“The hot rumour of the moment is that Intel is about to pull its 45 nanometre shrink into the first half of this year and so basically six months early,” Charlie Demerjian reports for The Inquirer.
“It may want to, but is it technically feasible? It isn’t like it is simply buying off the shelf parts, because this is bleeding edge tech,” Demerjian reports.
Demerjian reports, “In talking with manufacturing people, we’ve learned this might not be as impossible as it seems. The 45 nanometre process was basically done and set in mid-2006. With the recipe set, it was just a matter of equipping the fabs and getting the tools in place. Shake them down, and hopefully you are in business.”
“The tools are the critical components, and they may or may not be done in time for Intel to pull the schedule in. The key to this is the critical lithography tools. At 45 nanometres, Intel is not changing litho tools to a large degree, it is going for two pass dry lithography using many of the same parts as it did at 65 nanometres,”Demerjian reports.
Demerjian reports, “In both cases, this boils down to it being technically possible, barely. Assuming perfect execution, no stumbles along the way by Intel or its partners, and the stars aligning correctly, means it might happen.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Intel reinvents the transistor – January 28, 2007
Intel announces breakthrough ‘Penryn’ processor family; slated for production in second half 2007 – January 27, 2007
Intel processor breakthrough biggest chip advance in 40 years; coming before year end – January 27, 2007
Intel to announce processor breakthrough; new chips will run faster, consume less power – January 27, 2007
Intel pledges 80-core processor within five years – September 26, 2006
Apple chose well: Anandtech – Intel Core 2 Duo ‘the fastest desktop processor we’ve ever tested’ – July 14, 2006
Apple chose well: Intel poised to take massive lead across the board over AMD – June 07, 2006
Intel first to demonstrate working 45nm chips – January 26, 2006
Intel-based Macs running both Mac OS X and Windows will be good for Apple – June 10, 2005
Apple to use Intel microprocessors beginning in 2006, all Macs to be Intel-based by end of 2007 – June 06, 2005
In time for use in iPhone? Someone had to say it…
Is it unreasonable to hope for this in the next iMac refresh?? I’ve been waiting and waiting for the lucious 24″ to get a refresh. Nothing is more dissapointing than getting a new Mac to have it replaced in 2 months by a new model.
Well. . . few things are as depressing.
I bought the 24″ the day it came out and I’m here to tell you that it is an awesome machine. Of course, I moved up from an 800MHz G4. New specs on the machine doesn’t make the previous one obsolete. We still use the old G4.
My MacBook Pro (original model) will get replaced a couple of months after this new chip hits the MBP line-up. Why a couple of months? That’s when the refurbs should be available
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Motley 5
I know what you mean, I purchased a 20″” iMac and they revamped the line with core 2 and the 24″ 2 weeks later!!
o Well, still love it, will probaly pass it to the kids this summer , and get the 24′
moiety5,
> Is it unreasonable to hope for this in the next iMac refresh?
The Core 2 Duo is pretty new itself and has room to grow. The new chips might go into some new ultra compact Mac notebook.
Why wait? These days, if you wait for the next expected new models, you’ll be waiting forever. If the current model meets your needs, it will still meet your needs even if it is “replaced in 2 months by a new model.”
Or you can get one of the refurbs at the online Apple Store. Usually, those models are previous generation, but they actually have the current 24″ iMacs (Core 2 Duo) models. If Apple does release a new model, at least you can feel good about saving a few hundred bucks on the “old” model. You can use part of the savings to buy Leopard when it finally gets released.
is buying refurbs a good idea??
I bought my iBook refurbed, and I would do it again.
i bought a mac mini refurb, and it worked perfectly. gonna buy a macbook refurb pretty soon here – just $799! awesome deal.
on topic – bring on penryn! i can’t wait to see if it’s really as breakthrough as MDN and intel make it sound.
mw: doubt – don’t doubt refurb machines =)
> is buying refurbs a good idea??
A refurb from the Apple Store does not mean it was “used,” at least not extensively. I think they are mostly products that were bought and returned for some reason. In some cases, they may be overstock of the previous generation products that were never sold. If there was a problem, it gets fixed by Apple. If there was no problem, it gets a checkup and repackaged in a brown box. The warranty is the same as a “new” product, and you can extend it with AppleCare. You get the latest Mac OS X version and accompanying software.
I have not purchased any refurbished Macs, but I bought two refurb iPods from the online store. They were fine and looked brand new. They just came on a brown box instead of the usual fancy Apple packaging.
I bought my Quad G5 refurbed from the apple store (it’s the second system I bought refurbed from them, the first was a G4)
Never had a single problem with either system and I saved about $1000.
Good deal if you ask me.
http://www.abxzone.com/forums/news-announcements/107274-intel-takes-wraps-off-45-nm-penryn.html
http://www.pcplus.co.uk/news/home_news/intel_confirms_45nm,_high-k_for_penryn
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/01/27/intel_45nm_technology_overview/3.html
With only one of three Intel’s Penryn manufacturing plants currently reported near or at operational readiness, I doubt it. However, if Apple were to secure exclusive use of the first commercial release of Penryn chips then….
Anyhow, wait to read (i) confirmed reports of certain Core 2 Duo-based Macs coming down in price, (ii) confirmed reports of certain Core 2 Duo-based Macs becoming scarce, and (iii) confirmed reports of shipments of Core 2 Duo chips declining. Then you can get excited.
Looks like this story has been hijacked by talk of refurbs so . . .
I have bought several products refurb from Apple (airport cards, accessories, macs, etc.) and they are not only as good but in some cases better than new. There are several threads in the discussions on Apple.com where many people have had the same experience.
I ordered a Dual 2GHz G5 with 512MB RAM and 64MB NVidia card. I was already paying about $500 cheaper than if I bought this system new. They sent me the Mac with 1GB of RAM and 128MB Radeon card (a step up from the Nvidia). I priced the system new and it was worth almost $1000 more than what I paid! That Mac is almost 3 years old now and has done nothing but run like a dream.
Buying refurb from Apple is not like buying refurb from Crazy Larry’s PC Computer Shack. It comes with the same warranty, etc. They guarantee it to be the same as the new product. Basically they extend the same excellent Apple experience to the refurbs that you get from everything else they do.
I plan on buying all my Macs that way from now on. Again, I have heard this same experience echoed many times throughout various forums, so this does appear to be the reputation they have.
I’ve boughten (hehe) 4 or 5 refurbs now over the years, and I have yet to have a problem with any of them. Honestly, if you can bypass the “new release – gotta have it right this minute” syndrome, and can wait a couple or three months for the first returns to hit the refurb store, it’s just like new but saves you some money.
I like to think of it as insurance – someone else probably found the manufacturing defect for me, and now the machine is flawless.
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Just got my Macbook core 2 duo refurb last week and paid $849. I agree with Blucaso, wait a couple of months, get the refurbs when they come out. Save some cash.
Same here. Bought my dual 2.0 PowerMac G5 that way a little over a year ago. Saved $500 and was able to add a second HD and an extra 2Gigs of Ram with what I saved. It’s been perfect and will do it again.
If this happens, I’m going to croak from excitement. I’ve basically made the decision not to buy a new iMac when there is a major upgrade in technology or the case design. If the rumor is true, both might happen sooner than later. I’ve got money set aside for Apple TV, Airport Extreme, iMac 24″, and an iPhone to go with my new black cruiser sitting in the garage. I just love Apple gadgets. BRING ON PENRYN!!!!
I have purchased, for my business, between 8-12 refurb Macs (from iMac G5s to Macbook Pro to Mac Pro to, the most recent, a Macbook which I still haven’t received).
I have had issues with three systems so far. One of the 17″ iMacs gave us some repeated issues with the power supply and fan. Every time Apple repaired it without an issue. The other was with a Macbook Pro, one of the memory bays would not work. Again, Apple repaired it without any issues. The final one was a Macbook Pro that came with a matte screen when it was ordered with a glossy screen. They switched it without issue, but I actually had to send it out to Apple. All other issues were handled on-site at our office.
Overall, I’m very satisfied with refurbs from Apple and would do it everytime they are available.
By the way, use the money you are saving to buy the Apple Care extended warranty…
G5 Powerbooks on Tuesday!
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I bought a refurbished 60 gig ipod photo via ebay and it rocks (and the ebayer had already registered it for warranty on Apple’s website). Then eight weeeks later the 80 gig ipod video came out. And that’s the only problem you face with refurbs. Apple comes out with a newer version and usually with a drop in price. Now if only Apple would sell refurbs in Australia…but they don’t.
What a great time to be a Mac user in the market for a new computer!!!
Sure beats the days of ultra-slow update cycles!
MPC Guy wrote:
“Sure beats the days of ultra-slow update cycles!”
Amen to that brother.
What, no mention of Quad Cores?
I’d guess that the 45nm processors would be in inline for the MacBook & MacBook Pro lines… the Mac mini, too.
The minis and MacBook pros are OVERDUE for a refresh!
Quad Cores for desktop machines, anyone?
Hello Walter Chillum.
Apple Australia refurb page
Beaut bargains here.
Apple Australia have had a refurb site for ages.
It’s on the left hand side – towards the lower section of their Aussie store page.
Go for it.