Apple rumor Monday: Nehalem Mac Pro, new Airport Extreme and Time Capsule in FCC, Mac mini box
By Nilay Patel 
posted Mar 2nd 2009 2:17PM
posted Mar 2nd 2009 2:17PM
- First up, we'd say a bump of the Mac Pro to Intel's upcoming Nehalem-EP Xeon processors is looking quite likely -- famed OS X hacker netkas was poking around in a test build of OS X 10.5.7 and found support files for i7 chips lurking about, as well as drivers for ATI's Radeon 4000-series GPUs. If you're making a chart, this one's right up there with an NVIDIA-powered iMac refresh -- it's a pretty obvious move.
- Second, new entries for the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule have popped up in the FCC, and while the listed dimensions are exactly the same as the current editions, there are no model numbers and something internal has to have changed enough to raise ol' Sammy's brows. That could be as simple as a new radio hardware supplier or bigger drives, but if we were placing bets, we'd say both units are getting updated for simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation -- Apple's really high on 5GHz for laptops and Apple TV, but the iPhone and iPod touch are 2.4GHz-only. Let's call this one even odds, shall we?
- Lastly, a new picture of that improbable five USB port Mac mini has surfaced, this time purporting to show the outside of the box. Considering the Photoshop wars the last image of this thing set off, we'd say this is the least likely candidate for a Philly Schills reveal, but then again, Apple's been pretty leaky lately.
Read - Ars Technica on the Mac Pro
Read - New Airport Extreme FCC listing
Read - New Time Capsule FCC listing
Read - One More Thing Mac mini image [Via TUAW]
DIE!
Well I like how all these rumours are combined into one post, rather than a bunch of seperate ones. Good idea, Engadget!
Maybe if the price comes down on that Mac mini I'll consider buying one. The price is the main thing that's held me back from Apple computers.
I don't doubt that this is possible, but finding files supporting the i7 architecture doesn't really prove anything. That's like how Apple had working builds of x86-OS X for a few years before doing anything with it.
You're right, Apple is probably going to sit on the 4000 series support for a couple of years. A 4870 running in 10.5 is going to be top of the line in 2011!
But seriously, they already have support for these things in Snow Leopard. Why else would they add them to Leopard, unless they were going to release a new hardware before Snow Leopard came out?
That is true, but totally irrelevant. The Mac Pro has always used dual-socket Xeons and there is no reason to think they would refresh it without moving it to the new "gainestown" (Nehalem-based) Xeon platform, particularly since it is being released to OEMs right now.
Here here, well said.
Concise and to the point.
The i7 won't be in the Mac Pro. There is no way apple would take out the dual quad core Xeon server chips and replace it with a single quad desktop chip. If the i7 shows up anywhere, it will be in an iMac. The Mac Pro will remain with Xeons.
There will be server versions of Nehalem coming out soon
Nehelem has multithreading. It appears as 8 cores in a process monitor.
Apple will likely use this plus the blazing speed (easy, since DDR3 is fast and FB-DIMMs are slow) to indicate you don't need 8 cores. And think how much power you are saving (again, easy since FB-DIMMs consume 20W per DIMM).
If you read through, its only Engadget mentioning i7, its not mentioned at all in the Ars article. What they are talking about are Nehalem based Xeons which will fit nicely in the Mac Pro
Precisely my point. The current Mac Pro's use the same underlying architecture (with some differences) as the Core 2 parts in the rest of the Apple machines, but the Xeon is not the same as a Core 2 in marketing (nor in its ability to have more than one socket on a given machine).
And FB-DIMMS aren't slow. MHz wise they look slower than their equivalent DDR2 components, but they are serially addressed with on-ship memory processors. Its like saying a 3GHz Pentium 4 is faster than a 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo. MHz wise, sure, but performance wise no where close.
Mere mortals read "Core i7" as a simple search and replace for Nehalem just as read "Core 2" as a search and replace for Merom or Penryn. Therefore they will understand "i7-based Xeon" as the equivalent of Nehalem-based Xeon even though that makes the baby marketing specialists cry.
No one is really claiming that Apple will stop its trend of using no Intel desktop processors. You're just reading too much into the imprecise usage of normal people.
You're probably right radarskiy, I am reading too much into it. I guess I have too much of a problem with people using incorrect names in describing products (like people using MAC interchangeably with Mac).
I do see that the article was partially updated to show Nehalem Xeons, but still calls them i7 chips. Ah well. I guess it's partially Intel's fault for changing their marketing names so rapidly over the past 3 years.
FB-DIMMs are slow.
They have really bad latency. Real throughput tests on the Mac Pros show their memory performance to be worse than that of an iMac with DDR2. DDR3 blows both DDR2 and FB-DIMMs away.
The only value of FB-DIMMs was they let you put a lot of memory into a machine, by allowing more than 4 DIMM slots. But this came at a huge performance, power and financial cost.
Intel is moving away from FB-DIMMs, instead going to multiple memory controllers and channels to get more DIMM slots, just like AMD did years ago.
"If you read through, its only Engadget mentioning i7, its not mentioned at all in the Ars article. What they are talking about are Nehalem based Xeons which will fit nicely in the Mac Pro"
The classic case of Chinese whispers.
I wouldn't be at all surpised if the Nehalem based Xeons debuted with the Mac Pro, I mean, Apple managed to get Intel to make smaller chips just for the MBA, so this should be a small favour.
As for the shots of the Mac Mini box, is it that much harder to take a couple more picture from other perspectives?
I just got an Airport extreme like 2 months ago. LAMESAUCE!
Can you format this thing and put XP on it?
It would make a sweet little MAME box.
Why would you want to do that? There's a MAME port to OSX and the Current Mac mini runs MAME like a champ.
Does anyone actually use 5ghz? All the places I have ever connected to use the 2.4ghz system, in the uk at least.
I doubt the i7 will be in the Mac Pro as it is a consumer chip, the Mac Pro's have only ever used the Xeons. The current system with two quad xeons will still outperform the i7.
Maybe they put 5ghz in there so that my network doesn't go kaput every time I make a hot pocket...
I have a linksys wrt610n that does 5 and 2.4 at the same time. my laptop i have conencted at 5 and the streaming stuff and 2.4 .
Comes in very handy.
I'd love to have simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz, for the very reason that practically every WiFi network is on 2.4, and it's all very crowded. I expect my local neighbourhood's going to be fairly clear at 5GHz, at least for a year or so.
Unfortunately, here in the UK, regulations prohibit the use of wide channels, so we're limited to a far slower 802.11n 5GHz than the US.
I'm tempted to get a WRT610N in the hope that DD-WRT gets ported to it soon, as I haven't found many other APs that support simultaneous dual-band use.
You forgot the OTHER rumor: iPhone 3 intro.
That's the Palm Pre...
fail once again - do you read news on this site?
Still fake?
Considering how Apple's thing is to make their products looks a smooth and simple as possible, there is no way the box for a new Mini would feature all of those jacks. They would show the other side of the thing which would presumable only contain the power button or a glowing Apple or something.
Kind of like how Apple would "never" make a fat iPod?
I've gotta admit, Engadget and its readers have the worst track record at sniffing out Apple fakes.
Fat iPod.
Skinny iPod.
The new aluminum keyboards.
The latest iMac refresh.
And on and on...
My money is on this being legit.
unless that's the back of the box, which it clearly is (or at least is meant to be if it's fake).
Wow, iLoveApple, it really took you 5 whole minutes to sign into your second (iLuver) account?
It's Hear Hear, not Here Here you dumb shit.
I thought the Nahalem Xeons base chips will not be debut until March 30th in Santa Clara...
Wow.. you're betting the Airport Extreme BS is being prepped for simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation? Um, yeah. The FCC listings you link to specifically say they are. First page of the "TCB Q and A", near the bottom.
It has to be real cause if is not then the joke is on him cause he sure is going throw a lot of trouble trying to convince people.
From the article: "we'd say both units are getting updated for simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation -- Apple's really high on 5GHz for laptops and Apple TV, but the iPhone and iPod touch are 2.4GHz-only. "
Can someone explain it simply for the lay people here? What's the current extreme use? What opportunities would the duality open up for me, already using a laptop, an iPhone, an AppleTV, an airport express, etc?
As they require in marketing, what are the benefits?
I honestly don't know what the current Extreme uses, I would assume the 2.4GHz band. The multiple frequencies allow for less interference. Cordless house phones, microwaves, RC cars etc. can clutter the different ranges. If you notice, wireless home phones can use the 5 GHz or the 2.4GHz as well. By having a router that can switch between the two ranges, you can find one with the least interference. Also, by having a router that can transmit simultaneous, you can support multiple wireless devices giving them the optimal connection with little interference (ie. some computers on 2.4 GHz others on the 5GHz). The duality also makes sure that your older wireless devices will still work if you only have 2.4GHz support. Network cards will specify what spectrum they can use when you buy them.
Those are the advantages as far as I know, I hope that helps!
Wow, look at those shadows! That is definitely a fake! -_-'
Is it usual to feature the ugly back end of a computer in it's box? (And it appears to be the front.)
(And it appears to be the front of the box, I mean. Well actually the top, in the case of the mini. So... that's a no no.)
This is not the same Mini as the ones we have seen over the last few weeks, this one only has 9 vents, the other "leaked" pics and the video both have 10 vents.
This just goes to show how many users out there are foaming for a new Mac mini.
Oh, and Apple, a reasonably priced mini tower would be nice! Oh, you know... what every other computer manufacturer has.
In a perfect world, Apple would take:
- the current iMac
- remove the monitor
- add a space for 2 hard drives
As sad as this may sound, I'd probably be willing to pay about the same as the iMac.
I still remember the days when $1700 could get you an Apple tower.
I want a Time Capsule with 4 user-upgradeable-hard-drive bays and redundancy, and iTunes server capability. Apple needs to look into this as for now the HP media sever is eating the market, especially with the recent Mac compatibility.
The Mac Pro refresh is welcomed. The new mini is way too long overdue.
But will it play...eh fuck it.
Seriously ATI 4000 series drivers means we can start using 4850's for OSX86.
Netkas already did it...
Replace one of those USB ports with an eSATA port, and they've have themselves a real winner. *sigh*
eSata is a bag of hurt.
Where is Snow Leopard
I'll wait for this
http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard
I hope the Mac mini is updated soon.
Why is it that 5 USB ports are "improbable?" Think about it: two of them could already be used up by the mouse and keyboard, so that leaves three USB ports. One for an external HD, possibly, and the other two for whatever. Makes total sense.