Analysis: Despite Intel’s openness, Apple keeps us guessing

By Rik Myslewski

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What lies ahead

Despite these limitations, another pair of recently announced quad-core processors spark the imagination. Two weeks ago, Intel introduced low-power quad-core 2.33GHz and 2.5GHz Xeons, each with a TDP of a mere 50W. In comparison, the top-end 3.2GHz Xeon in the top-end Mac Pro is listed in Intel’s literature as having a TDP of a scorching 150W (unless Apple has a private deal with Intel to provide them with a lower-TDP 3.2GHz Xeon, which is certainly a possibility).

If you want to indulge in a flight of fancy, drop two of these new Xeons into a Stoakley-based logic board in a smaller form-factor desktop Mac, and fill the ever-widening gap between the iMac and the Mac Pro. A maxi Mac mini, anyone?

Soon-to-be-released dual-core Penryns will likely have more prosaic but still interesting lives. The small form-factor 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz Meroms in the MacBook Air will almost certainly be replaced by the small form-factor Penryns with equal clock speeds that are expected to ship late this spring. There’s also another upcoming, equally tiny Penryn pair—1.2GHz and 1.4GHz processors with miserly 10W TDPs—that’s fodder for interesting speculation. Might we finally see the ultra-mini laptop we’ve been jonesing for?

Or might Apple offer a truly teeny laptop—something on par with the Asus Eee PC—based on an entirely new line of ultra-low-power Intel processors that were christened Atom (and codenamed Silverthorne and Diamondville during their development) when they were formally unveiled on March 2?

We don’t know. And neither do you. Despite the relative openness of Intel’s microprocessor roadmap, Apple still keeps us guessing.

And that’s just the way Steve Jobs likes it.

Intel’s Mac History

Code Name	Brand Name	Number	Process	Tick/Tock*	Microarchitecture	Launched	Used by Apple	Mac	Notes
Yonah	Core Duo	T2400	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	January 2006	17-inch iMac	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2500	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	January 2006	20-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Solo	T1200	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	February 2006	Mac mini	1 core, 1.5GHz. 2MB cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2300	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	February 2006	Mac mini	2 cores, 1.66GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2400	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	September 2006	Mac mini	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2400	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	May 2006	MacBook	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2500	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	May 2006	MacBook	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2400	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	January 2006	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2500	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	January 2006	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2600	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	January 2006	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.16GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Yonah	Core Duo	T2600	65nm	Tick	Banias	January 2006	April 2006	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.16GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Woodcrest	Xeon	5130	65nm	Tock	Core	June 2006	August 2006	Mac Pro	Dual 2-core, 2.0GHz, 4MB shared L2 per processor, dual 1.33GHz bus
Woodcrest	Xeon	5150	65nm	Tock	Core	June 2006	August 2006	Mac Pro	Dual 2-core, 2.66GHz, 4MB shared L2 per processor, dual 1.33GHz bus
Woodcrest	Xeon	5160	65nm	Tock	Core	June 2006	August 2006	Mac Pro	Dual 2-core, 3.0GHz, 4MB shared L2 per processor, dual 1.33GHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T5600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	September 2006	17-inch iMac	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7400	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	September 2006	20-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.16GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	September 2006	20-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.33GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7400	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	September 2006	24-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.16GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	September 2006	24-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.33GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7300	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	August 2007	20-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7700	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	August 2007	20-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.4GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7700	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	August 2007	24-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.4GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T5600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	August 2007	Mac mini	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7300	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	August 2007	Mac mini	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T5600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	November 2006	MacBook	2 cores, 1.83GHz, 2MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7200	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	November 2006	MacBook	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7300	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	May 2007	MacBook	2 cores, 2.16GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7300	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	November 2006	MacBook	2 cores, 2.0GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7500	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	November 2007	MacBook	2 cores, 2.2GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	P7500	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	January 2008	MacBook Air	2 cores, 1.6GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	P7700	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	January 2008	MacBook Air	2 cores, 1.8GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7400	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	October 2006	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.16GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	October 2006	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.33GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7600	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	October 2006	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.33GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 667MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7500	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	June 2007	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.2GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7700	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	June 2007	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.4GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7800	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	June 2007	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.6GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7700	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	June 2007	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.4GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Merom	Core 2 Duo	T7800	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2006	June 2007	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.6GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Clovertown	Xeon	5365	65nm	Tock	Core	July 2007	April 2007^	Mac Pro	dual 4-core, 3.0GHz, 8MB shared L2 per processor, dual 1.33GHz bus
Merom XE	Core 2 Duo Extreme	X7900	65nm	Tock	Core	August 2007	August 2007	24-inch iMac	2 cores, 2.8GHz, 4MB shared L2 cache, 800MHz bus
Harpertown	Xeon	5462	45nm	Tick	Core	November 2007	January 2008	Mac Pro	4 cores, 2.8GHz, 12MB shared L2 cache, 1.6GHz bus
Harpertown	Xeon	5462	45nm	Tick	Core	November 2007	January 2008	Mac Pro	Dual 4-core, 2.8GHz, 12 shared L2 per processor, dual 1.6GHz bus
Harpertown	Xeon	5472	45nm	Tick	Core	November 2007	January 2008	Mac Pro	Dual 4-core, 3.0GHz, 12 shared L2 per processor, dual 1.6GHz bus
Harpertown	Xeon	5482	45nm	Tick	Core	November 2007	January 2008	Mac Pro	Dual 4-core, 3.2GHz, 12 shared L2 per processor, dual 1.6GHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T8100	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	MacBook	2 cores, 2.1GHz, 3MB shared L2, 800MHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T8300	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	MacBook	2 cores, 2.4GHz, 3MB shared L2, 800MHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T8300	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.4GHz, 3MB shared L2, 800MHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T9300	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	15-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.5GHz, 6MB shared L2, 800MHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T9500	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.6GHz, 6MB shared L2, 800MHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T9300	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.5GHz, 6MB shared L2, 800MHz bus
Penryn	Core 2 Duo	T9500	45nm	Tick	Core	January 2008	February 2008	17-inch MacBook Pro	2 cores, 2.6GHz, 6MB shared L2, 800MHz bus

* In Intel parlance, a “tick” is a new (smaller) process used with a previous microarchitecture, and a “tock” is a new microarchitecture built using a previous process. ^ Note that the Clovertown Xeon 5365 was avaiable in the Mac Pro before it was officially launched.

[Rik Myslewski has been writing about the Mac since 1989. He has been editor in chief of MacAddict (now Mac|Life), executive editor of MacUser and director of MacUser Labs, and executive producer of Macworld Live.]

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