Core 2 Duo mobile launches due Monday

Well, it's officially late August, meaning that the bit of buffer between Intel's Core 2 Duo desktop and mobile launches should be over any day now. Word on the street is Monday's locked and loaded for a barrage laptop releases with their latest powerhouse dual core mobile processor -- the one some may still know as Merom -- on board. (And thus, we ask for your forgiveness in advance when we have a slew of laptop write ups early next week.) In other words, if you were considering snatching up a laptop this weekend -- PC or Mac -- you'd probably be best off waiting until at least next weekend to do it; who knows what kinds of goodies we'll see in a couple days, right?

[Jack @ Aug 26th 2006 8:03PM]

I've been waiting since May Apple, Now please may the processor upgrade give me a good reason to get a MacBook in Black!

[marcin @ Aug 26th 2006 8:06PM]

haha finally.

my brother, a freshman in college, hasnt gotten a computer yet because ive told him to wait for this.

he can finally get one.

[Danny Trinh @ Aug 26th 2006 8:09PM]

Music to my ears. :)

[adam @ Aug 26th 2006 8:09PM]

now the question is, when can i get this in my macbook pro? please apple, don't make me wait for mwsf 2007! my money is waiting for this upgrade to buy a macbook pro for college.

@ jack, apple will probably not put merom's in the standard macbooks. they will probably give them a processor bump (2.0 and 2.16) and give the macbook pro the merom chips.

[[e-mail] @ Aug 26th 2006 8:17PM]

i hope that dell is one of the first people to announce laptops with core 2 duo chips...

XPS m1210...here i come!

[Mickey @ Aug 26th 2006 8:29PM]

Lol, i just grabed a macbook 1.86 with 1G RAM and i think it is enough to keep you guys happy~

but, core2duo will most certainly be on apple's list since it always lead the way of mobile computing and now they have team-up with intel, hehe,gods knows what they might bring out~

[Alex @ Aug 26th 2006 8:48PM]

Dell M2010. Finally.

[govtcheez @ Aug 26th 2006 9:17PM]

I already have an XPS M1210 with a Merom processor in it. :)

[govtcheez @ Aug 26th 2006 9:20PM]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1532622#post1532622

...oops. Forgot to post the link.

[govtcheez @ Aug 26th 2006 9:20PM]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=70969

[Richard @ Aug 26th 2006 9:30PM]

Core 2 Duo Mobile (Merom) laptops are already out in Hong Kong! I'm thinking of getting one - it is a US$1,141 machine, and has a Radeon X1600 256MB, but not sure if it's really worth it.

[Karl @ Aug 26th 2006 9:45PM]

actually, marcin, although this is the C2D, it isn't the best version. In a few months time, Santa Rosa will be out, and these chips will get a faster FSB. That means much better performance.

This is just the first wave of merom chips, which are pretty much yonahs with 64-bit and a larger cache. Wait till early next year, when they get faster FSBs. Faster FSB = faster processor = tasks performed quicker = more idle and less load = better battery life.

[Zandriff @ Aug 26th 2006 10:02PM]

Hmm kind of a Mac Backlash. Didn't seem like Apple didn't have to upgrade every few months when they had PPC cores. Blessing and a curse.

[Adjodha @ Aug 26th 2006 10:24PM]

maybe I would just wait and upgrade my intel 20" imac with a 3ghz merom.

[Arnstarn @ Aug 26th 2006 10:41PM]

Though the chances of MacBooks getting this processor before the end of the year are slim, i'm still praying for it. I don't want a MacBook Pro. I just want something small that can can roar like my 350z if need be.

[ipodman715 @ Aug 26th 2006 10:57PM]

Same day as I start school.

[Omar Abudayyeh @ Aug 26th 2006 11:07PM]

So this is the monday in two days right? Not Sept. 5th because that was the date many people speculated that the chips would come out. So which monday?

[Dan @ Aug 27th 2006 4:29AM]

How much better will the FSB upgrade make the MBP? I've been waiting for the Merom to buy a MBP and it's finally coming and now I'm thinking of waiting for, what is it 800MHz or 1GHz FSB?

I don't have a computer right now, but I suppose I could wait a bit longer. Is it worth it?

[Russell @ Aug 27th 2006 5:06AM]

These are finally AMD64 compatible right? :wink:

[Jarod @ Aug 27th 2006 6:23AM]

Ill have a Merom MacBook Pro fully loaded please Alex! :-D

[marcin @ Aug 27th 2006 9:00AM]

wow turdmoe, your site sucks. next time dont try to pass it off as a link to info.

[Meddow @ Aug 27th 2006 10:13AM]

You could keep waiting for ever, for the "next" chip, get a laptop if you need one, dont wait around forever

[Dominik @ Aug 27th 2006 10:29AM]

If Apple releases a Core 2 Duo before year end, I'll be surprised. I'd imagine they'd use a bigger media event for something like that. Well, who knows, I'm just venting because I recently purchased a Macbook in black.
My girlfriend's iBook is acting up, so I figured it'd be a great time to move up to the Macbook and let her have my Powerbook. No way am I leaving Apple, either. So it's either wait wait wait, or buy now and pray its not released. lol :)

[Phillip @ Aug 27th 2006 11:34AM]

You're ******* kidding me, right?

I just bought my 17" MacBook Pro yesterday. >.

[Firefly @ Aug 27th 2006 1:05PM]

Will we see a chipset change for Merom or does that not happen until next year? Specifically the 965G chipset and X3000 integrated graphics from Intel. It was announced for Conroe but does the mobile version have to wait until Santa Rosa comes out in 2007?

[Sally @ Aug 27th 2006 2:58PM]

Hey Phillip, go back to the store and basically try to return your laptop on groundsof it being defective. Some common problems to state: when the laptop heats up, the hinge in the back starts to grind with the bottom, making it hard to close while scraping the plastic, causing scratches. Then, talk about how the curvature in the back (look at the back of your laptop, where the grill is) is causing performance issues, then talk about how the bluetooth is defective, the videocard is underclocked (they don't know what that even means so it'll hel you out) and then just be honest and tell them about the overload of thermal grease. When I went to return mine back, the Geek pretty much connected the symptoms to the case problem and took it off my hands :)

[John @ Aug 27th 2006 3:28PM]

It's about time. I heard "sometime in August", which of course had to be pretty much the last friggin day of it. I'm happy though. I can finally replace my eMachine T1090 from 1999. (900mhz intel celeron, 256mb pc 100 ram) you get the picture. I was beginning to think it wouldn't come but this made my day.

[Jordan @ Sep 9th 2006 6:07PM]

Well, I'm waiting until after the announcement to buy a macbook, I'm not expecting Core 2 duo models, but even a 2.16 processor is worth waiting a day or two for.As Mickey said,only god knows what they might bring out.