Intel Not Taking Any Chances with Core i7
This cautious attitude comes from experience for Intel who recalled their Pentium chips in 1994 after a widely publicized bug in its floating point calculation unit.
After the Pentium flaw, Intel also fundamentally rethought the way it designed its processors, trying to increase the chance that its chips would be error-free even before testing. During the late 1990s it turned to a group of mathematical theoreticians in the computer science field who had developed advanced techniques for evaluating hardware and software, known as formal methods.
Even with such testing, Intel says it would be impossible to evaluate every possible scenario. As an additional safety net, Intel has included software in the Nehalem chips which can be changed after they ship.Apple is expected to eventually adopt versions of Intel's Core i7 in future Macs.
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Nehalem is probably one of the biggest upgrades a Mac will ever see.
As for when we'll see these in Macs - I suspect Macworld 2009 will give us our answer.
When can we expect Nehalem in a Mac?
Nehalem is probably one of the biggest upgrades a Mac will ever see.
The Mac Pros could see them around MacWorld 2009. I wouldn't expect iMacs/Macbook/Macbook Pros to see them until Fall 2009.
As an additional safety net, Intel has included software in the Nehalem chips which can be changed after they ship.
I think that has been standard since, like, the day after the FDIV bug...
I used to work for a validation unit in the past, and they obviously conduct some random testing and random testing obviously can't cover any scenarios.
Newer architectures or architectures with new components or instructions obviously get longer tests or new tests compared to simple steps between processors with same architecture (since then you can just do regression testing).
When can we expect Nehalem in a Mac?
Mac Pro: H1 2009iMac, MacBook Pro: H2 2009 (quad-core), H1 2010 (dual-core)
MacBook: H1 2010
Mac mini: H1 2010 or later
Mac Pro: H1 2009
iMac, MacBook Pro: H2 2009 (quad-core), H1 2010 (dual-core)
MacBook: H1 2010
Mac mini: H1 2010 or later
Why does a quad-core seems more plausible to come first than a dual-core?
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