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WillMak

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 29, 2005
957
0
How far behind will us macbook and macbook pro users be once apple goes merom?
 

kevin.rivers

macrumors 6502a
Dec 4, 2005
501
0
Yes. But the Yonahs will still be amazing chips. And you want be very far behind at all. There is always something new, making yesterdays tech "obsolete'. It doesn't change the fact that your computer does what you want it to do. Which is why you bought it.
 

Collin973

macrumors 6502
Mar 29, 2006
259
0
Well, not too far in fact. One of the big differences is that merom is 64-bit while Yonah is 32-bit, which gives it a slight speed boost and it'll have a slightly higher speed (ghz). However, there aren't too many programs that are recommended for 64-bit processors. Therefore, i think any one with yonah will still be in the running for a quite a while. I almost bought a yonah mbp myself, but i had to save up the cash to pay for it, which will be about the time the new merom mbp's come out.

Hope that helps...and i hope it's accurate!!

-CP
 

Scarlet Fever

macrumors 68040
Jul 22, 2005
3,262
0
Bookshop!
chaosbunny said:
I don't know, you'll be barely able to surf the web, maybe receive some mails, but not at once unless you have 2 gb ram.:rolleyes:
but when the new chips come out, won't anything with 2GB of RAM be obsolete? ;)
Whent the new chips come out, your computer will be as fast as it is now. As software becomes more complex, you will notice your computer isnt as snappy as it once was. Leopard should run much faster on an Intel Mac than Tiger does, but i doubt 10.6 will feel as fast.
But thats years down the track. You have a brilliant computer which should keep you going in some form for many years to come. My friend still uses a 1994 LC 575 for word processing and light web browsing, some people are still going strong with computers older than that.
 

Josias

macrumors 68000
Mar 10, 2006
1,908
1
Merom clocks from 1.66 to 2.33 GHz just like Yonah. At equivalent clocks, Merom has 20% increased performance over Yonah. To compare, a 1.83 GHz Merom, will be around the same as a 2.16 GHz Yonah.

billede1yc9.png


Merom is also 64-bit, which mostly concludes in highar RAM support. 32-bit processors normally only support 4 GB RAM, yet many of Intel's newer 32-bit processors have for quite some time supported up to 64 GB. The PowerMac G5, which is a 64-bit machine, supports up to 4 TB (4000 GB) or RAM. Since there have only been made 2 GB RAM sticks, the max is so far 16 GB, since it has 8 RAM slots. The 64-bit feature won't make much difference IMO, since Apple won't make 4 GB an option right away, since a 2 GB RAM stick is nearly $3k, which is more than a 17" MacBook Pro.

Despite the higher speed and support for more RAM, Merom's clocked at 2, 2.16 and 2.33 GHz sport a 4 MB L2 cache, instaed of the 2 MB L2 cache of the Yonah. The 1.66 and 1.83 GHz Merom's still have 2 MB L2 cache though. The Meorm remains with a 667 MHz FSB like the Yonah.

Just because Intel releases a new chip, ad Apple releases a new MacBook Pro or MacBook, doesn't mean that yous will become slower. It'll be as speedy as you've ever wished for. Just because there's something new, doesn't mean your stuff is out of date. I'm planning on getting a new MB when the decessor of Santa Rosa is released. 3 generations ahead of my current 2 GHz Yonah.

You wan't be able to put a new processor in your MacBook (Pro) since the processors are soldered onto the motherboard. This is however possible in iMac's and MacMini's, and will most probably also be possible in the Intel PowerMac (Mac Pro).

Santa Rosa is the decessor to Merom. Very little is known yet about it, yet Intel has announced that it will sport a 800 MHz FSB.:cool:

And to your actual question, I believe Yonah will be obsolete 3-4 years from now. By then, most new software will run extremely slow on them.

Just a warning: Never describe an Apple product with the word "obsolete", or Steve the King will send his Ninja G6 after you!
 

generik

macrumors 601
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
Nope, Yonahs will still be shipping alongside Merom chips until Q2 next year, so you can stop getting your panties in a bunch and keep buying Macs with Yonahs in them :D

Bet there'd be a price drop on them though, which makes them some kind of super chip for cheap!
 

WillMak

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 29, 2005
957
0
alright thanks guys! Sounds like I should be happy with my macbook for the next 3 years.
 

BWhaler

macrumors 68040
Jan 8, 2003
3,789
6,249
Obsolete?

Not a chance.

It will take a long time before they drop PPC, and you are on the Intel platform now. I would bet Apple will be supporting PPC 3-5 years from now, so you have to be pretty comfortable with your platform.

Of course, technology marches on, and at some point you won't be able to use every innovation Apple comes up with.

But Apple still supports any G3 Mac with a USB port. So, you should be fine until you feel the need to upgrade on your terms.
 
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