History of Apple computers and PDAs

This page was inspired by this Wikipedia page and still draws from it heavily. I have added some non-Macintosh computers, made many of the dates more accurate, added details for recent models and an extensive section at the end that attempts to predict future developments.

YearAvailableModel Family Announced2 Discontinued Details
1976 Apr Apple 1 Motherboard 1976 April 1977
1977 Jun 5 Apple ][ Desktop 1977 Apr 16 1980
1979 Apple ][+4 Desktop 1979 1983
1980 Jun Apple /// Desktop 1980 May 1985
1983 Jan Lisa All-In-One1 1983 Jan 1985 Jan 1
Apple //e Desktop 1983 Jan 1984 Jan
1984 Jan 24 Lisa 2 All-In-One1 1984 Jan 24 1985 Mar
Apr? Macintosh 128K4 Compact AiO1 1984 Jan 24 1985 Jan 10
Apr Apple //c Portable 1984 Apr
Sep? Macintosh 512K Compact AiO1 1984 Sep 10 1986 Apr 14
1985 Jan Macintosh XL Compact AiO1 1985 Jan 1 1986 Aug 1
Mar Apple //e enhanced Desktop 1985 Mar 1993
1986 Jan Macintosh Plus Compact AiO1 1986 Jan 16 1990 Oct 15
Apr Macintosh 512Ke4 Compact AiO1 1986 Apr 14 1987 Oct 1
Sep Apple IIGS Desktop 1986 Jan 16 1992 Dec
1987 Mar Macintosh SE Compact AiO1 1987 Feb 3 1989 Aug 1
Mar Macintosh II Desktop 1987 Mar 2 1990 Jan 15
1988 Sep Macintosh IIx Desktop 1988 Sep 19 1990 Oct 15
? Apple //c plus Portable 1988 Sep 1990 Nov
1989 Jan 19 Macintosh SE/30 Compact AiO1 1989 Jan 19 1991 Oct 21
Mar 7 Macintosh IIcx Desktop 1989 Mar 7 1991 Mar 11
Aug 1 Macintosh SE FDHD Compact AiO1 1989 Aug 1 1990 Oct 15
Sep 20 Macintosh IIci Desktop 1989 Sep 20 1993 Feb 20
Macintosh Portable Portable 1989 Sep 20 1991 Feb 11
1990 Mar 19 Macintosh IIfx Desktop 1990 Mar 19 1992 Apr 15
Oct 15 Macintosh LC Desktop 1990 Oct 15 1992 Mar 23
Macintosh Classic Compact AiO1 1990 Oct 15 1992 Sep 14
Macintosh IIsi4 Desktop 1990 Oct 15 1993 Mar 15
1991 Feb 11 Macintosh Portable (backlit screen) Portable 1991 Feb 11 1991 Oct 21
Oct 21 Macintosh Classic II Compact AiO1 1991 Oct 21 1993 Sep 13
Quadra 700 Desktop 1991 Oct 21 1993 Mar 15
Quadra 900 Desktop 1991 Oct 21 1992 May 18
PowerBook 100 Consumer Portable 1991 Oct 21 1992 Aug 3
PowerBook 1404 Pro Portable 1991 Oct 21 1992 Aug 3
PowerBook 170 Pro Portable 1991 Oct 21 1992 Oct 19
1992 Mar 23 Macintosh LC II Desktop 1992 Mar 23 1993 Mar 15
May 18 Quadra 950 Desktop 1992 May 18 1995 Oct 14
Aug 3 PowerBook 145 Portable 1992 Aug 3 1993 Jul 7
Oct 19 Macintosh IIvi Desktop 1992 Oct 19 1993 Feb 10
Macintosh IIvx Desktop 1992 Oct 19 1993 Oct 10
PowerBook 160 Portable 1992 Oct 19 1993 Aug 16
PowerBook 180 Portable 1992 Oct 19 1994 May 16
PowerBook Duo 210 Portable 1992 Oct 19 1993 Oct 21
PowerBook Duo 230 Portable 1992 Oct 19 1994 Jul 27
1993 Feb 10 Macintosh LC III / III+ Desktop 1993 Feb 10 1994 Feb 14
Macintosh Color Classic Compact AiO1 1993 Feb 10 1994 May 16
Centris 610 Desktop 1993 Feb 10 1993 Oct 21
Centris 650 Desktop 1993 Feb 10 1993 Oct 21
Quadra 800 Desktop 1993 Feb 10 1994 Mar 14
PowerBook 165c Portable 1993 Feb 10 1993 Dec 13
Mar 22 Workgroup Server 80 Server 1993 Mar 22 1995 Oct 17
Workgroup Server 95 Server 1993 Mar 22 1995 Apr 3
Jun 7 PowerBook 145b Portable 1993 Jun 7 1994 Jul 18
PowerBook 180c Portable 1993 Jun 7 1994 Mar 14
Jun 28 Macintosh LC 520 Desktop 1993 Jun 28 1994 Feb 2
Jul 26 Workgroup Server 60 Server 1993 Jul 26 1995 Oct 17
Jul 29 Centris / Quadra 660AV4 Desktop 1993 Jul 29 1994 Sep 12
Quadra 840AV Desktop 1993 Jul 29 1994 Jul 18
Aug 16 PowerBook 165 Portable 1993 Aug 16 1994 Jul 18
Oct 10 Macintosh Color Classic II Compact AiO1 1993 Oct 10 1995 Nov 1
Oct 21 Macintosh TV Desktop 1993 Oct 21 1995 Feb 1
Quadra 605 Desktop 1993 Oct 21 1994 Oct 17
Quadra 610 Desktop 1993 Oct 21 1994 Jul 18
Quadra 650 Desktop 1993 Oct 21 1994 Sep 12
PowerBook Duo 250 Portable 1993 Oct 21 1994 May 16
PowerBook Duo 270c Portable 1993 Oct 21 1994 May 16
1994 Feb 2 Macintosh LC 550 Desktop 1994 Feb 2 1995 Mar 23
Macintosh LC 575 Desktop 1994 Feb 2 1995 Apr 3
Mar 14 Power Macintosh 61004 Desktop 1994 Mar 14 1996 May 18
Power Macintosh 7100 Desktop 1994 Mar 14 1996 Jan 6
Power Macintosh 8100 Desktop 1994 Mar 14 1996 Aug 14
Apr 26 Workgroup Server 6150 Server 1994 Apr 26 1995 Oct 1
Workgroup Server 8150 Server 1994 Apr 26 1996 Feb 26
Workgroup Server 9150 Server 1994 Apr 26 1996 Feb 26
May 16 PowerBook 520/c Portable 1994 May 16 1995 Sep 16
PowerBook 540/c Portable 1994 May 16 1995 Aug 16
PowerBook 550 Portable 1994 May 16 1996 Apr 1
PowerBook Duo 280/c Portable 1994 May 16 1994 Nov 14
Jul 18 Quadra 630 Desktop 1994 Jul 18 1995 Apr 17
PowerBook 150 Portable 1994 Jul 18 1995 Oct 14
1995 Jan 28 Power Macintosh 6200 / 6300 Desktop 1995 Jan 28 1996 Oct 17
Apr 3 Macintosh LC 580 Desktop 1995 Apr 3 1995 Oct 1
Performa 5200 Desktop 1995 Apr 3 1996 Oct 1
Jun 19 Power Macintosh 9500 Desktop 1995 Jun 19 1997 Feb 17
Aug 7 Power Macintosh 7200 Desktop 1995 Aug 7 1996 Apr 1
Power Macintosh 7500 Desktop 1995 Aug 7 1997 Feb 17
Power Macintosh 8500 Desktop 1995 Aug 7 1997 Feb 17
Aug 28 PowerBook 190 Pro Portable 1995 Aug 28 1996 Sep 1
PowerBook 5300 Portable 1995 Aug 28 1996 Sep 1
PowerBook Duo 2300c Portable 1995 Aug 28 1997 Feb 1
1996 Feb 15 Apple Network Server 500 Server 1996 Feb 15 1997 Apr 1
Apple Network Server 700/150 Server 1996 Feb 15 1997 Apr 1
Feb 26 Workgroup Server 7250 Server 1996 Feb 26 1997 Apr 21
Workgroup Server 8550 Server 1996 Feb 26 1997 Apr 21
Mar 10 Performa 5260 / 5300 Desktop 1996 Mar 10 1997 Apr 1
Apr 1 Performa 5400 Desktop 1996 Apr 1 1997 Feb 17
Power Macintosh 7600 Desktop 1996 Apr 1 1997 Oct 1
Oct 16 Apple Network Server 700/200 Network Server 1996 Oct 16 1997 Apr 1
Oct 17 Performa 6360 Desktop 1996 Oct 17 1997 Oct 1
Oct 23 Performa 6400 Desktop 1996 Oct 23 1997 May 1
Nov 15 Power Macintosh 4400 Desktop 1996 Nov 15 1997 Oct 11
Nov 20 PowerBook 1400 Portable 1996 Nov 20 1998 May 6
1997 Feb 17 Power Macintosh 5500 Desktop 1997 Feb 17 1998 Mar 31
Power Macintosh 6500 Desktop 1997 Feb 17 1998 Mar 14
Power Macintosh 7300 Desktop 1997 Feb 17 1997 Nov 10
Power Macintosh 8600 Desktop 1997 Feb 17 1998 Feb 17
Power Macintosh 9600 Desktop 1997 Feb 17 1998 Mar 17
PowerBook 3400 Portable 1997 Feb 17 1998 Mar 14
Mar 19 Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh All-in-One1 1997 Mar 19 1998 Mar 14
Mar 24 Newton Messagepad 2000 PDA3 1997 Mar 24 ?
Apr? eMate 300 PDA3 1997 Jan 7
Apr 21 Workgroup Server 7350 Server 1997 Apr 21 1998 Mar 2
Workgroup Server 9650 Server 1997 Apr 21 1998 Mar 2
May 8 PowerBook 2400c Portable 1997 May 8 1998 Mar 14
Nov 10 Power Macintosh G3 desktop Pro Desktop 1997 Nov 10 1999 Jan 5
Power Macintosh G3 minitower Pro Desktop 1997 Nov 10 1999 Jan 5
PowerBook G3 Pro Portable 1997 Nov 10 1998 Mar 14
1998 Jan 31 Power Macintosh G3 AIO All-in-One1 1998 Jan 31 1998 Oct 17
Mar 2 Macintosh Server G3 Server 1998 Mar 2 1999 Jan 1
May 6 PowerBook G3 series Pro Portable 1998 May 6 1999 May 10
Aug 15 iMac Consumer Desktop 1998 Aug 15 1999 May 10
1999 Jan 5 Power Mac G3 (Blue & White)4 Pro Desktop 1999 Oct 13 details
May 10 PowerBook G3 ("Lombard") Pro Portable   2000 Feb 16
Aug 31 Power Mac G3 (450 MHz) Pro Desktop 2000 Xxx xx details
Jul 21 iBook Consumer Port.   2000 Sep 13
Oct 5 iMac (slot loading) Consumer Desktop 2002 Jan 7
Oct 13 Power Mac G4 Graphite Pro Desktop   2001 Jul 18
2000 Feb 16 PowerBook ("Pismo") Pro Portable 2001 Jan 9
Power Mac G4 500 Pro Desktop   details
Jul 19 Power Macintosh G4 Cube Compact Desktop 2001 Jul 3
Sep 13 iBook (FireWire) Consumer Port.   2001 May 1
2001 Jan 9 Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio) Pro Desktop 2001 Jul 18 details
Jan 31 PowerBook G4 Titanium Pro Portable 2001 Jan 9 2003 Sep 16
Feb 28 Power Mac G4 (667 and 733) Pro Desktop 2001 Jan 9 2001 Jul 18 details
May 1 iBook (white) Consumer Port.   2003 Oct
Jul 18 Power Mac G4 Quicksilver Pro Desktop 2002 Jan 28 details
2002 Jan 7 iMac G4 15"4 Consumer Desktop   2004 Aug 31 details
Jan 28 Power Mac G4 Quicksilver Pro Desktop 2002 Aug 13 details
iBook (14") Consumer Port.   2003 Oct 22
Apr 29 eMac Consumer Desktop sometime after 2006 Jul 3
May 14 Xserve Rackmount Server   2003 Feb 10
Jul 17 iMac G4 17" Consumer Desktop 2002 Jul 17 2004 Aug 31
Aug 13 Power Macintosh G4 MDD Pro Desktop 2003 Jan 28 details
2003 Jan 7 PowerBook G4 Aluminum (12") Pro Portable   2006 May 16
PowerBook G4 Aluminum (17") Pro Portable 2006 Apr 24
Jan 28 Power Macintosh G4 (FW 800) Pro Desktop   2003 Jun 23 details
Feb 10 Xserve slot loading Rackmount Server 2004 Jan 6
Xserve Cluster Node Rackmount Server   2004 Jan 6
Jun 23 Power Mac G5 Pro Desktop 2004 Jun 9 details
Sep 16 PowerBook G4 Aluminum (15") Pro Portable   2006 Feb 14
Oct 22 iBook G4 (12"/14")4 Consumer Port. 2006 May 16 details
Nov 18 iMac G4 20" Consumer Desktop   2004 Aug 31
Power Mac G5 Dual 1.8 Pro Desktop 2004 Jun 9
2004 Jan 6 Xserve G5 Rackmount Server   2006 Aug 7
Xserve Cluster Node G5 Rackmount Server 2006 Aug 7
Jun 9 Power Mac G5 (PCI-X 2)4 Pro Desktop   2005 Apr 27 details
Aug 31 iMac G5 17" Consumer Desktop 2006 Jan 10
iMac G5 20" Consumer Desktop   2006 Mar 20
Oct 19 Power Mac G5 Single Pro Desktop 2005 Apr 27 details
2005 Jan 11 Mac mini Compact Desktop   2006 Feb 28
Apr 27 Power Mac G5 Pro Desktop 2005 Oct 19 details
Sep Mac Mini (1.33/1.5) Compact Desktop
Oct 19 Power Mac G5 Quad Pro Desktop   2006 Aug 7 details
2006 Jan 10 iMac Core Duo (17" / 20") Consumer Desktop 2006 Sep 6 details
never MacBook Pro (15" 1.67 GHz) Pro Portable 2006 Jan 10 2006 Feb 14 details
Feb 14 MacBook Pro (15") Pro Portable 2006 Jan 10 2008 Feb 26 details
Feb 28 Mac mini (Intel Core Solo) Compact Desktop 2006 Sep 6
Feb 28 Mac mini (Intel Core Duo) Compact Desktop   2007 Aug 7
Apr 24 MacBook Pro (17") Pro Portable 2006 Oct 2x details
May 16 MacBook Consumer Port.   2006 Nov 0x
Aug 7 Mac Pro (Woodcrest) Pro Desktop 2008 Jan 8 details
Aug 7 XServe (Intel) Rackmount Server   2008 Jan 8
Sep 6 iMac Consumer Desktop 2007 Aug 7 details
Oct 24 MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo)4 Pro Portable   2007 Jun 5 details
Nov 0x MacBook (Core 2 Duo) Consumer Port. 2008 Feb 26
2007 Apr 4 Mac Pro 8-core Clovertown Pro Desktop   2008 Jan 8 details
Jun 5 MacBook Pro Santa Rosa Pro Portable 2008 Feb 26 details
Jun 29 iPhone (original) PDA3 2007 Jan 9
Aug 7 iMac (aluminum enclosure) Consumer Desktop     details
Aug 7 Mac mini (Core 2 Duo) Compact Desktop
Nov 1 MacBook Pro 2.6 GHz Pro Portable     details
2008 Jan 8 XServe Harpertown Rackmount Server
Jan 8 Mac Pro Harpertown Pro Desktop     details
Jan 15 MacBook Air Consumer Port.
Feb 26 MacBook Penryn Consumer Port.    
Feb 26 MacBook Pro Penryn Pro Portable details
Apr 28 iMac (Penryn) Consumer Desktop     details
Jul 28 iPhone 3G PDA3 2008 Jun 9
Oct 14 MacBook Pro 15 (unibody) details
2009 Jan 6 MacBook Pro 17 (unibody) 2009 Jun 8 details
Mar 3 MacBook Pro 15 2009 Jun 8 details
Mar 3 iMac (early 2009) Consumer Desktop details
Mar 3 Mac Pro Nehalem Pro Desktop details
Jun 8 MacBook Pro (SD card slot) 2010 Apr 13 details
Oct 20 iMac (21.5 / 27) Consumer Desktop details
Oct 20 Mac mini (2009) Compact Desktop
Dec 4 Mac Pro (late 2009) Pro Desktop details
2010 Apr 13 MacBook Pro (mid 2010) details
Jul 27 iMac (ATI graphics) Consumer Desktop details
Aug ?? Mac Pro Westmere Pro Desktop details
PossibleFuture Developments
2010 Fall? Mac Pro (speculation) Pro Desktop speculation



Details of Certain Specific Systems

These details are provided for the following purposes:

Details for iMac

iMac G4 (original with 15" screen), 2002 Jan 7

CPU: PowerPC "G4" 7441 at 700 MHz or 7445 at 800 MHz

L2-Cache: 256K

Bus: 100 MT/sec

Memory: PC133 SDRAM (133 MT/sec)

EveryMac profiles: 700 MHz, 800 MHz

Several iMac systems to be added here

iMac (17" and 20" core 2), 2006 Jan 10

CPU: Core Duo "Yonah" T2400 (1.83 GHz) or T2500 (2.0 GHz) (2006 Jan 5: $294 or $423)

L2-Cache: 2M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 667 MT/sec

Memory: PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac profiles: 17-inch, 20-inch

iMac (17", 20" and 24" core 2), 2006 Sep 6

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Merom" T7200 (2.0 GHz) or T7400 (2.16 GHz) (2006 Aug 28: $294 or $423)

L2-Cache: 4M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 667 MT/sec

Memory: PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac profiles: 17-inch, 20-inch, 24-inch

There was also a model for education customers only, with a 1.83-GHz processor. It was $899, but only for purchase by institutions (not even students or faculty). A profile is here.

iMac (aluminum), 2007 Aug 7

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Merom" T7300 (2.0 GHz), T7700 (2.4 GHz) (2007 May 9: $241 or $530) or "Merom XE" X7900 (2.8 GHz) (2007 Aug 22: $851)

L2-Cache: 4M (2.0 and 2.4 GHz models) or 6M (2.8 GHz model) (shared by both cores)

Bus: 800 MT/sec (2.0 and 2.4 GHz) or 1066 MT/sec (2.8 GHz model)

Memory: PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac profiles: 20-inch 2.0 GHz, 24-inch 2.8 GHz

iMac (aluminum), 2008 Apr 28

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" E8135 (2.4 GHz), E8335 (2.66 GHz), E8235 (2.8 GHz) or "Penryn XE" E8435 (3.06 GHz) (prices unknown)

L2-Cache: 6M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 1066 MT/sec (2.8 GHz model)

Memory: PC2-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac profiles: 20-inch 2.4 GHz, 24-inch 3.06 GHz

iMac (aluminum), 2009 March 3

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" E8135 (2.66 GHz), E8335 (2.93 GHz) or "Penryn XE" E8435 (3.06 GHz) (E8435 released 2008 Aug 10 at $266)

Cores/Threads: All models have 2 cores and 2 threads.

L2-Cache: 6M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 1066 MT/sec

Memory: PC3-8500 (1066MHz) DDR3 SDRAM

EveryMac profiles: 20-inch 2.66 GHz, 24-inch 2.66 GHz, 24-inch 2.93 GHz, 24-inch 3.06 GHz

On April 7 Apple added a 20-inch, 2.0-GHz model for education customers only. A profile courtesy of EveryMac can be found here. Its price was $899, but individuals could not buy it, even if they were students or faculty — it could only be bought by institutions.

iMac (21.5 / 27), 2009 Oct 20

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn XE" E8435 (3.06 GHz) or E8600 (3.33 GHz) or Core i5 750 (2.66 GHz) or Core i7 860 (2.8 GHz) (i5 and i7 both released 2009 Sep 8 at $196 and $284)

Cores/Threads: All models have 2 cores; "Core 2 Duo" models have 2 threads; "Core i5" and "Core i7" models have 4 threads.

L2-Cache: 3M (on E8435), 6M (on Exxxx) or 8M (on Core i5 and i7) (shared by all cores)

Bus: 1066 MT/sec (2.8 GHz model)

Memory: PC3-8500 (1066MHz) DDR3 SDRAM

lowendmac's profile

EveryMac profiles: 21.5-inch 3.06 GHz, 27-inch 3.06 GHz, 27-inch Core i5

iMac (ATI graphics), 2010 Jul 27

CPU: Core i3 "Clarkdale" 540 (3.06 GHz dual-core) or 550 (3.2 GHz dual-core) or Core i5 "Lynnfield" 760 (2.8 GHz quad-core) or 680 (3.6 GHz dual-core) or Core i7 875K (2.93 GHz quad-core)

Cores/Threads: all "dual-core" models have 2 cores and 4 threads; "Core i5 quad-core" model has 4 cores and 4 threads; "Core i7" model has 4 cores and 8 threads.

L2-Cache: 2M per core (i.e. 4M or 8M total)

Bus: 1333 MT/sec

Memory: PC3-10600 (1333MHz) DDR3 SDRAM

EveryMac profiles: 21.5-inch 3.06 GHz Core i3 21.5-inch 3.2 GHz Core i3 27-inch 3.2 GHz Core i3 27-inch 2.8 GHz Core i5



Details for iBook and MacBook

This was a new line created in 1999 as a consumer-oriented portable. It initially had a substantially different look and feel from the PowerBooks, but has gradually converged over the following 10 years.

iBook G4 (12" and 14")

CPU: PowerPC "G4" 7457 at 800 MHz (12" model) or 933 MHz (14" model)

L2-Cache: 256K

Bus: 133 MT/sec

Memory: PC2100 DDR SDRAM (267 MT/sec)

EveryMac profile



Details for Powerbook and MacBook Pro

The never-shipped 1.67 GHz MacBook Pro 15"

CPU: Core Duo "Yonah" L2400 (1.67 GHz) (2006 Jan 5: $316)

L2-Cache: 2M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 667 MT/sec

Memory: PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

EveryMac profile

This system never shipped. On 2006 Feb 14, Apple announced that the MacBook Pro line (which had not yet shipped) would feature 1.83, 2.0 and 2.16 GHz processors, thus eliminating the 1.67 GHz version.

MacBook Pro, 2006 Feb 14 and 2006 Apr 24

CPU: Core Duo "Yonah" T2400 (1.83 GHz), T2500 (2.0 GHz) or T2600 (2.16 GHz) (2006 Jan 5: $294 - $637)

L2-Cache: 2M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 667 MT/sec

Memory: PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

AppleMatters profile

lowendmac profiles: 15-inch, 17-inch

MacBook Pro, 2006 Oct 24

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Merom" T7400 (2.16 GHz) or T7600 (2.33 GHz) (2006 Aug 28: $423, $637)

L2-Cache: 4M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 667 MT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profiles: 2.16 15", 2.33 17"

lowendmac profiles: 15-inch, 17-inch

MacBook Pro, 2007 Jun 5

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Merom" T7500 (2.2 GHz) or T7700 (2.4 GHz) (2007 May 9: $316, $530)

L2-Cache: 4M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 800 MT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profiles: 2.2 15'', 2.4 17''

MacBook Pro, 2007 Nov 1

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Merom" T7800 (2.6 GHz) (2007 Sep 2: $530)

L2-Cache: 4M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 800 MT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profile (which only makes brief mention of the 2.6 GHz version)

MacBook Pro, 2008 Feb 26 (2.4 GHz version)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" T8300 (2.4 GHz) (2008 Jan 6: $241)

L2-Cache: 3M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 800 MT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profile

MacBook Pro, 2008 Feb 26 (2.5 and 2.6 GHz versions)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" T9300 (2.5 GHz) or T9500 (2.6 GHz) (both 2008 Jan 6: $316, $530)

L2-Cache: 6M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 800 MT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profiles: 2.5 15'', 2.6 17'' (which mentions the 2.6 GHz option)

MacBook Pro 15'', 2008 Oct 14

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" P8600 (2.4 GHz) (2008 Jun 13: $241), T9400 (2.533 GHz) or T9600 (2.8 GHz) $(both 2008 Jul 14: $316, $530)$

L2-Cache: 3M (2.4 model) or 6M (higher models) (cache is shared by both cores)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

NOTE: In 2008 Oct, the 17-inch MacBook Pro still had the same CPU, bus and memory specs as the 2008 Feb 26 version, but its screen and hard drive were changed in conjunction with the all-new "unibody" 15'' model.

MacBook Pro (17-inch Unibody, January 2009)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" T9550 (2.66 GHz) ()

L2-Cache: 6M

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profile: 2.66 17''

MacBook Pro (15-inch Unibody, March 2009)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" T9550 (2.66 GHz) ()

L2-Cache: 6M

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profile: 2.66 15''

MacBook Pro (SD card slot, June 2009)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" P8400 (2.26 GHz), P8700 (2.53 GHz), P8800 (2.66 GHz), T9600 (2.8 GHz), or T9900 (3.06 GHz) ()

Cores/Threads: All models have 2 cores and 2 threads.

L2-Cache: 3M (2.26, 2.53 and 2.66 GHz models) or 6M (2.8 and 3.06 GHz models)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

EveryMac's profiles: 2.26 13'' 2.53 13'' 2.53 15'' 2.66 15'' 2.8 15'' 2.8 and 3.06 17''

MacBook Pro (April 2010)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" P8600 (2.4 GHz) or P8800 (2.66 GHz), or Core i5 "Arrandale" i5-520M (2.4-2.93 GHz), i5-540M (2.53-3.06 GHz) or i7-620M (2.66-3.33 GHz)

Cores/Threads: All models have 2 cores; "Core 2 Duo" models have 2 threads; "Core i5" and "Core i7" models have 4 threads.

L2-Cache: 3M (Core 2 Duo and Core i5 models) or 4M (2.66 Core i7 model)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM

EveryMac's profiles: 2.4 13'' 2.66 13'' 2.4 15'' 2.53 15'' 2.66 15'' 2.53 and 2.66 17''

Idle Speculations on MacBook Pro



Details for PowerMac and Mac Pro

Power Mac G3 (Blue and White), 1999 Jan 5

CPU: IBM PowerPC 750 (300, 350 or 400 MHz)

L2-Cache: 512K (300 MHz model) or 1M (faster models)

Bus: 100 MHz

Memory: PC100 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

Power Mac G4 450, 1999 Aug 31

CPU: IBM PowerPC 750 (450 MHz)

L2-Cache: 1M

Bus: 100 MHz

Memory: PC100 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

Power Mac G4 "Gigabit Ethernet", 2000 Feb 16

CPU: 2x IBM PowerPC 750 (450 or 500 MHz)

L2-Cache: 2M (1M per processor)

Bus: 100 MHz

Memory: PC100 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

Power Mac G4 "Digital Audio", 2001 Jan 9

CPU: Motorola 7410 "Nitro" (single 466 MHz or dual 533 MHz)

L2-Cache: 1M (or 2M for dual 533 model)

Bus: 133 MHz

Memory: PC133 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 466, 533

Power Mac G4 "Digital Audio", 2001 Feb

CPU: Motorola 7450 "V'ger" (667 or 733 MHz)

L2-Cache: 1M

Bus: 133 MHz

Memory: PC133 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 667, 733

Power Mac G4 "Quicksilver", 2001 Jul 18

CPU: Motorola 7450 "V'ger" (733 or 867 MHz)

CPU: 2x Motorola 7450 "V'ger" (800 MHz)

L2-Cache: 1M (2M for dual 800 model)

Bus: 133 MHz

Memory: PC133 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 733, 867, dual 800

Power Mac G4 "Quicksilver", 2002 Jan 28

CPU: Motorola 7455 "Apollo 6" (800 or 933 MHz)

CPU: 2x Motorola 7455 "Apollo 6" (1.0 GHz)

L2-Cache: none on 800 MHz model; 2M on 933 MHz model; 4M (2M per processor) on 1.0 GHz model

Bus: 133 MHz

Memory: PC133 SDRAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 800, 933, dual 1.0

Power Mac G4 (Mirror Drive Doors), 2002 Aug 13

CPU: 2x Motorola 7455 "Apollo 6" (867 MHz, 1.0 GHz or 1.25 GHz)

L2-Cache: 1M (867 and 1.0 GHz models) or 2M (1.25 GHz model)

Bus: 133 MHz (867 model), 167 MHz (faster models)

Memory: 266 MHz PC2100 DDR SDRAM (867 model) or 333 MHz PC2700 DDR SDRAM (faster models)

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 867, 1.0, 1.25

Power Mac G4 (Firewire 800), 2003 Jan 28

CPU: Motorola 7455 "Apollo 6" (single 1.0 GHz, dual 1.25 or dual 1.42 GHz)

L2-Cache: 1M (1.0 GHz model), 2M (dual 1.25 GHz model), or 4M (dual 1.42 GHz model)

Bus: 133 MHz (1.0 GHz model), 167 MHz (faster models)

Memory: 266 MHz PC2100 DDR SDRAM (1.0 GHz model) or 333 MHz PC2700 DDR SDRAM (faster models)

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 1.0, 1.25, 1.42

PowerMac G5, 2003 Jun 23

CPU: IBM PowerPC 970 (single 1.6, single 1.8, or dual 2.0 GHz)

L2-Cache: 512K

Bus: 800 MHz, 900 Mhz or 1.0 GHz

Memory: 333 MHz PC2700 DDR RAM (1.6 GHz model) or 400 MHz PC3200 DDR RAM (faster models)

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 1.6, 1.8, 2.0

PowerMac G5 (PCI-X 2), 2004 Jun 9

CPU: 2x IBM PowerPC 970fx (1.8, 2.0 or 2.5 GHz)

L2-Cache: 1M (512K per CPU)

Bus: 900 Mhz, 1.0 GHz or 1.25 GHz

Memory: 400 MHz PC3200 DDR RAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 1.8, 2.0, 2.5

PowerMac G5 Single, 2004 Oct 19

CPU: IBM PowerPC 970fx (1.8 GHz)

L2-Cache: 512K

Bus: 600 Mhz

Memory: 400 MHz PC3200 RAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profile

PowerMac G5, 2005 Apr 27

CPU: 2x IBM PowerPC 970fx (2.0, 2.3 or 2.7 GHz)

L2-Cache: 1M (512K per CPU)

Bus: 1.0, 1.15 or 1.35 GHz

Memory: 400 MHz PC3200 DDR RAM

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 2.0, 2.3, 2.7

PowerMac G5 Dual, 2005 Oct 19

CPU: IBM PowerPC 970MP "Antares" (2.0 or 2.3 GHz)

L2-Cache: 2M (1M per core)

Bus: 1.0 or 1.15 GHz

Memory: 533 MHz PC2-4200 DDR2

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profiles: 2.0, 2.3

PowerMac G5 Quad, 2005 Oct 19

CPU: 2x IBM PowerPC 970MP "Antares" (2.5 GHz)

L2-Cache: 4M (1M per core)

Bus: 1.25 GHz

Memory: 533 MHz PC2-4200 DDR2

lowendmac profile

EveryMac profile

Mac Pro (Quad), 2006 Aug 7

CPU: 2x Intel Core 2 Duo "Woodcrest" 5130 (2.0 GHz), 5150 (2.66 GHz) or 5160 (3.0 GHz) (all 2006 Jun 26: $316 - $851)

L2-Cache: 8M (4M for each pair of cores)

Bus: 1.33 GT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz DDR SDRAM

lowendmac's profile

EveryMac's profile

Mac Pro 8-core, 2007 Apr 4

CPU: 2x Intel Core 2 Quad "Clovertown" X5365 (3.0 GHz) (2007 April 4: $1350)

L2-Cache: 16M (each pair of cores shares 4M)

Bus: 1.33 GT/sec

Memory: 667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM

lowendmac's profile

Mac Pro 8-core, 2008 Jan 8

CPU: 2x Intel Core 2 Quad "Harpertown" E5462 (2.8 GHz), E5472 (3.0 GHz) or X5482 (3.2 GHz) (all 2007 Nov 11: $797 or 851, $958, $1279)

Cores/Threads: All models have 8 cores and 8 threads.

L2-Cache: 24M (each pair of cores shares 6M)

Bus: 1.6 GT/sec

Memory: 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) RAM

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EveryMac profile

Mac Pro "Gainestown Nehalem", 2009 Mar 3

CPU: 1x Xeon W3520 (2.66 GHz) or W3540 (2.93 GHz) ($284, $562)

    or 2x Xeon E5520 (2.26 GHz), X5550 (2.66 GHz) or X5570 (2.93 GHz) ($373 - $1386)

Cores/Threads: Each Xeon CPU has 4 cores and 8 threads; thus the dual-CPU machines have 8 cores and 16 threads.

Cache: 256K L2 and 2M L3 per core (1 processor = 4 cores, i.e. either 9M or 18M total cache)

Bus: Controls memory directly; uses QuickPath Interconnect at 5.86 GT/sec (2.26 GHz 8-core model) or 6.4 GT/sec (all other models) for data transfer between one processor and the other, and between processor(s) and the video, hard drives and rest of the system.

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM

lowendmac's profile

EveryMac profiles: Quad 2.66, Octo-core 2.26.

Mac Pro (late 2009 3.33 GHz), 2009 Dec 4

CPU: 1x Xeon X5590 (3.33 GHz) ($1600)

Cores/Threads: 4 physical cores, 8 threads.

Cache: 256K L2 and 2M L3 per core (1 processor = 4 cores, i.e. 9M total cache)

Bus: Controls memory directly; uses QuickPath Interconnect at 6.4 GT/sec for data transfer between one processor and the other, and between processor(s) and the video, hard drives and rest of the system.

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM

Mac Pro "Westmere", 2010 August

CPU: 1x Xeon W3530 (2.8 GHz 4-core), W3565 (3.2 GHz 4-core) or W3680 (3.33 GHz 6-core) ($unknown, $562, $999)

    or 2x Xeon E5620 (2.4 GHz 4-core), X5650 (2.66 GHz 6-core) or X5670 (2.93 GHz 6-core) ($387, $996, $1440)

Cores/Threads: From 4 to 12 cores, with 2 threads per core.

Cache: 256K L2 and 2M L3 per core (i.e. from 9M to 27M total cache)

Bus: Controls memory directly; uses QuickPath Interconnect at 4.8 GT/sec (2.8 GHz 4-core model), 5.86 GT/sec (2x 2.4 GHz 4-core) or 6.4 GT/sec (6-core and 12-core models) for data transfer between one processor and the other, and between processor(s) and the video, hard drives and rest of the system.

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR32 ECC SDRAM (single-processor systems)

    or 1333 MHz DDR32 ECC SDRAM (dual-processor systems)

lowendmac's profile

Idle Speculations for Mac Pro

Late 2011 (speculation)

(written in 2010 July)

Intel is expected to offer processors based on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture to follow the Gainestown, Westmere and similar generation Nehalem processors. These will continue to use the 32-nm process but will add improvements to the core, notably a 256-bit vector unit capable of performing twice as many floating-point operations per clock cycle. This and other core changes will place higher demands on the cache and memory system, so it is unlikely the number of cores will change. Although Sandy Bridge is expected to include products with integrated GPU functions [48] there should also be server-type versions without the GPU and with other things in its place (perhaps more cache, or more and better memory bandwidth).

The first Sandy Bridge processors will probably begin shipment in early 2011 (based on production schedule estimates [47]), which is somewhat more than 2 years after the debut of Nehalem with the first Core i7 products. Therefore a Mac Pro based on Sandy Bridge would come more than 2 years after the first Nehalem Mac Pros, possibly significantly later.

The 8-core "Beckton" designs and any Sandy Bridge replacements thereof, and the 12-core "Eagleton" version of Xeon-EX [39] are both expected to be aimed at the 4-socket server market where the price per CPU is much higher, mainly because of their vastly higher transistor count and correspondingly lower yield..

However, Apple has also been rumored to be looking at AMD alternatives, and the 6-core "bulldozer" design and others like it seem like a possibility.



Special Relationship With Intel

On several occasions it has been clear that Apple has been able to get certain part numbers from Intel a little ahead of the rest of the industry. Recent examples include:

Before Apple became a major customer of Intel, a similar type of relationship existed with IBM regarding the PowerPC G5 (the 970, 970FX, and 970MP).



Appendix A

Overview of Recent Intel Codenames

For the most part, each Intel microprocessor codename refers to a particular microarchitecture (design) on a particular process (lithography feature size). This table summarizes the codenames, by process (rows) and microarchitectures (columns):

Pentium 4 Pent. 4 HT Pentium D Pentium M,
Core
Core 2 DuoCore 2 Quad Core i7 (future) (future) (future)
180 nm Willamette
Nov 2000
130 nm Northwood
Jan 2002
Northwood
Nov 2002
Banias
90 nm Prescott
Feb 2004
Smithfield Dothan
May 2004
65 nm Cedar Mill Presler Yonah
Jan 2006
Conroe
Aug 2006
Kentsfield
45 nm Wolfdale
Jan 2008
Yorkfield Nehalem
Nov 2008
32 nm Westmere
early 2010
Sandy Bridge
early 2011
Ivy Bridge
22 nm Ivy Bridge Haswell Haswell

italics = "Tick", boldface = "Tock" in the Intel marketing department's "Tick-Tock" metaphor.

A "Tick" is the move to a smaller lithography, usually allowing for better power efficiency and sometimes added cache or other features that are easy to add. A "Tock" is a new microarchitecture, allowing for better performance with (roughly) the same yield and transistor count. According to Intel, their long-term goals in process technology development are to develop the next smaller size (fitting twice the transistors in the same area) every two years.

Releasing a new microarchitecture during the "other in-between" year makes sense, and will naturally occur even if it is not planned that way, simply due to market forces and the allocation of limited development resources. The "Tick-Tock" metaphor was first used by Intel marketing in 2007, but the pattern can be easily seen here. Each "tick" has come near the beginning of an even-numbered year, and a "tock" comes near the end of the same year. (Thus the wait from a "tock" to the next "tick" is somewhat longer).

Most of the codenames shown above are for the mainstream desktop variants, with the notable exception of Pentium M. Pentium M was the mobile version of Pentium III, marketed alongside the desktop processors Pentium 4, Pentium 4 HT (with HyperThreading) and Pentium D (dual-core). The Pentium 4 and Pentium D microarchitecture design was abandoned when it became clear that the move to many cores in the desktop CPU was imminent and power efficiency became the top priority.

The change from Core 2 Duo to Core 2 Quad is not shown as either a tick or a tock, because a Core 2 Quad is little more than two Core 2 Duo dies in the same package, linked to each other by the same front side bus that connects off-chip to the Northbridge.

Ivy Bridge is shown in two places, as is Haswell, because it is not yet known (as of early 2009) how long it will take to bring the 22nm lithography process to production. Because of this, improvements planned for Ivy Bridge might be brought out on 32nm (shown by the smaller non-italic "Ivy Bridge". In this instance, another codename (perhaps also ending in "bridge" will occupy the first "Haswell" spot in the table, and Haswell itself will be in the second spot tot he right. If 22nm is successful, the next pocess technology will be 16nm.

Brief Chronology of Intel CPU Products and Process Technology

year process feature
length
wafer
size
speed product transistors
1971 "p232" 10 µM 50 mm 740 KHz 4004 2250
1974 "p336" 6 µM 75 mm 2.0 MHz 8080 6000
1976 "p440" 3 µM 100 mm 5.0 MHz 8085 6500
1978 3 µM 100 mm 5.0 MHz 8086 29,000
1982 "p544" 1.5 µM 125 mm 6.0 MHz 80286 134,000
1985 "p644" 1.5 µM 150 mm 16 MHz 80386 275,000
1989 P648 1.0 µM 150 mm 25 MHz 80486 1,180,000
1991 P650 0.8 µM 150 mm 66 MHz Pentium 3.1 million
1993 P852 0.6 µM,
0.5 µM
200 mm 100 MHz Pentium
1995 P854 0.35 µM 200 mm 166 MHz Pentium Pro 5.5 million
1997 P856 0.25 µM 200 mm 600 MHz Pentium III 9.5 million
1999 P858 180 nm 200 mm 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 42 million
2001 P860
P1260
130 nm 200 mm
300 mm
3.07 GHz Pentium 4 HT 77 million
2003 P1262 90 nm 300 mm 3.8 GHz Pentium 4 HT 77 million
2005 P1264 65 nm 300 mm 2.33 GHz Core Duo 151 million
2007 P1266 45 nm 300 mm 3.2 GHz Xeon X5482 820 million
2009 P1268 32 nm 300 mm 2.66 GHz Nehalem EX ~900 million
2011 P1270 22 nm 300 mm
2013 P1272 16 nm 300 mm

Approximate Chronology of Memory Products and Process Technology

This table is from 20011100 Iwai, who cites the 1999 ITRS Roadmap. There are other similar tables in ITRS Roadmaps, and in the bigfiles/Computers-and-History.

year feature
length
bits transistors
1971 10 µM 1 Kib 2200
1974 6 µM 4 Kib 8500
1977 4 µM 16 Kib
1980 3 µM 64 Kib
1983 2 µM 256 Kib
1986 1.2 µM 1 Mib
1989 0.8 µM 4 Mib
1992 0.5 µM 16 Mib
1995 0.35 µM 64 Mib
1998 0.25 µM 256 Mib



Appendix B

Lithography Details

year process feature
length
light
source
wave energy
1971 "p232" 10 µM
1974 "p336" 6 µM
1974 "p338" 4 µM
1976 "p440" 3 µM
1982 "p542" 2 µM
1982 "p544" 1.5 µM
1989 P648 1.0 µM Hg 400 nm
(violet)
3.1 eV
1991 P650 0.8 µM Hg 400 nm 3.1 eV
1993 0.6 µM Hg 400 nm 3.1 eV
1993 P852 0.5 µM
1995 P854 0.35 µM Hg
KrF
400 nm
248 nm
3.1 eV
5.0 eV
1997 P856 0.25 µM KrF 248 nm 5.0 eV
1999 P858 180 nm KrF 248 nm 5.0 eV
2001 Px60 130 nm KrF
ArF
248 nm
193 nm
5.0 eV
6.4 eV
2003 P1262 90 nm ArF 193 nm 6.4 eV
2005 P1264 65 nm ArF 193 nm 6.4 eV alternating phase-shift masks
2007 P1266 45 nm ArF 193 nm 6.4 eV double patterning
2009 P1268 32 nm ArF 193 nm 6.4 eV immersion
2012? P1270 22 nm ArF 193 nm 6.4 eV non-planar devices
2014? P1272 16 nm ? might not be reached, or perhaps will be implemented with doubly stacked 22nm devices
2017? P1274 11 nm ? even less likely



Appendix C: Old Speculations

Those wishing to see how far off-base I was can compare the following to what actually came to pass.

 

Summer 2010 (speculation)

(written in 2009 October and 2010 February)

The single-processor desktop Nehalem product will move up to a 6-core "Gulftown" implementation in conjunction with its transition to the 32-nm process "later in 1Q 2010"[46]. This product was rumored to be branded "Core i9" [42]) but is now believed to be a future "Core i7-980X" [43] or perhaps keeping the "Core i7 Extreme" branding) [40]. Xeon EP is also scheduled to transition to 32-nm, but that won't happen until significantly later. On the Intel roadmap briefing from 2009 Feb 10th it looks like the end of 2010, or perhaps even a bit later.

However, prior to that time the 8-core "Beckton" Xeon EX will have been released on the 45-nm process. It is easy to speculate that Apple could decide to offer one or more high-end Mac Pro or Xserve products based on it. However, such speculation is highly unrealistic. The Beckton design has twice as many cores, but more than three times as many transistors (2.3×109 vs. 7.3×108 for the 4-core "Gainestown"[38]) and this drives production cost way up because of yield considerations. Beckton also requires special "memory buffers" that are not needed in Gainestown designs[37], and there are other things that make the overall system design costlier. Because it is designed for a 4-socket system (4 Beckton chips on the motherboard), putting two of them into a 2-socket system like the Mac Pro would be a waste, and Intel prices it with this in mind: there is no way Apple could offer any product anywhere near the prices of its current products using two Beckton CPUs.

It is also possible that Intel will release a Xeon EP 45-nm product with more cores, however sources[41],[42] indicate this is highly unlikely and that the 32-nm Westmere process is being used instead. (A 6-core 45nm part would use too much power to be practical, unless its clock speeds were significantly lower).

Rumors in October 2009[42] indicated that Apple might yet again have a special deal with Intel allowing them to get the 6-core Nehalem EP sooner. The same sources also indicate that larger memory modules will be officially supported, allowing systems with 64GiB or 128GiB.

However Apple's slow schedule for updating the Mac Pro, combined with the comparatively low pressure to add a "mere" 1.4x performance boost that the Gulftown would provide, makes me think this update won't come until summer, maybe at the WWDC.

Beyond 2010 : Looking further, there is a 12-core "Eagleton" version of Nehalem-EX expected a year or two after the 8-core Xeon EX [39].

 

MacBook Pro, Early 2010 (speculation)

(written in 2010 January)

An Intel leak[44] makes it seem very likely that Nehalem-based mobile CPUs under the Core i5 brand will be used in a future MacBook Pro. Unlike desktop Core i5s, which lack the hyperthreading feature, Mobile Core i5 CPUs have 2 cores and 4 threads [45].

MacBook Pro Core i5 (speculation)

CPU: Core i5 540M "Arrandale" (3.06 GHz) ($257)

L2-Cache: 3M

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

 

Mac Pro, Early 2009 (speculation)

(written in 2009 February)

The "Harpertown" versions in the Jan 2008 Mac Pros came out in November 2007. Along with several other projects (such as the Penryn chips used in the 2008 MacBooks) it uses the new 45-nm process with Hafnium hi-k MOSFET gates. (The 32-nm process, currently still in development during 2009, uses similar chemistry and should be able to easily reach 4.0 GHz, a "holy grail" hitherto achieved only with liquid cooling rigs).

As of November 2008, it now seems likely that Intel and Apple are moving on to Core i7 (code named Nehalem), rather than new steppings of the Harpertown and similar Core 2-based Xeon designs. The reader should note that "Nehalem" (without a suffix) and "Core i7 desktop and notebook" products work only on single-socket motherboards. These are the CPUs initially released in November 2008; they lack the ability to communicate between two CPUs to keep their caches up to date.

Any computer built around a 2-socket or 4-socket motherboard is commonly called a "server". To the non-Apple part of the industry, the 8-core Mac Pro is a server system — as is any of the dual-socket Power Macs. Intel's current offerings for server motherboards are branded "Xeon DP" (dual processor) and "Xeon MP" (multi-processor). Mac Pro uses the Xeon DP 54xx series. The Nehalem "EP" processor, still promised for "1Q 2009", will work on two-socket motherboards, and will be sold under the "Xeon" brand name and with numbers in the 55xx range (W5580, X5570, E5540, etc.). It has the ability to snoop the cache of a second processor via the dedicated QPI/CSI link (discussed further below). The planned 8-core Nehalem "EX" processor, which will also be called "Xeon", is for 4-socket motherboards, and can handle complex multi-processor cache coherency situations. It replaces the current (pre-i7) solution for 4-socket boards which is the 6-core "Dunnington" (Xeon 74xx series) The Xeon EX chips will probably have numbers in the 75xx range. (Incidentally, there are also Intel "Xeon" processors without multi-CPU capability, designed for single-socket server systems. The only thing setting them apart from the desktop Core i7 processors is their support for ECC memory. They will have "35xx" numbers, like W3570 and W3520.)

Core i7 has architecture improvements that substantially improve power efficiency, and this allows a faster clock speed at the same power level (i.e. temperature). They also support 2-way simultaneous multithreading similar to that introduced in the 3.06 GHz Pentium 4. Two concurrent threads can share one core thanks to two complete sets of user and rename (writeback) registers. This makes the processor appear to have twice as many cores as seen by the operating system and application software. However, this requires improvements to the cache and memory system.

Core i7 indeed has a substantially faster PCMS5, making the 2-chip design much more practical by eliminating the Northbridge bottleneck. Each CPU chip now contains its own memory controller, with the memory DIMMs connecting directly to the processor. In a two-CPU server like the next Mac Pro, each CPU has half of the system memory. When accessing the other half of memory, access is slower. For this reason the OS is likely to use address translation to place each task's program and data within one CPU's memory when possible, and schedule its threads preferentially on that CPU's cores. A similar thing is already being done to optimize cache utilization (as can be seen by using Activity Monitor to watch the CPU usage on a dual-core system while running a single, non-multithreaded computation task.)

The memory controllers in these Nehalem CPUs use DDR3 (at 1033 or 1333 MHz) to communicate to RAM, and QuickPath Interconnect, also called CSI (Common System Interface) to communicate with the second processor and everything else outside the PCMS5. The DDR3 memory controller and the CSI, normally part of the Northbridge chip, is integrated into the CPU. (which is why the CPUs have such a large pin count). This makes the higher bus speed and wider (3x 64 bits) path to memory possible, and this in turn enables 4 cores to run with less cache on-chip. The total amount of cache is 1M of L2 and 8M of L3 shared among the 4 cores, which is less than the 12M that a Harpertown Core 2 Quad has, but with the faster memory this should be little problem.

The higher performance of the CSI-based method of sharing memory between two CPU chips is clear from benchmarks: a dual-socket, 8-core system based on the 3.4 GHz "Harpertown" X5492 has a CPU2006 fpbaserate of less than 90; a dual-socket 2.8 GHz Nehalem system scores 1606.

PCI-X (including any video cards) is handled by a new "bridge" chip of which Tylersburg is the first example. This page shows a few different examples of what's possible and also illustrates the DDR3 interface.

In addition to the major PCMS improvements, Apple can add plenty of other improvements to the system (e.g. the new Firewire IEEE 1394-2008, and perhaps even the long-awaited Blu-Ray Disc).

The move to Core i7 may come in the form of a "new flagship" update, similar to the introduction of the first 8-core Mac Pro in 2007 April, and the Power Mac G5 Quad in 2004 October. In both events the bottom and middle systems were quite similar in performance to their predecessors, and Apple added a new system at the top using a much better PCMS5.

Option 1, a single new flagship model based on Nehalem Xeon EP

CPU: 2x Xeon X5570 (2.93 GHz) or W5580 (3.2 GHz) $($1386 or $1600)$ (8 physical cores, 16 threads)

Cache: 2M L2 and 16M L3 (each 4 cores share 8M)

Bus: 6.4 GT/sec QuickPath

Memory: 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC

See AppleInsider

Additional Options (If moving more of the line to Nehalem)

CPU: 1x or 2x Xeon E5540 (2.53 GHz), X5550 (2.66 GHz) and/or X5560 (2.8 GHz) ($744 - $1172) (4 or 8 cores, 8 or 16 threads)

Cache: 256K of L2 per core and 2M of L3 per core

Bus: 6.4 GT/sec QuickPath

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC (bottom model) or 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC (other models)

(Price details for the Xeon EP products: None of these prices had been announced yet when I made this prediction. I used two sources, wiki and rumor1. The details are: E5540 for $744 (wiki); X5550 for $958 (wiki) or $285 (rumor1); X5560 for $1172 (wiki); X5570 for $555 (rumor1) or $1386 (wiki); W5580 for $990 (rumor1) or $1600 (wiki). I find the lower prices suspicious because they are very similar to the existing "Core i7" prices. The Core i7 products do not work on two-socket motherboards.

Once these chips are actually shipping, they can be found by searching online shopping websites for their Intel product numbers. The Intel product number is "BX80602" plus the processor name, e.g. "BX80602E5540" for the E5540, or "BX80602W5580" for the W5580. )

 

MacBook Pro, Early 2009 (speculation)

(written in 2008 October)

In Oct 2008 Apple updated the 15-inch MacBook Pro (and also its consumer models, MacBook and MacBook Air) to use the newer Intel 45-nm "Penryn" processors with a 1.066 GT/sec bus to memory. When they did this they left the 17-inch MacBook Pro behind in regards to bus speed (and even processor speed — the 15-inch model offers a 2.8 GHz option, 17-inch is still either 2.5 or 2.6).

I suspect they will move this model up to the 2.8 GHz T9600, the 2.8 GHz processor used in the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

I also suspect they will make this update more attractive to top-end customers by offering a quad-core BTO option. I consider the gap in clock speeds between Q9100 and QX9300 to be suspiciously large, so I'm guessing Apple has a special deal on a 2.4 GHz "Q9200". In any event they need a chip that has a suitable package. FCBGA6 has not been used for anything over 35 watts TDP, but special Intel chips for Apple are not a new thing (the most relevant example is the original MacBook Air's 1.6 and 1.8 GHz processors (described in detail here); other examples include the 3.0 GHz Xeon X5365 "Clovertown" used in the first 8-core Mac pro (see this article); the 3.07 GHz Penryn released in 2008 April for the top-model iMac; and the Pentium M "Crofton" used in Apple TV (see here)). Such a processor would be 300 to 400 more expensive causing the price of the MacBook Pro to be, say $600 higher, but Apple has customers who would pay for it.

MacBook Pro 17-inch, 2009 (speculation)

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" T9600 (2.8 GHz) (2008 Jul 14: $530) or Core 2 Quad "Penryn QC" Q9200 (2.4 GHz) (2008 Late: exclusive)

L2-Cache: 6M or 12M (6M shared by each pair of cores)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

 

Early 2009 iMac (speculation)

(written late 2008)

Mobile versions of the Core 2 with 4 cores (Core 2 Quad) have been out since Aug 2008. Given Apple's intense work on the Snow Leopard (Mac OS X version 10.6) with its showcased OpenCL capability, it is likely that Apple will want to bring the consumer line up to 4 cores soon. I expect to see these chips move into both the iMac and the MacBook Pro, or their equivalents, very soon.

Rumors in November 2008 indicated that an additional line of lower-power desktop Core 2 Quads will also soon come out: the Q8200, Q9400 and Q9550. This is more likely to be the chip on which Apple will base its new iMacs.

iMac, early 2009 (speculation)

CPU: Core 2 Quad "Yorkfield" Q9400 (2.66 GHz) or Q9550 (2.83 GHz) (2009 Jan: $320 or $369)

L2-Cache: 6M or 12M (3M or 6M shared by each pair of cores)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: PC2-6400 (800MHz) DDR2 SDRAM

Larrabee iMac (speculation)

There is also Intel's planned Larrabee GPU, a graphics processor chip rumored for summer 2009 release that will compete well against ATI and NVidia, but also be more suitable for non-image computing tasks. It thus fits very well with OpenCL making performance under Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) even more impressive. This is most likely to see use in the iMac. There might also be a Mac Pro BTO option or an Intel video card.

I also think Apple is developing a new, fully 3-D window UI. An unannounced surprise (like the Quartz UI was before the official release of MacOS X), it will more closely resemble a CAD walkthrough than anything we've seen so far. Windows Aero's "Filp 3D" gives a taste.

 

Concerning MacBook Pro (speculation)

(written a week before the 2008 Oct 14 announcements)

Apple recently moved up from the 65-nm "Merom" family of Core 2 Duo processors to the 45-nm "Penryn" family, but are still on an 800 MT/sec bus to memory. I suspect they will move up the P8600, T9400 and/or T9600 that use a 1.066 GT/sec bus, but are otherwise similar to the present T8300, T9300 and T9500 chips. It's also about time they improved the speed of the memory frontside bus — PC2-6400 SODIMM prices are only marginally higher than PC2-5300.

In conjunction with the widely-rumored new case design (about which I care little, and you can read elsewhere) they may also be planning a quad-core option (perhaps using the Q9100 or QX9300) for a new flagship 17-inch MacBook Pro. I consider the gap in clock speeds between Q9100 and QX9300 to be suspiciously large, so I'm guessing Apple has a special deal on a 2.4 GHz "Q9200".

All of these chips (T8300 through QX9300) are of equal or very slightly faster clock speeds than the current line-up, and were added to Intel's product line in summer of 2008. The dual-core processors have the same price as the present ones. The quad-cores are much more expensive but Apple has customers who would pay for it. I'd guess they'll boost the memory speed even further for that model, too. Power usage is a big issue when you consider faster memory, which is probably why Apple has moved away from Intel's Montevina chipset (from AppleInsider [20]).

The case redesign probably is accompanied by manufacturing cost improvements enabling Apple to lower the prices slightly on the main line (by $100 or $200), making a little more room for the much higher price of the quad-core option.

MacBook Pro, 2008 Oct 14 (speculation)
option 1: low-end

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" P8600 (2.4 GHz) (2008 Jun 13: $241)

L2-Cache: 3M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 800 MHz PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM

option 2: most likely 15-inch and 17-inch models

CPU: Core 2 Duo "Penryn" T9400 (2.533 GHz) or T9600 (2.8 GHz) (both 2008 Jul 14: $316, $530)

L2-Cache: 6M (shared by both cores)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 800 MHz PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM

option 3: a new flagship quad-core 17-inch BTO option

CPU: Core 2 Quad "Penryn QC" Q9200 (2.4 GHz) (2008 Oct: exclusive)

L2-Cache: 12M (6M shared by each pair of cores)

Bus: 1.066 GT/sec

Memory: 1.066 GHz PC2-8500 DDR2 SDRAM

 

Concerning Mac Pro in Early 2009 (speculation)

(written in 2008 October)

The Harpertown versions in the Jan 2008 Mac Pros came out in November 2007 [10]. Along with several other projects (such as the Penryn chips used in the 2008 MacBooks) it uses the new 45-nm process with Hafnium hi-k MOSFET gates. This process should be able to reach 4.0 GHz (a "holy grail" hitherto unachieved with previous fabrication processes).

The Harpertown CPUs released in Sep 2008 (X5470 3.33 GHz and X5492 3.4 GHz) are too expensive for all but the top-model Mac Pro, but there is likely to be a new stepping with slightly higher voltage and the same power requirement, and consequentally higher yield, that will enable the existing speeds to be sold at a lower price. This happened across the entire Clovertown line when stepping G0 came out in July 2007 (see the Clovertown section of Wikipedia's Xeon list). Although no such imminent steppings are announced, Apple is known to have worked with Intel to get the first shot at a new production run through their close relationship with Intel (the most relevant example is the 3.0 GHz Xeon X5365 "Clovertown" used in the first 8-core Mac pro (reported by electronista [8]); other examples include the 3.07 GHz Penryn released in 2008 April for the top-model iMac; the original MacBook Air's 1.6 and 1.8 GHz processors (described by Anand [12]); and the Pentium M "Crofton" used in Apple TV (on macnn [7])). There is also the leaked news (see here) that Intel will "update in early Q4'08" related to the current "Client platforms"; this most likely refers to a refresh of the existing Core 2 line, and high-end desktop Xeons are very likely to be included in that.

A modest improvement is possible, and likely sometime in the life-cycle of the 45-nm shrink/derivative families, by increasing the cache size. Intel has often come out with different lines of CPU chips that use essentially the same design and die layout but with differing clock speed, cache and bus interface.

So for early 2009 I predict Apple will offer clock speeds of 3.4, 3.2, and 3.0 or something similar, perhaps dropping the 3.0 clock speed to consolidate the line and make room for a new flagship (see below). PCMS5 specs will be otherwise unchanged, but Apple can add plenty of other improvements to the system (e.g. the new Firewire IEEE 1394-2008, and the long-awaited Blu-Ray Disc) to keep their customer base.

Mac Pro 8-core, early 2009 (speculation)

CPU: 2x Core 2 Quad "Harpertown" (3.0, 3.2 or 3.4 GHz)

L2-Cache: 24M (each pair of cores shares 6M)

Bus: 1.6 GT/sec

Memory: 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) RAM

New Flagship (speculation)

A mid-cycle "new flagship" update has happened twice in recent memory: the introduction of the Mac Pro 8-core in 2007 April, and the Power Mac G5 Quad in 2004 October. In both events the bottom and middle systems were unchanged or retained the same performance as their predecessors, and Apple added a new system at the top using a much higher-performance PCMS5. I call such a system a "new flagship" because of the attention it draws to the most demanding customers.

In late 2008, Intel will release some of the first Nehalem processors including certain Bloomfield and Gainestown products, under the Core i7 product name. Both are 4-core chips, using a new single-die layout, and they provide two significant improvements over everything mentioned above, simultaneous multithreading and a new memory system.

Intel refers to its implementations of simultaneous multithreading as "Hyper-Threading Technology", and the feature was last seen in the Pentium 4. Two concurrent threads can share one core thanks to two complete sets of user and rename (writeback) registers. This makes the processor appear to have twice as many cores as seen by the operating system and application software. However, this requires improvements to the cache and memory system. The Gainestown supports two CPUs (in two sockets linked by the motherboard — an 8-core system); Bloomfield is single-socket only. Intel is aiming the former at servers and the latter at high-performance desktops.

The memory system for all Nehalem CPUs uses DDR3 (at 1033 or 1333 MHz) to communicate to RAM, and QuickPath Interconnect, also called CSI (Common System Interface) to communicate with a second processor and everything else outside the PCMS5. The DDR3 memory controller and the CSI, normally part of the Northbridge chip, is integrated into the CPU. (which is why the CPUs have such a large pin count). This makes the higher bus speed and wider (3x 64 bits) path to memory possible, and this in turn enables 4 cores to run with less cache on-chip. The total amount of cache is 1M of L2 and 8M of L3 shared among the 4 cores, which is less than the 12M that a Harpertown Core 2 Quad has, but with the faster memory this should be little problem.

PCI-X (including any video cards) is handled by a new "bridge" chip of which Tylersburg is the first example. xtreview.com [9] shows a few different examples of what's possible and also illustrates the DDR3 interface. The initial Nehalems achieve 4.8 GT/sec through their CSI interfaces, later ones will be faster.

Another advance whose timing is about right to be part of this new flagship is use of the Intel Larrabee GPU, a graphics processor chip rumored for summer 2009 release that will compete well against ATI and NVidia, but also be more suitable for non-image computing tasks. It thus fits with the OpenCL part of Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). I also think they're developing a new, fully 3-D window UI. An unannounced surprise (like the Quartz UI was before the official release of MacOS X), it will more closely resemble a CAD walkthrough than anything we've seen so far. Windows Aero's "Filp 3D" gives a taste.

As for timing, it seems unlikely Apple would wait much more than a year after Intel's release of the new processors before using them — but it will be too soon after the early 2009 update to replace the whole line. So I suspect there will just be a single "New Flagship" Mac Pro.

Option 1, a new 8-core top model based on Gainestown

CPU: 2x Core i7 965 3.2 GHz ($999) (8 physical cores, 16 virtual cores)

Cache: 2M L2 and 16M L3 (each 4 cores share 8M)

Bus: 4.8 GT/sec QuickPath

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC or 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC

See Fudzilla [29].

Option 1a, based on Bloomfield (will be used for 4-core models, if Apple decides to switch their entire line over to Nehalem)

CPU: single Core i7 940 "Bloomfield" 2.93 GHz ($562) (4 physical cores, 8 virtual cores)

L2-Cache: 1M L2 and 8M L3 (shared by the 4 cores)

Bus: 4.8 GT/sec QuickPath

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC or 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC

See nV News [18], gizmodo [19], Tom's Hardware [27].

Additional Options (If moving more of the line to Core i7)

CPU: 1x or 2x Core i7 E5530 (2.4 GHz), X5550 (2.8 GHz) and/or W5580 (3.2 GHz) ($530 - $1600) (8 physical cores, 16 virtual cores)

Cache: 1M or 2M L2; 8M or 16M L3 (each 4 cores share 8M)

Bus: 4.8 GT/sec QuickPath

Memory: 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC (bottom model) or 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC (middle and top models)

see Tom's Hardware [27].



Footnotes

1 : AiO: "All-in-One": A desktop computer that contains the motherboard and a display, and sometimes other items too. The original Macintosh was an AiO, but on this page I am referring to it as a "Compact".

2 : Announced date shown only if different from Available date.

3 : PDA: "Personal Digital Assistant": I use this acronym, which dates from the Newton and Palm Pilot days, to describe the iPhone because of its similar form factor and functionality. Both are a good match to the all-in-one replacement device predicted as far back as the late 1970's.

4 : These are the systems that I have owned (or used heavily at school or at work): Apple ][+, Mac 128, Mac 512KE, Mac IIsi, Powerbook 140, Centris 660AV, Power Mac 6100, Power Mac G3 (Blue and White), iMac G4 15", iBook G4 12", Power Mac G5 (dual 970fx), MacBook Pro 17" (Core 2 Duo). With the exception of the Blue and White G3, I still own all of these systems, and all are in good working order except the iBook (intermittent crashes during boot).

5 : PCMS: Processor, Cache and Memory System. Other parts of the computer (graphics, hard disk, and I/O) are beyond the scope of this article and generally not a limiting factor for the types of workloads Apple addresses when they pick a faster processor.

6 : SPEC CPU2006 fp_base_rate from TechRadar [33].



Sources

Sources used in my Research

The following is a partial list of citations used for the above. If it was found by a search, the search query text is shown; otherwise the page was found through a link from one of the other pages listed here.

[7] macnn, Intel chip inside AppleTV, profits slide 39%, 20070116

[8] electronista, Apple's new Mac Pro uses special-run Xeon, 20070405

[9] xtreview, Intel Tylersburg chipset, 20070917 (searched on Tylersburg Intel)

[10] Intel, Intel's Fundamental Advance in Transistor Design Extends Moore's Law, Computing Performance, 20071111 (searched on Intel hafnium press release)

[11] xbitlabs, Meet Intel Wolfdale: Core 2 Duo E8500, E8400 and E8200 Processors Review, 20080107

[12] AnandTech, The MacBook Air CPU Mystery: More Details Revealed, 20080117

[13] MacRumors, Intel's Custom Processor for MacBook Air, 20080117

[14] The Inquirer, Someone finally finds a use for DDR3, 20080320 (searched on Bloomfield Gainestown)

[15] TD Daily, Update: Apple upgrades iMac, gets Intel's Montevina CPU early, sort of, 20080428

[16] vr-zone, Apple uses 3.06Ghz X9100 Montevina chip on the newly release iMac, 20080429 (searched on iMac X9100)

[17] AnandTech, The Nehalem Preview: Intel Does It Again, 20080605

[18] nV News Forums, 20090718

[19] Gizmodo, Crazy Fast Intel Bloomfield Processor Getting Early September Release, 20080724 (searched on Bloomfield Intel)

[20] AppleInsider, Apple's next-gen Macs to have something special under the hood, 20080728 (I read this site regularly)

[21] MacRumors, Firewire Specification Approved For Speeds Up To 3.2 Gigabits/sec, 20080731

[22] overclockers.com.au, forum discussion, 20080824 (searched on Bloomfield Gainestown)

[23] expreview, Lynnfield on track for Holiday Refresh 2009, Havendale purposed delay to Jan 2010, 20080904

[24] MacRumors, buy a MacPro 8core at 2.8ghz, wait or not? (forum discussion), 20080909 (searched on "Mac Pro" Bloomfield)

[25] AppleInsider, MacPro - need advice from Intel Roadmap Watchers, (forum discussion), 20080923 (searched on W3570 Intel)

[26] MacRumors, Intel Roadmap leak (includes Gainestown price sheet) (forum discussion), 20080923 (searched on Gainestown Intel)

[27] Tom's Hardware, Intel's '09 Roadmap Revealed: Part 1, 20080923 (searched on W3570 Intel)

[28] Tom's Hardware, Intel '09 Roadmap Revealed: Part 2!, 20080924 (searched on Intel Roadmap Bloomfield)

[29] Fudzilla, Nehalem to launch on November 17th, 20081009

[30] PC-Hardware, Intel Beefs Up Server Line with More Nehalem Processors, Phases Out Notebook CPUs, 20081113 (searched on W5580 intel X5570)

[31] Apple Insider, New Intel Xeons offer upgrade path for Mac Pro in early 2009, 20081113 (I read this site frequently)

[32] Apple Insider, Apple waiting on quad-core desktop chips from Intel, 20081119

[33] TechRadar, Intel dual-socket Nehalem EP benchmarked 20081120

[34] AnandTech, Intel's 32nm Update: The Follow-on to Core i7 and More, 20090211

[35] TG Daily, Apple gets another secret Intel processor, 20090303

[36] Tom's Hardware, Intel's 6-Core CPU Possibly Delayed, 20090420

[37] The Register, Intel pushes Nehalem EXs into 2010, 20090526

[38] AnandTech, AMD's Six-Core Opteron 2435, 20090601 (Transistor count for Gainestown is on page 3)

[39] The Inquirer (Nebojsa Novakovic), POWER7 vs Nehalem-EX, 20090907 (searched on Intel Eagleton cores)

[40] PC Games Hardware, Core i7-980X aka Core i9: Intel's 6-core desktop CPU pictured, 20090918

[41] Hardmac, Future Mac Pro: Apple to Enjoy Short-Term Exclusive Use of Future Xeon CPU?, 20091015 (referenced by a Register article)

[42] The Register (Chris Mellor), Apple plans turbocharged Mac Pro speedster, 20091016

[43] OCClub.ru, News about Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 and Core i7 980X, 20091203 (in Russian, but see image at occlub.ru/images/posts/12_09/i980x.jpg). Google translate gives the following translation:

News about Intel Core 2 Duo E8700 and Core i7 980X
  Recently, from unofficial sources, it became clear that the recent news about the upcoming Core 2 Duo E8700 is a fakie. It is learned that Intel has to produce such a model does not plan to.
  In addition, it also became known that the processor which is scheduled for release in the near future and is based on 32 nm core code-named c Gulftown will be the naming of Intel Core i7 980X, instead of Intel Core i9 as previously thought.
  Intel Core i7 980X will be produced in the performancs of LGA 1366, have six physical cores (12 virtual), have L3 cache level equal to 12 MB. Presumably nominal frequency is equal to 3,33 GHz.
  In addition to all new product will have an unlocked multiplier.

[44] Apple Insider, Intel promo confirms Apple's plans for Core i5 MacBook Pros, 20100113

[45] Electronista, Intel ships mobile Core i5, i3 to PC builders, 20091217

[46] AnandTech, New Westmere Details Emerge: Power Efficiency and 4/6 Core Plans, 20100203

[47] ZDNet, Intel sets production date for Sandy Bridge, 20100413

[48] cnet, The next, big thing for Intel: Sandy Bridge, 20100416


— -- —

Wikipedia, future Xeon (searched on Intel Future Xeon)

Wikipedia, future Core 2 (searched on Intel Future "Core 2")

Wikipedia, Nehalem

Wikipedia, Gulftown (searched on Core i9 Gulftown)

Wikipedia, Core 2 (discusses Allendale, Conroe, Kentsfield, Merom, Penryn, Wolfdale, and Yorkfield)


— -- —

Readers may also be interested in these Wikipedia lists of microprocessors, arranged by the marketing model name:

IBM PowerPC 750 ("G3")

Motorola PowerPC 74xx ("G4")

IBM PowerPC 970 ("G5")

Intel Core,

Intel Core 2,

Intel Xeon,

Intel Core i7.




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