course eventually move to Conroe, I don't see it happening right away.

PowerMac - Woodcrest

Would be nice, but it might be Conroe for starters - tough call though.

Xserve - Woodcrest

Definitely!

 

[Diatribe]

Good point actually. I guess I just find Blu ray "cooler", hence why I want it. Plus, it's going to be in the new PS3 and I was always a PS fan as well...

Yeah, and it is going to win most likely too. It's just that this is/was a chance to finally get rid of these damned region codes.

 

[~Shard~]

Yeah, and it is going to win most likely too. It's just that this is/was a chance to finally get rid of these damned region codes.

I thought I heard somewhere that they were at least trimming down the regions so that there would be only 2 or 3 of them instead of the 6 or so we have now. It isn't the best, but would help I guess...

 

[Diatribe]

I thought I heard somewhere that they were at least trimming down the regions so that there would be only 2 or 3 of them instead of the 6 or so we have now. It isn't the best, but would help I guess...

Hmm, that'd be better but with my luck there'd still be Asia/Australia, Europe/Africa and America, which would basically be the same dilemma as I am in right now.
Too bad because that means I'll have to continue to rip and burn movies because I am definitely not getting 2-3 DVD players for that or buying a new region code free dvd player whenever I move.

 

[~Shard~]

Hmm, that'd be better but with my luck there'd still be Asia/Australia, Europe/Africa and America, which would basically be the same dilemma as I am in right now.
Too bad because that means I'll have to continue to rip and burn movies because I am definitely not getting 2-3 DVD players for that or buying a new region code free dvd player whenever I move.

Yeah, that does suck. Well, maybe both formats can get along like good friends and we'll all live happily ever after?

 

[Diatribe]

Yeah, that does suck. Well, maybe both formats can get along like good friends and we'll all live happily ever after?

Yeah, as if... Ah whatever, as long as DVDJon cracks the copy protection again I don't care.