Hacker installs Core 2 Duo chip in Mac mini, hangs on for the ride

Although newer and more expensive chips will soon be available how will Apple keep the cost of the Mac Mini etc the same if they were to use these chips?

It is ok in the PC world where you may get 8 or 9 different configurations and different prices for the same PC model number but this doesnt translate very well to how Apple brand and markket their products.

I have a Intel iMac and even if Apple upgraded the processor in it now I would not regret buying it when I did, it is a great computer.

Likewise, Apple "jumped the gun" with the G5 chips and their excessive heat because the Intel chips were coming out, and they "jumped the gun" on firewire because usb 2.0 was right around the corner, and they "jumped the gun" on infrared technology in Powerbooks.

Give me a break. It's called using the best of what there is now (and if nothing suffices, pioneering something new) -- which is Apple.

David Chartier writes: " Typically, CPU generations haven't leapt each other in less than a 6-month time span. G4 was around for quite a while, then the G5 landed."

Well, yeah, that's because Motorola and IBM ride the CPU Short Bus.

"My comment was critiquing the fact that these Core Duo chips are turning out to be the exact antithesis of what Apple promised - they're high power (the MB and MBP power supplies are higher wattage) and my MBP runs a helluva lot hotter than my 1.67 GHz PowerBook 15"."

And just how hot do you think a G5 laptop would run? And how much power would it use? Clue: Those promises were relative to the IBM G5 and their roadmap of future processors, which would likely have required an external liquid cooling pump on a rolling cart.

You're nuts if you think Jobs was saying the first Intel Macs would run cooler and faster than later Macs with the next bump of the Intel CPUs, or that they'd run cooler and use less power than a G4. That's absurd.

It's remarkable that you're complaining that the CPUs are improving. Cooler? Faster? Oh No! Those bastards!

Core Duo allows me to run XP Pro under Parallels (on my black MacBook) with a level of performance that puts our current Pentium M based ThinkPads to shame.
It even makes my Dual 2.7 G5 look slow when booting and launching apps!

I welcome Core 2 Duo as I see that as the CPU for Apple's Pro line of products.
Don't by a MacBook Pro until you see it shipping with a Core 2 Duo!

Core Duo will remain the processor of choice for Apple's consumer lineup.

This thread is funny.

wasn't there something a couple weeks ago about how first gen apple products suck. This is a nice chip, and I'll probably get an "intel power mac" when they are available, probably second generation. As a migrant from Windows I'm used to waiting several years sometimes for a decent product. It happens with PC hardware (though ThinkPads are a remarkable exception) where the first edition isn't quite as awesome as it could be. I can't say I really expect Apple to be any different. I do find it strange however, that these products like the red hot MBP can be released as defective as they are. Apple must test these things with "normal use". Why would they test something and release it if it could be so much better?

David, you're making Dvorak look like Mother Theresa. Accusing Apple of BS in this case is pure projection; the only BS I see is in your blog entry and subsequent attempts at CYA.

Either give me a link to the statement where Jobs or anyone else at Apple promised that the first-generation Intel-based products would be low-power, or keep your frickin' trap shut. Jobs made it very clear that Apple made the change to Intel because Intel's product roadmap was headed the right direction (higher performance per watt, good mobile chips), and even you ought to be able to put aside your petty defensive BS and admit that Intel is delivering in spades.

"...nothing what they should have been." Unbe-frickin'-leivable.

Welcome to the world of Intel & AMD: Monthly CPU news.

Roadmaps. Speedbumps. Price drops. ... Many knew that before the MacBook Pro was out that Core 2 would be out in very short order after the Core, because that's how Intel said it would be.

So while I purchased a G4 PB two weeks before the MBP were announced, I'm happy I don't have heat issues & whining fans ... and will not upgrade before Core 2.

#16: How long was the Pentium 2 around? How about the AMD K6-2? Pentium 3? P4? How about Centrino?

Chips don't leapfrog their predecessors within a quarter or two.

Yet another reason why people shouldn't buy first generation Apple portables.

Frankly I hate the quality checks that these things [Apple portables] go thru.

Yes I have an iMac, but I also have 2 thinkpads currently, and I've owned several thinkpads before these 2 as well.

Not one had an issue, not one. No ball burners, no freezing, no leaking caps, no flaming batteries, no whining, nothing.

If IBM/Lenovo can do it... wtf Apple?