Appleinsider reports that Apple is indeed planning on introducing a 8-Core Mac Pro using the Quad-Core Xeon (Clovertown) processors from Intel.
The Mac Pro new system would come with two Quad-core processors and could be released after mid-November of this year. The exact timing of the release is not clear, but must wait for the official release of Clovertown.
As it stands, the release of the eight-core Mac Pro hinges on both Intel and Apple. But following Intel's mid-Nov. quad-core Xeon launch, the ball should be completely on Apple's side of the court. It'll be strictly a marketing decision from there, say insiders, as the Mac maker wrapped up hardware preparations for this brawny beast during the tail-end of the back-to-school season.
Details of the Clovertown processors were revealed in September, showing two versions of the chip that support the same 1333MHz bus as the Mac Pro. These processors (X5355 and E5345) run at 2.66 and 2.33GHz respectively.
Indeed, the current Mac Pros appear to be directly compatible with the new processors. In September, AnandTech replaced two Dual-Core Xeon (Woodcrest) processors from a Mac Pro with samples of two Quad-Core Xeon (Clovertown) processors and "they worked just fine".
