tinyurl.com/kf27l -> www.tuaw.com/2006/06/13/hacker-installs-core-2-duo-chip-in-mac-mini-hangs-on-for-the-ri/
Mac mini Macenstein has blogged a Mac mini CPU swap, as a poster in a Taiwanese forum has switched out the Core Duo chip for a Core 2 Duo chip, a next-generation CPU from Intel. The brain upgrade has resulted not only in the Mac mini stomping a PowerMac G5 dual 25 GHz in an iTunes MP3-AAC conversion test (remember: Mac minis have slower laptop hard drives than desktop PowerMacs), but it also runs cooler, due to the new architecture of these Core 2 Duo (code name: Merom) Intel chips.
Just a side note, are we really trying to pick at Apple over putting CPUs to soon in their systems? If you waitned for the next best gen CPU, then you would ALWAYS be waiting. They run warm, yes, but really, I don't think it runs that much warmer then my G4 PowerBook when I am gaming.
Don't forget that the Core Duo is still the best mobile processor Intel's ever had. And don't forget that the Core Duo isn't just used in Macs. There are plenty of happy Core Duo users out there (including Mac users).
You can't really blame Apple for shipping what they did - it was pretty common knowledge that Intel was coming out with another batch of dual-core chips in mid-late 2006, so the information was available for people to decide whether to buy or wait. It's not like the IBM/Motorola days, where Apple's the main customer and the other customers aren't in the personal computer market, so CPU roadmaps were vague and secretive.
Between that and the limited viewing angle of the screen, I find it hard to find a comfortable posture. If I'm sitting up straight, I feel like I need to tilt the screen back a smidgen farther - but I can't. I can't see how a tall person would use it without scrunching down or slouching. The Mac Book doesn't seem to be afflicted with this problem, as far as I could tell at the Apple Store last weekend. If the new Core Duo 2s run cooler than the Core Duos, I hope Apple revamps the Mac Book Pro to borrow whatever it is that allows the MB's screen to open so far, and throws in the new Core Duo 2 as the CPU.
I'm waiting for the next rev of the 15" MacBook Pro as well. Core 2 Duo 64bit processor, and maybe we'll also see some of the innovations found in the MacBook and the 17" MacBook Pro; such as the magnetic latch, the new-style keyboard, and FW800!
The Conroe chips are the ones that go up to 29 ghz, and use more power. Sadly, the MB and the MBP have the cpus soldered to the sockets, so you cannot upgrade them.
It's a pity about the soldered CPUs, but frankly I'm happy with my MacBook's performance. GraphicConverter is a joy to use now rather than an annoyance. My only complaint thus far is that 512mb is far too little RAM for my usage needs, and that's easily rectified. It's nice to know what I've got to look forward to with my next Mac though.
"maybe we'll also see some of the innovations found in the MacBook and the 17" MacBook Pro; such as the magnetic latch, the new-style keyboard, and FW800!" And, perhaps most of all, the user-replaceable hard drives on the MacBook.
"jumping the gun on cramming Intel chips into their present lineup" Are you serious? That's one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard in awhile. They "crammed Intel chips into their present lineup" because those are the Intel chips "presently" available, and PowerPC had hit a brick wall in portables a long time ago. Well, Apple better not use the Core Duo 2 chips either, because the following generation will be better. Oh wait, they can't go with those either, as the subsequent generation will be better.
The Intel Core Duos have been available for only a few months, and now the TRUE promises of 'lower energy consumption, less heat' are being promised by a new generation that is already available? My comment was critiquing the fact that these Core Duo chips are turning out to be the exact antithesis of what Apple promised - they're high power (the MB and MBP power supplies are higher wattage) and my MBP runs a helluva lot hotter than my 167 GHz PowerBook 15". I wasn't lamenting obvious technological progress - I was berating Apple for BSing their Mac customers into these chips that are nothing of what they should have been.
I think the very fact that the Mac press sees this as rapid chip development shows how much we languished in the PowerPC camp. Next year the NEXT generation chips are going to come out, making the Core 2 look slow. Now you see why Intel folks were snickering at the Mac folks the few times in recent history that the PowerPC briefly pulled ahead in speed. I don't know anyone who owns an Intel Macintosh who will be sorry they bought when they did.
Yes I have an iMac, but I also have 2 thinkpads currently, and I've owned several thinkpads before these 2 as well. No ball burners, no freezing, no leaking caps, no flaming batteries, no whining, nothing.
Many knew that before the MacBook Pro was out that Core 2 would be out in very short order after the Core, because that's how Intel said it would be. So while I purchased a G4 PB two weeks before the MBP were announced, I'm happy I don't have heat issues & whining fans ...
the only BS I see is in your blog entry and subsequent attempts at CYA. Either give me a link to the statement where Jobs or anyone else at Apple promised that the first-generation Intel-based products would be low-power, or keep your frickin' trap shut. Jobs made it very clear that Apple made the change to Intel because Intel's product roadmap was headed the right direction (higher performance per watt, good mobile chips), and even you ought to be able to put aside your petty defensive BS and admit that Intel is delivering in spades.
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