Macopinion

How to Play Poker on a Mac

Will Intel’s Atom And Montevina CPUs Usher In A New Era For Apple Notebooks?

Ever since the blistering-hot (in a more ways than one) intel-based Apple notebooks were rolled out two years and a bit ago, I've been lamenting that there was really nothing offered any more to accommodate those of us who didn't need the amount of raw processing power offered in need of the base MacBook, and who would prefer to live with a more modest performance profile accompanied by the advantages of cooler, silent operation and longer battery life.

The MacBook Air didn't really deliver on this. It has the more modest performance part, but through major compromises in practical usefulness, and it still runs hot anyway. What I want is a standard-sized laptop with the normal compliment of ports and features, a swappable battery a standard-sized and capacity hard drive, but I'm prepared to live with slower processor speed in return for lower heat, peace and quiet, and enhanced battery life.

However, help may be on the way in the form of the new Intel Atom family of low-power processors, announced last month and on display last week at Intel's Developer Forum in Shanghai, at least if Apple chooses to take advantage of this technology.

Both MacBook Pro' and MacBooks have been plenty powerful from the get-go, but prone to running substantially hotter than their Power PC G4 predecessors, which were not exactly cool-runners themselves. The heating issue means lots of noisy cooling fan activity on these machines and Apple no longer recommending that they be used as literal laptop computers. The latest revisions of the MacBook and MacBook Pro with their 45 nanometer technology Penryn Core 2 Duo processors are significantly improved in this regard, but still run very hot by historical Apple laptop standards. There's no mystery why. Typically, Intel's Core 2 Duo mobile processors suck about 35-watts of power, compared with some 10 w to 20 w being the norm in toward the end of the Power PC laptop era. By Contrast, the Atom chips, which Intel claims will provide roughly the same level of performance as a mainstream CPU from the early-mid '00s, demand a minuscule three watts or less. This is achieved by virtue of variable voltage and clock speed settings as well as components , for example the memory cache, that can be turned off when not in use, which according to Intel, will keep the average power draw in the neighborhood of 160 to 220 milliwatts, and idle power range of 80-100mW, which as well as reducing heat generated can also enhance battery life dramatically.

Intel says the Intel Atom processor is based on an entirely new micro-architecture designed specifically for small devices and low power, while maintaining the Intel Core 2 Duo instruction set compatibility consumers are accustomed to when using a standard PC and the Internet. The design also includes support for multiple threads for better performance and increased system responsiveness. All of this on a chip that measures less than 25 mm, making it Intel's smallest and lowest power processor yet. Up to 11 Intel Atom processor die - the tiny slivers of silicon packed with 47 million transistors each - would fit in an area the size of an American penny.

These new chips, previously code-named Silverthorne and Diamondville, will be manufactured on Intel's 45 nanometer process and have a thermal design power (TDP) specification in 0.6-2.5 watt range with up to 1.86 GHz clock speeds compared with current mainstream mobile Core 2 Duo processors that have a TDP in the 35-watt range. These remarkable low-power demands are achieved thanks to new processor design power management techniques such as Intel Deep Power Down Technology (C6), CMOS mode, and Split I/O power supply. The Atom technology package also includes integrated graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub.

The earliest we would see Atom-based Apple laptops would probably be early 2009 - that is if Apple decides to take advantage of this technology. In the nearer term, Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's Mobility Group, commented in Shanghai that new notebook products should be coming to market later this year with Intel's next-generation "Montevina" Intel (Centrino 2 in PC universe nomenclature) processor technology for notebooks, projected for release in June, providing faster performance and longer battery life.

Montevina will introduce DDR3 support to notebooks, which in turn contribute to boosting battery life, and presumably run cooler yet due to DDR3’s lower operating voltage (1.5V vs. 1.8V). Montevina will will feature faster new GMA X4500HD integrated graphics support than the current GMA X3100 and a lower power chipset. The GMA X4500HD will add full hardware H.264 decode acceleration, which will enable native hardware support for high-definition entertainment using Blu-ray drives, and better Blu-Ray performance on battery power, although Blu-Ray will probably find its way into the MacBook Pro before the MacBook gets it. Montevina will also be the first CPU platform from Intel to offer an integrated Wi-Fi and WiMAX wireless access option that is expected to be available in certain notebooks, although we can't be certain at this juncture that Apple will choose to go with that.

My guess is that we'll see Montevina MacBooks some time in the fall, but a report on AppleInsider this week suggests they could roll out even sooner than that, and incorporate major design changes such as aluminum cases for the Macbook as well as the new CPUs. We'll see.

Other options for Centrino 2 include the processor and other components that are about 40 percent smaller, making them ideal for the mini- and sub-notebook categories like the MacBook Air. In China, Mr. Perlmutter shared details in graphics quality and native hardware support for high-definition entertainment using Blu Ray, and demonstrated Intel solid state drive technology.

All in all it's shaping up to be an exciting second half of 2008 for Apple notebook aficionados. Makes the decision more complicated for those contemplating a purchase in the near term. The Penryn-based MacBook Pro and MacBook revisions released at the end of February are the best MacIntel notebooks yet, but if AppleInsider is right that they "will be the last of their breed," with major design changes coming with their next refresh, patience for a few more months may be amply rewarded.

For more information, visit:
http://www.intel.com/



***



cmoore@macopinion.com


Provisionally, you can access The Road Warrior Archive to Jan. 16, 2006 by clicking here.

Note: Letters to The Road Warrior may or may not be published in The Road Warrior Mailbag at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context.

If you would prefer that your message not appear in The Road Warrior Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published.

CM