“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.
Cool…
Wake me when Apple releases a Rev.B quad-core MacBook Pro.
Gee doc, as a 70’s, ice climber, rock climber and mountaineer…
Proper loading of a backpack means ALWAYS loading the heaviest items CLOSE to your back as high as possible. NEVER buy one of those crappy bulky book bags… typical laptop “backpack”. They will mess up your back.
Get a climber’s pack and pop your MacBook Pro into a neoprene sleeve first.
I actually use an Arcteryx Blade 13 for my 15″ MBP. Very sleek, compact and slim. I take it everywhere…. walk, bike, plane, train, bus and subway with it!
@Mr Reeee
Climb and hike some myself. Know all I need to about load distribution. I don’t bring along all the books when moving more than 50 miles or 10 hours away from a bathroom. Thanks anyway!
A 2.0ghz Quad Core is NOT going to run faster than the current fastest dual-core macbook pros. You have to look at clock speed, not the number of cores.
If you’re video editing or playing games, the four cores will all be used at 2.0 GHz. It is a common mistake to think the computer will run at 8.0Ghz. But if you’re running day-to-day tasks, a 2.8Ghz Dual-core will run faster.
Personally I don’t think Apple will release a MBP with this chip.
Here we go… Cue the matte vs. glossy screen comments.
Informed said: “A 2.0ghz Quad Core is NOT going to run faster than the current fastest dual-core macbook pros. You have to look at clock speed, not the number of cores.” … which is true. Though … I think the “four 2GHz cores” was a bit of a mis-statement. “2.xGHz” might have been clearer. Even then, the speed of the core is pretty much what rules. Unless the code is designed to run on multiple cores. Or unless you are multi-tasking. I could run three copies of Folding@Home and still have a core available to play WoW – all at “full speed”.
I’m a matte screen user, but matte is dead.
Glossy glass screens are the future. Most keyboards will be dead soon too – allowing touch screen at some point.
Think iPhone for your laptop type computer.
All sounds lovely. But if it has glossy screen and no firewire, forget it.