ArsTechnica provides a summary of some recent pre-release benchmarks of Intel's upcoming Woodcrest chip, and reports that gains of 15-40% are typical over Intel's latest Xeon-class chip (code-named Dempsey).
Woodcrest represents the top of Intel's upcoming Core 2 lineup and is targeted at "server and workstation" markets. Most speculation has centered around Apple using Intel's Conroe Core 2 "desktop" chip, but a recent page 2 rumor indicated that Woodcrest could also be in consideration. Previously Apple compared its top-of-the-line PowerMacs to Xeon-class machines.
Anandtech recently provided a sneak peek at preliminary benchmarks between Intel's Conroe compared to an overclocked AMD Athlon X2. Conroe consistently beat the AMD system, however the systems were set up by Intel. While the reviewer did not see anything fishy on the surface, the results should be taken with a grain of salt.
Currently, Woodcrest is expected next month with Conroe expected to arrive in July 2006.
Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
Monday September 14, 2026 10:48 pm PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 27 this week, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features to explore, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
Which iPhones Support Every iOS 27 Feature?
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though,...
Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
