Apple to Update Mobile Line Before Holidays
09.19.06 - 12:12pm
In the past Apple always lagged behind the PC community due to its reliance upon IBM and the PowerPC processor. When Apple jumped ship from IBM to Intel it lost any excuses in regards to hardware release delays and it looks like Apple will have no need to make excuses with the recent refresh to the iMac line and the upcoming redesign to its mobile line of computers.
Intel’s Core Duo processor line was actually a rather empty line when you compared it to the Pentium from Intel and the Athlon 64 from AMD. While it offered some great powersaving techniques it was essentially two Pentium Ms meshed together. One of the largest problems with the Core Duo line was the lack for 64 bit support which severely limited the future of this processor. While the Core Duo was essentially a transition stage, the mobile Core 2 Duo processor codenamed Merom, contains all the benefits of the Core Duo along with a serious increase in performance.
Since the Core 2 Duo Mobile chips are direct socket replacements for Core Duo chips there is a good chance that there will be very little revisions in regards to motherboards and graphics on the new Macbook and Macbook Pro’s. With so little required in the design Apple should turn some attention to the outstanding errors in the designs such as the terribly designed heatsink. Fortunately the Core 2 Duo processor will actually run even cooler than the Core Duo processor which will further extend the potential battery life while keeping these laptops from cooking your legs.
By switching its entire line over from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo processors, Macs will once again become competitive in regards to performance when compared to other laptops. If the prices stay relatively the same Apple will have another great product on their hands which will sell like hotcakes.
Relevant Links
Apple Insider
Speak Your Mind