“Some analysts are predicting that Apple Computer may announce a Mac desktop that sports eight processors at the Macworld Expo next week. Industry watchers say Apple is sure to update its line of desktops and laptops. Will the company go quad-core? Some analysts say it might even work in two quad-core processors to give a Mac desktop the power of eight processors,” Sharon Gaudin reports for TechWeb.

Gaudin reports, “Bob LeVitus, a tech columnist for the Houston Chronicle and a speaker at MacWorld Expo, also says he wouldn’t be surprised if the next generation of the Mac Pro had two quad-core processors. ‘It would make sense,’ says LeVitus, who also is the author of Mac OS X for Dummies. ‘They’ve already got the architecture. The chips are designed to go in those sockets. The design is the same.’ LeVitus, though, says that kind of power most likely would not come cheap. He would expect that kind of horsepower to come with a price tag of $4,000 to $5,000.”

Gaudin reports, “He also says there would be a solid market for it. ‘For the video jockeys and the Photoshop guys and the guys doing big editing jobs, eight processors would be way better than four,’ he points out.”

Gaudin reports, “Richard Shim, a senior research analyst at IDC, expects Apple to enhance its line of notebooks. ‘The notebooks have been doing very well,’ he says. ‘Their notebook shipments hit records in the last quarter. With that kind of momentum, there’s an argument to be made to take advantage of it and come up with systems with new screen sizes. There’s an appeal for smaller systems, but if I had to make a choice, I’d say bigger is better. I could see them going with a 20-inch notebook.’”

“LeVitus thinks the MacBook lineup will get speed enhancements, upgraded memory configurations, and possibly a new body design. He also says there’s a good chance that Apple will come out with a small notebook, maybe something even in the 10-inch display range and weighing in around 3 pounds,” Gaudin reports.

Full article here.

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