January 2007 MacWorld Expo

[Aeolius]

With images like this:

One might wonder what Apple has up its sleeve, for next week's MacWorld Expo

 

[Steve Jung]

Based on that logo, Macs are gaining super powers. Awesome.

 

[Enforcer]

I'm hoping for an iPhone, personally. But I'll be happy with a confirmed Leopard ship date and an updated MacBook Pro (so I can ditch my iBook G4...).

 

[Rackhir]

I'm hoping for an iPhone, personally. But I'll be happy with a confirmed Leopard ship date and an updated MacBook Pro (so I can ditch my iBook G4...).

They just updated the MacBook Pros about 2 months ago (Minor feature updates, Core 2 Duo's mostly) so the odds of there being new MacBooks Pros is pretty low. Though there is a small chance you might see a 12" MBP of some sort introduced.

What are you waiting for on the MBP?

 

[Enforcer]

They just updated the MacBook Pros about 2 months ago (Minor feature updates, Core 2 Duo's mostly) so the odds of there being new MacBooks Pros is pretty low. Though there is a small chance you might see a 12" MBP of some sort introduced.

What are you waiting for on the MBP?

Nothing crazy. A simple processor bump would be nice--basically I want to know that the MBP I'll buy after Leopard comes out won't be upgraded for at least a couple months after my purchase.

 

[Rackhir]

Nothing crazy. A simple processor bump would be nice--basically I want to know that the MBP I'll buy after Leopard comes out won't be upgraded for at least a couple months after my purchase.

Well the next update for the MBPs is probably around the time that Leopard is introduced. However, there's no dramatic improvements in processors for notebooks on the horizon, since the Core 2 Duos have already been put into the MBPs about 2 months ago. Though there's a chance you might be seeing a quad core chip going into the MBP's late in '07, that is unlikely to offer much of an improvement unless you use heavily multi-threaded apps.

The most significant improvement in the next MBP models is likely to be a better video card, with a very small possibility of an SLI (dual graphics card) set up for the 17" model. But either graphics or processor speed bumps are only likely to be significant if you are playing games or doing heavy video editing.

 

[Enforcer]

Any of the above would satisfy me, especially a better video card so I can run WoW better. Like I said, I'm not looking for much beyond 3 months or so of having the best MBP available.

 

[drothgery]

Well the next update for the MBPs is probably around the time that Leopard is introduced. However, there's no dramatic improvements in processors for notebooks on the horizon, since the Core 2 Duos have already been put into the MBPs about 2 months ago. Though there's a chance you might be seeing a quad core chip going into the MBP's late in '07, that is unlikely to offer much of an improvement unless you use heavily multi-threaded apps.

A quad-core MacBook Pro is unlikely, because Intel doesn't have any short-term plans for a quad-core notebook CPU (the 65nm dual-die design used for the Core 2 Quad QX6700 and Xeon 53xx is too power-ineficient for notebooks -- or for an iMac / Mac Mini). But they are launching 800 MHz FSB notebook Core 2 Duos with the Santa Rosa chipset later this year (and 1333 MHz FSB desktop Core 2 Duos), and I'd be shocked if there's not a new spin of MacBooks and MacBook Pros that uses them.

I suspect quad core chips are going to stay stuck in the server/high-end workstation/extreme gaming space a lot longer than dual cores did; the third and fourth core just don't help anywhere near as much in normal business apps (or games) as the second does.

 

[Dimwhit]

I'm purchasing a 24" iMac in a month or so, so I'm REALLY hoping to see a little bump on those machines. There typically is at MacWorld. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Rackhir]

I'm purchasing a 24" iMac in a month or so, so I'm REALLY hoping to see a little bump on those machines. There typically is at MacWorld. Keeping my fingers crossed.

It's possible, but unlikely that you might see a quad core 2 duo iMac announced at the expo, since the chips are scheduled to be announced at CES show the same week. But given that the iMacs were reved only about 2-3 months ago and the heat/power requirements of the quad core chips, it's unlikely that you will see any major changes. The 24" iMac does use a non-user upgradeable video card, so it is concievable that part of the machine might see a bump, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Still it's only 4 days off so it is wise to wait until then.

A quad-core MacBook Pro is unlikely, because Intel doesn't have any short-term plans for a quad-core notebook CPU (the 65nm dual-die design used for the Core 2 Quad QX6700 and Xeon 53xx is too power-ineficient for notebooks -- or for an iMac / Mac Mini). But they are launching 800 MHz FSB notebook Core 2 Duos with the Santa Rosa chipset later this year (and 1333 MHz FSB desktop Core 2 Duos), and I'd be shocked if there's not a new spin of MacBooks and MacBook Pros that uses them.

I said late '07, Intel has penciled in on their schedule in the late '07/early '08 time frame, a 45nm true quad core chip with similar power/heat disapation to the current core 2 Duo chips, at least according to The Register. I suspect there's a chance that it's release might get pushed up if AMD gets rowdy during the year.

But your mention of the new mobile chipset is a good point, they are scheduled for release around the time that Apple is likely to be reving the MBPs. Though it's unclear if the new chipset is going to offer any substantial advantages in performance, it certainly isn't going to hurt having them.