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Samsung Q35 ultra-portable, now with Core 2 Duo
Mmmm, that tasty Samsung Q35 just went Core 2 Duo. And from the looks of things, that's the only change you're gonna see; same 12.1-inch widescreen display, 80GB SATA disk, up to 1GB memory, and integrated Intel graphics swaddled in a sleek, 4-pound ultra-porable. Still, while the new proc won't be any more efficient with the juice than the Q35's former Core Duo, that promised 20% boost in performance ain't chicken feed. Most of all, kudos to you Sammy for not calling this the World's Smallest Core 2 Duo laptop held by a shoeless waif. Nice to see a bit of restraint on this one. Also announced is the less interesting 15.4-inch, R55 with that same 1.8GHz T5600 Core 2 Duo CPU, disk, and RAM but with GeForce Go 7600 graphics for that extra bit of oomph. Stay tuned for the deluge of Core 2 Duo lappies to come dear readers.
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?
MacBook Pro with Core 2 Duo rumors persist
If there's anything we've learned about Apple, it's that when Stevie J. takes the stage, expect the unexpected. This time, unfortunately, the unexpected took the form of significantly fewer real announcements than had previously been prognosticated by man; still no iPhone (figures), still no iTunes movie support (same); neither were very surprising, but we were really taken aback when Apple didn't give their MacBook Pros some Core 2 Duo processor upgrades, being that every other laptop manufacturer has either done it or is lining it up. So, be that as it may, it should come as no surprise that the Commercial Times is supposedly reporting Asustek and Quanta are prepping to ship somewhere to the tune of 200,000-300,000 MacBook Pros and MacBooks with Core 2 Duo as of next month. Will it happen? Well, Apple is due for fall consumer product announcements (last year's was in October), so this is one we're not counting out.
Dell has Core 2 Duo laptops in the wings?
A few spicy tidbits have been showing up on Dell's websites pointing to some Core 2 Duo releases sooner rather than later. Their UK website lists Core 2 Duo versions of their XPS M1210, M1710, M2010 and Inspiron e1705 and e1505 laptops, while the US support site mentions a BIOS update to allow current owners of those laptops to upgrade to Merom processors. So far there isn't any official word from Dell on any such upgrades, and you'll have to call up Dell in the UK to try and finagle those Core 2 Duo models, but it seems like Dell fans aren't going to have to wait too long to get some of that next-gen Intel action.
Intel's Core 2 Duo T7600 mobile processor tested
The Core Duo T2600 (pictured right) has had its time to shine, and while it's had a good run, we're naturally looking forward to the battery savings and speed boosts promised by Intel's new "Merom" Core 2 Duo T7600 chips. Tom's Hardware has the first set of numbers for us, and things look good -- if not exactly mind-blowingly awesome. So far they've only run the more mundane office-productivity tests, but the new chip managed close to Intel's promised 20% speed boost while lasting 7% longer in the battery department. Heftier tasks will probably reveal even greater speed disparities between the T2600 and T7600, but are also likely erase most battery gains. For easy tasks the T7600 can churn through its duties and then shut of elements of the chip once they're no longer needed.
Apple's Mac Pro: redesigned Power Mac with Core 2 Duo dropping August 7?
The Apple rumor-mill is all but certain that new Power Mac G5 replacements will be unveiled during Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote on August 7th. Now, Think Secret has "confirmed" that unlike the other Mactel's released to date, Apple's new top-of-the-line desktops, likely dubbed the Mac Pro, will sport a "substantially different" enclosure from their ancestry. The new boxes are also said to sport Intel's Core 2 Duo (Conroe) chips in configurations similar to the most recent Power Mac G5s; a single, dual-core proc in the low-to-mid range systems with top-end systems going 2 x dual-core for some hot, quad-core action. No word on clock speeds, unfortunately. TS' sources also claim that the MacBook Pro will also see a redesign when the mobile version of those Core 2 Duo (Merom) chips are released around August. And, uh, no we don't have any pics of the new designs -- a statement sure to incite graphic designers everywhere into a development frenzy of purported spy-shots. Of course, if you've got the real deal, well, you know where to find us.
Dell-AMD partnership is supposedly official
Ever since Dell began relaxing its anti-AMD policy by incorporating Opteron processors in its server line and selling Athlon chips through its online store -- not to mention that little Alienware purchase -- there have been rumors that consumer desktops and laptops would also be outfitted with non-Intel CPUs for the first time, and now The Inquirer is reporting that a final agreement has been reached that will bring these very products to life. At a meeting which apparently took place at Michael Dell's Texas residence, the two camps reportedly concluded their courtship and began planning a series of AMD-powered machines --to be advertised as "Windows Vista Premium Ready" -- that will be available in time for the Back-to-School sales events. nVidia is said to be the manufacturer of choice for the upcoming Athlon boxes, while ATI will continue supplying graphics solutions for Intel-powered configurations and some AMD notebooks. One theory behind the deal says that even though Intel is in the midst of introducing a new architecture, most of the first-run Merom (mobile Core 2 Duo) chips have already been committed to Apple and Lenovo, so Dell needed a way to ensure that consumers wouldn't be kept waiting endlessly for back-ordered products. We're not sure about any of that, but we do know that we like having as many choices as possible when it comes to PCs, so we're sure hoping that The Inq's source is on the money here.
Hacker installs Core 2 Duo chip in Mac mini, hangs on for the ride
Macenstein has blogged a Mac mini CPU swap, as a poster in a Taiwanese forum has switched out the Core Duo chip for a Core 2 Duo chip, a next-generation CPU from Intel. The brain upgrade has resulted not only in the Mac mini stomping a PowerMac G5 dual 2.5 GHz in an iTunes MP3-AAC conversion test (remember: Mac minis have slower laptop hard drives than desktop PowerMacs), but it also runs cooler, due to the new architecture of these Core 2 Duo (code name: Merom) Intel chips.Given reports like this of these new chips, we might as well talk about the elephant in the room: if these reports of cooler running and even more powerful chips so soon from Intel are true, I foresee a lot of criticism of Apple jumping the gun on cramming Intel chips into their present lineup, in light of all these complaints about heat.[via MacNN]
Intel renames next-gen dual-core chips "Core 2 Duo," unveils quad-core Tukwila
Intel's been busy in the realm of multi-core processors lately, first unveiling their quad-core replacement for the Itanium Montecito, named Tukwila, and today -- taking a page out of MC "2 Legit 2 Quit" Hammer's book -- renaming the next-gen mobile Merom and desktop Conroe dual-core chips "Core 2 Duo." What's more, the company announced that another version of the processor will be released for performance junkies, called, not surprisingly, "Core 2 Extreme." As for Tukwila, the deets on this server-targeted chip came to light thanks thanks to a little digging by Real World Technologies, who found a set of slides that Intel recently presented on the topic at a conference in Asia. According to RWT, Tukwila will run at an estimated 40 gigaflops, sport 6MB of L3 cache for each core, and feature other additions that IT-types will likely be into, including an on-die FB-DIMM memory controller and Common Systems Interconnect (CSI) router. First called "Tanglewood" and scheduled for a 2007 rollout, Tukwila will now be released in 2008 and go head-to-head with other enterprise offerings from Intel and Sun, probably making it an exciting year for those aforementioned IT-types.Read- Core 2 Duo [Thanks, Dave Z.]Read- Tukwila [Via The Register]
