The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is in full effect, with Intel formally debuting its new processor lineup, some of which are expected to turn up in future Apple notebooks, and Nvidia touting its tablet-powering Tegra 2 chip.
Though Intel's new chip lineup has already been outed, and even benchmarked, the company formally introduced the new Core i3, i5 and i7 processors at a press conference Thursday. The mobile Core i5 is considered to be a candidate for a MacBook Pro refresh.
Intel said the first 32 nanometer processors represent the first time the company is mass-producing chips at "mainstream" prices at the start of a new manufacturing process. The chips have the major northbridge memory controller components built in.
The new processors are set to improve upon the previous line of Intel's Core 2 Duo chips, which have been utilized in versions of Apple's new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac. Apple uses the mobile variants of Intel's desktop chips for those systems, meaning machines with chips based on the Arrandale architecture could arrive soon.
"For the first time, there's a new family of Intel processors with the industry's most advanced technology available immediately at virtually every PC price point," said Sean Maloney, executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group.
"These smart processors adapt to an individual's needs, automatically providing a ?boost' of performance for everyday applications. They become energy efficient to the point of shutting down processing cores or reducing power consumption to provide performance when people need it, and energy efficient when they don't."
Currently, Apple uses Nvidia chipsets with its Mac lineup. But the architectural changes through Arrandale -- along with an ongoing lawsuit that has forced Nvidia to halt the development of future chipsets -- could make it difficult for Apple to continue with Nvidia.
Apple last updated its MacBook Pro line in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Those systems included Core 2 Duo processors and Nvidia graphics, along with cheaper prices, better displays and built-in batteries.
Nvidia introduced its next-generation Tegra mobile processor Thursday. The company said the new processor is "specifically designed for the high-resolution needs of tablets."
As Apple is expected to announce its touchscreen tablet this month, numerous manufacturers have attempted to use CES to get a jump on the Cupertino, Calif., company by debuting their own "slate PCs." This week, high profile touchscreen computers from HP, Dell, and Lenovo were all shown in Vegas.
Nvidia declined to announce any specific hardware for its new Tegra processors Thursday, but made it clear the company intends to be a part of the tablet frenzy. The processor is capable of streaming 1080p video, Adobe Flash 10.1 acceleration, a 3D user interface, and "days of battery life."
Tegra offers eight independent processors, including the world's first dual core CPU for mobile applications. Together, they can optimize power usage to deliver a claimed 16 hours of HD video or 140 hours of music on one charge.
"Without question, 2010 is going to be year of the tablet," said Tim Bajarin, president, Creative Strategies, Inc. "The new Nvidia Tegra processor has a unique feature set critical for tablets -- fast web browsing with fully rendered pages, uncompromised graphics, snappy user interface and HD video -- all with the battery life we?ve only seen with cell phones."
The Tegra is really something special, i loved it in the ZuneHD i hope more devices really start to use this chip.
How do they know???? They'd have to know the other usages and screen size, etc... and then tested it. This chip is probably in the Slate.
If it is in the slate I may sell my MBA and buy one.
Nice move by Apple and Nvidia; a subtle tip of the hat to showcase a new chipset from the leading GPU manufacturer with no device mentioned. What better product to showcase their new chip than Apple's shiny new tablet next month? The tablet will literally mow over the competition. If it does turn out to be Nvidia's chip; do you think Apple would negotiate an exclusive deal for a period of time? Apple seems to prefer exclusive contracts for parts but I'm unfamiliar with Nvidia's relationship with Apple on similar deals in the past.
I think you're right. They know because they've installed it in Apple's tablet prototype.
The new boxee box is going to be running tegra 2, and supposedly less than 200$US. Hope it makes it international soon, as it should be better than a hacked 230$ appleTV.
I stopped by the Intel booth/pavilion (just about needs its own zipcode) today and saw a brief demo of the i5. The autoclocking stuff it does it really cool. They showed a live demo doing some photoshoppy stuff and you could watch the processor clock speed go up as it needed more time. Incidentally they made a big deal about it being multi-core and multi-threaded.
So I guess it is now back to integrated graphics!
isn't the tegra2 supposed to be a piece of junk because the Zune HD uses it?
It really seems Apple's stuck between a rock and a hard place here? Faster chips at the expense of a crummy Intel GPU, or stick with the solid 9400m basis for macbook hardware.
If I'm not incorrect doesn't the 9400m also support H.264 decoding which is supported through Quicktime X? Seems like one step forward, two steps back!
Then theirs the whole Nvidia/Intel lawsuit debacle. Tough times!
You don't even check the facts when they are available.
The new Intel GPU is pretty decent. The Desktop version on 900Mhz almost outperforms the 790GX from AMD which is as fast as an 9400M.
The Notebook Versions are clocked lower but are still around twice as fast than the old X4500.
And the x264 acceleration seems to be even better on the new Intel IGP than on 9400M.
Since now tons of notebooks come with switchable graphics the only thing those new Arrendales mean is that there is even less difference between average Notebooks and Highend Notebooks like a MacBook Pro on the performance side.
But on one hand those new 32nm Chips are so good that they come already to the mainstream mobile market. Usually this takes half a year. On the other hand they are only lower clocked than desktop. The revised Version in 6 month will be much better on battery life, while this are not worse at best.