“Just one week ahead of Macworld, Intel quietly slips a low-cost quad-core processor into its mobile line-up. Is this the powerplant for Apple’s new unibody 17 inch MacBook Pro?” David Flynn wonders for APC Magazine.
“Apple’s mid-October refresh of its notebook line left a curious gap at the top end of the card, with the 17 inch MacBook Pro missing the make-over of its 15 inch cousin and the 13.3 inch MacBook,” Flynn reports.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s not that curious. The same “17-inch gap” existed when the MacBook Pro debuted (MacBook Pro 15-inch debuted on January 10, 2006 while the 17-inch MacBook Pro appeared later that year on April 24, 2006.
Flynn continues, “That could be about to change next week, with the possibility that the Jobs-free keynote at Apple’s last Macworld show could be used to launch the company’s most powerful laptop ever… Branded as the Core 2 Extreme Q9000, [Intel’s new] chip partners four 2GHz cores with 6MB of Level 2 cache for US$348.”
Full article here.
ready to buy one.
first post!
Wow, so the 17incher has twice the number of duo-balls …
From David Flynn’s lips to Gawd’s ears!
i want a i7 iMac lol
Snapidy snap snap?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
My precious.
I have a 15″ now and I can’t believe how much faster it is than my old 17″ MacBook Pro. I must have the quad core 17″.
I must! I must!
But then, if everything is moving to the stupid cloud, who needs all this computing power?
For the money Apple charges it better start at the:
Q9450 45 nm 12MB 2.66 GHz 1333 MHz
With a possible upgrade to the:
Q9650 45 nm 12MB L2 3.00 GHz 1333 MHz
Not the lame:
Q9000 45 nm 6MB 2.00 GHz 1066 MHz
These should also find there way into the new iMac!
I just hope this comes true. My daughter has been waiting for a long time to rip the fingers of my 15″ Macbook Pro.
Ok, we are about the get the 17 inch! Whoop- how about the FIREWIRE on the MacBook. Come on guys.
I rather have a small net book to throw in the pack than a hunking quad core portable desktop.
@ silverwarloc
Your Macbook Pro has fingers? Good Lord that’s creepy.
Is it just me? Am I the only one out here that hates pro because it will not fit in my backpack?
Quad 17″ Pro?
I’ll be on it like white on rice.
@doc My 17″ fits just fine in my backpack. Maybe you need to upgrade your small backpack?
@doc
> Am I the only one out here that hates pro because it will not fit in my backpack?
Stop using a net backpack.
@doc
I’m guessing that you specifically mean the 17″ MBP, right? I’ve got a 15″ MBP and a Swiss brand laptop backpack and it fits perfectly. It accompanies me pretty much everywhere…even now that I’m out of college.
I wonder if this is going to be faster than that famed PowerBook G5 from several years ago?
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I’ll take two but only if they have a matte screen.
Uhm, 17 inch laptop? Ever heard of a desktop?
Doesn’t the iMac use many “portable” parts? Would this not be an excellent engine for the top-of-the-line iMac? I think the 2.66 GHz Q9450 (45 nm 12MB 1333 MHz) would be an excellent choice for the faster 24″, with the 3GHz model for the “monster” at the top. But … there are quite a few less expensive possibilities below that.
A Quad running 2.55 GHz or faster would be a powerful argument for replacing my Dual G5 (2.3 GHz) so I can give it to my son, who could then give one of his G4s to his nephews. Trickle-down computing works when they Just Won’t DIE ! ! !
@MacintoshSoftwareList.com
The day I’m willing to pack my desktop in my car and haul it out to 5 job sites per day is the day I’m willing to entertain your silly comment.
sixvodkas:
I don’t think he was talking to you. It is clear that today, majority of people buy laptops, even though only fraction of those laptops ever leave home. Some get moved around the house (a visit to the john, to the dining table, to the living room couch), but most of them end up in fact doing desktop duty. Getting a 17″ laptop for such duty is a waste of money (to the tune of about 40%).
Naw … aint gonna happen. Apple is waiting for me to buy a 15″ MacBook Pro. Only AFTER I buy will they release/announce the 17″ MacBook Pro. At least, that’s been my frustrating history with Apple Releases. Until I break down and buy a 15 inch MBP Apple simply won’t release the 17″ unit. So … don’t hold your breaths, because I’m turning black and blue waiting but won’t give up holding breath for at least another six months … so Apple won’t be releasing a 17″ MBP until AFER June.
@ RevNeal,
I hear ya buddy!
I’m that way with 24″ iMacs.
@everyone who responded
Thanks! Maybe I do need a larger backpack, but the one I have is about as big as I want to carry. Once I fill it with a bunch of books and paperwork it weighs about 70 pounds, and then I don’t want to put my laptop in it because it would be on the bottom (against my back) and I don’t want to warp the screen (iBook G4) which already no longer will lock closed. I may likely be one of the oldest every day backpack users still around. Never graduated from university because I couldn’t stand the Bv11$h1+ any longer. As a double Major in Psychology and Philosophy, I desperately wanted to be the only fool in the room. Old line hacker. I’ve broken the straps on A BUNCH of backpacks since the 70’s. Really appreciate the help.
P.S.
The only thing’s I’ll use with wheels will also contain a power plant.
non-news – the quad mobile was announced in august and supposedly was in HPs lappy sometime after that. Its surprising some are just finding out about quad mobiles – it should have been front page everywhere for way longer than it was.