CPU Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Ivy Bridge Mobile CPUs supposedly ready for MacBook Pro, Air

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 7th, 2011)

A report at VR-Zone has the details on Intel's next generation Core i7 and Core i5 processors. As the successor to Sandy Bridge, these Ivy Bridge processors will likely land in the 2012 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Looking closely at the CPU specs, we can get a sneak peek at Apple's future ...

Geekbench scores benchmark iPhone 4S A5 at 800MHz

by Kelly Hodgkins (Oct 11th, 2011)

Here is some good news and bad news for prospective iPhone 4S owners. The bad news is that the iPhone 4S has a dual-core 1GHz CPU, but its clocked to 800 Mhz. The good news is that, even with slower clock speeds, the 4S still beats the pants off the iPhone 4 and other Android ...

Daily Mac App: CPU LED

by Samuel Gibbs (Sep 26th, 2011)

Recently I've become a bit obsessed with CPU usage. Not because my 2011 MacBook Pro is underpowered -- far from it with its Quad-core Core i7. My concern is that the CPU generates an absolute bucket load of heat. CPU LED is a fantastic little menu bar tool for keeping an eye on your CPU load. ...

Daily Mac App: gfxCardStatus

by Samuel Gibbs (Sep 12th, 2011)

Some newer MacBook Pros have been packing dual graphics cards for a while now, with the ability to dynamically switch between them -- integrated for battery life and discrete for performance. It's often tricky to know which card is currently in use as the switch between the two is seamless. ...

Intel betting big on 'Ultrabooks' after Apple threatens to dump it

by Chris Rawson (Aug 11th, 2011)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Intel is investing heavily into "Ultrabooks" -- thinner and lighter PCs similar to the MacBook Air. The company has made a US$300 million commitment to the technology and hopes to "define" the category the same way it defined the netbook category a couple ...

Intel going 3D for future CPUs

by Chris Rawson (May 5th, 2011)

Seems like everything's going 3D these days. Thanks a lot, James Cameron. Now even Intel's getting in on the act, but in a manner that sounds like it has more useful applications than the latest Sony TVs or Nintendo's 3DS. As a bonus, you also don't have to wear any goofy-looking glasses. The New ...

Intel's ultra low voltage Sandy Bridge CPUs bound for MacBook Air?

by Mike Schramm (Apr 6th, 2011)

The MacBook Air, while extremely popular, is one of the last lines of Apple computers not yet sporting a low power consumption Sandy Bridge processor by Intel -- the line is still running on the Core 2 Duo CPU, and while that's certainly a fast model, it's not quite the latest and greatest out ...

Apple's A5 chip rumored to have 4X the power of A4

by Mike Schramm (Jan 17th, 2011)

AppleInsider is reporting that both the iPad 2 and the next generation of the iPhone, both rumored to be released later on this year, will feature the next generation of chips designed by Apple. The A5 (named after the A4, the current chip in most iOS devices) is rumored to have two cores, making ...

Could AMD Fusion chips be coming to Macs?

by Sam Abuelsamid (Nov 12th, 2010)

Ever since Apple finally abandoned the PowerPC platform in favor of the x86 architecture, Macs have been exclusively powered by CPUs from Intel. Throughout that time, however, there has been speculation that Apple could dual source and use some of AMD's chips as well; that may have just been ...

MacBook Pro BTO gets a silent speed bump

by Dave Caolo (Oct 21st, 2010)

After distracting us with new goodies, Apple updated the MacBook Pro with a build-to-order CPU bump, bringing the full speed processor choice up to a 2.8GHz i7. The upgrade will cost you US$400 and is limited to the 17-inch and 15-inch models. Consider this the polar opposite of the new Core 2 ...

Keep your CPU under control with App Tamer

by Brett Terpstra (Sep 17th, 2010)

It's been a little while since we've heard from St. Clair Software, makers of the well-known system utility, Default Folder X (which we've covered before). You may recall that we caught up with St. Clair Software developer Jon Gotow at WWDC '09. Well, he's got something new to announce today: App ...

Grating cheese on a G5

by Mike Schramm (Jul 2nd, 2010)

Ah, the once mighty Power Mac G5. It used to be the envy of film editors and art designers everywhere. With a 1.6 GHz CPU, a whopping 256MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive, it was once the tower-iest of PC towers. Just seven short years later, it's reduced to grating cheese in some nondescript ...

iPad CPU may find its way into next-gen iPhone

by Chris Rawson (Jan 29th, 2010)

Since the announcement that the iPad comes with a 1 GHz A4 chip developed and owned by Apple (thanks, no doubt, to their acquisition of chipmaker PA Semi), one thing's been on a lot of people's minds: when will this chip make it to the iPhone? The iPhone 3GS runs on an 833 MHz Samsung chip, that, ...

Apple making its own chips starting with the A4

by Mike Schramm (Jan 27th, 2010)

Even though this morning's presentation had Apple calling themselves the "largest mobile device company" in the world, apparently they're in the processor business now, too. The just-announced iPad doesn't carry any special Intel or Nvidia CPU -- it's a homecooked 1GHz chip called the Apple A4. ...

CoverSutra updated to be faster and Snow Leopard compatible

by Mike Schramm (Sep 24th, 2009)

I picked up CoverSutra a little while ago in a bundle purchase, and I generally liked it -- it's an iTunes controller with the added features of regular notifications with album art, a music search, and Last.fm scrobbling. My one complaint with the software was that it was a bit of a CPU hogger -- ...