In October, Intel began churning out its 45-nm 'Penryn' processors at the company's new $3 billion manufacturing facility in Chandler, Arizona. Now, various reports indicate those new mobile processors might find homes in laptops and other portable devices as soon as CES and MacWorld.
What does this ramp up mean for the rest of the PC industry? For one, we'll have faster, cooler and more energy efficient mobile processors in laptops early next year, which is certainly a good thing. But competition is often fierce when a new processor debuts, regardless of who manufactures it. This has to do with the abysmally low yields (5-6 percent it's been said) chipmakers experience during the initial phases of manufacturing. According to various rumors circulating around the internet on Wednesday, Apple may for the first time match other PC manufacturers and debut these new Penryn 'Santa Rosa' processors in its existing notebook lineup during January's MacWorld Expo.
"It's highly plausible that the chips could make their first appearance at CES 2008 (January 7, 2008) with further unveils at MacWorld 2008 in Apple's oft-rumored tablet, revamped MacBook Pros or refreshed iMac desktops," writes the DailyTech.
Typically, the Cupertino company has always trailed manufacturers like Dell and HP when it comes to mobile processor induction. For instance, during the last Centrino refresh in May of '07, it took Apple about a month longer than everyone else to release the 'Santa Rosa'-equipped laptops. But there's a dirty little secret behind that delay, according to Blackfriars' Carl Howe, that actually has nothing to do with chip conspiracies or Apple's relatively small market share.
Photo: AP
"The simple fact is that if you use Intel's motherboards (along with its new processors), you deploy your stuff really fast," says Howe. Because real estate is generally a greater concern for Apple due to the thin form factors associated with the MacBook Pros, the company makes all of its own customized notebook motherboards.
This process, along with the necessary QA, Howe says, is probably the number one reason for the historical delay.
In fact, while the precise terms of Apple's agreement with Intel aren't known, there's good evidence that Cupertino company actually has a very special arrangement with Intel and, in many cases, may get preferential treatment from the world's largest chipmaker.
For its MacPro desktops, Intel supplies Apple with an abnormally large quantity of its high-end 3-GHz Xeon processors. So high, that other PC manufactures (specifically those that also make servers) have started grumbling about preferential treatment.
Regardless of whether that preferential treatment exists, though, Apple is undoubtedly in a really nice place, concludes Howe. "They don't need a lot of chips from Intel like other manufacturers do, and Intel actually gains a great deal by debuting their latest processors in a sleek, aluminum package," he says.
Indeed, if Apple does refresh its laptops with new mobile processors at MacWorld, that will mean Intel provided the company with its newest chips earlier than it ever has and long before any other company. No matter how you look at it, that's a significant gesture considering Apple's market share and the cost associated with those new chips.
