Nanotech - The Circuits Blog

Updated at 10:45 p.m. PST with additional system specifications.

The aesthete buys an Apple. This dig in the latest Mac-attack Microsoft ad contains a kernel of truth.

Here's the essential choice: A Dell with a pedestrian design but all the fixin's or a gorgeous Apple MacBook that doesn't offer quite as much. (Whether the prospective buyer needs a maxed-out laptop is a pertinent question too.)

The Dell paradigm is how many people define practicality, i.e., you get more box for the money. Hewlett-Packard of course falls into this category too.

I use both a MacBook (an Air) and a Windows machine (HP): a dualism of sorts: one pleases the eye, the other is more utilitarian. Of course, this characterization of the two platforms is greatly oversimplified (dare I not mention the dueling OSes: OS X Leopard versus XP/Vista?), but this is the kind of thinking that drives many purchases.

Without further ado, let's do a side-by-side.

Aluminum 13-inch MacBook

(Credit: Apple)

Aluminum 13-inch (LED) MacBook:

• OS: OS X Leopard
  
• Processor: 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
  
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 9400M
  
• Memory: 2GB DDR3
  
• Hard drive: 250GB 5400rpm
  
• Camera: built-in camera
  
• Connectivity:10/100/1000 Ethernet / 802.11n
  
• Optical drive: 8x (DVD±RW)
  
• Warranty: 1 year
  
• Price: $1,599
  

Dell XPS 13

(Credit: Dell)

Dell XPS 13 (LED):

• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
  
• Processor: 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo
  
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 9500M--256MB
  
• Memory: 4GB DDR3
  
• Hard drive: 500GB 7200rpm
  
• Camera: built-in camera
  
• Connectivity: 10/100/1000 Ethernet / 802.11n
  
• Optical drive: 8x (DVD±RW)
  
• Warranty: 2 years
  
• Price: $1,598
  

A quick glance at the features shows that the Dell beats the Apple. That said, the Dell isn't an aluminum unibody design, doesn't wow like the MacBook, and doesn't carry the cachet of the Apple brand. The latter two intangibles are important for a lot of buyers.

Perceived performance is also an intangible. The question of which of two comparable systems is faster is often based on one's individual definition of performance.

So, which computer carries the day? I'll let the reader decide.

Additional notes: Some readers say the OS plays a very large role in the buying decision. Particularly the fact that the Apple OS is a Unix derivative and that Apple users can run both OS X and Windows via Boot Camp. Duly noted.

Nvidia is in at Apple. So, what's the connection between Apple's graphics-fortified lineup and Snow Leopard OS X?

First a quick canvass of the state of Apple's graphics. Low-performance Intel integrated graphics have been booted from MacBooks, replaced by Nvidia. And, earlier this week, Apple updated the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro with Nvidia graphics across the board and didn't mince words on its Web site: "Ultrafast Nvidia graphics" ad copy is prominently displayed for the iMacs. ATI graphics are also promoted for the Mac Pro and offered on the iMac.

Then, there's this Snow Leopard blurb on Apple's site: "OpenCL (Open Computing Language), makes it possible for developers to efficiently tap the vast gigaflops of computing power currently locked up in the graphics processing unit (GPU). With GPUs approaching processing speeds of a trillion operations per second, they're capable of considerably more than just drawing pictures. OpenCL takes that power and redirects it for general-purpose computing."

So, what does this add up to? "Apple is teeing up to accelerate graphic applications better than anyone else--a market segment they are well known in and loved, so it behooves them to nurture and protect it," said Jon Peddie, of Jon Peddie Research, which tracks the graphics market. "Nvidia has been working in the background with Apple, very closely, for about five years now. What you're seeing now is the manifestation of that investment," he said.

What this means is that Apple is doubling its efforts to unlock the parallel processing power of GPUs--which these days pack hundreds of processing units--to speed up more than just games. Apple wants to use the GPU more as a general purpose processor by expanding, via OpenCL, the range of applications that can tap into the prodigious processing power of the GPU--which can be programmed to crunch certain kinds of data much faster than a dual-core or quad-core Intel processor.

U.K.-based technology Web site The Register had this to say about Snow Leopard back in December: "There's a strong possibility (Snow Leopard) leapt well past Windows 7." And goes on to say: "The release of OpenCL 1.0 is a giant step towards the long-sought goal...in which the massively parallel capabilities of GPUs (graphics-processing units) are brought to bear on general-purpose applications."

Apple is also extolling the virtues of Intel multicore processors, saying on its Snow Leopard page that Grand Central, a new set of technologies built into Snow Leopard, "brings unrivaled support for multicore systems to Mac OS X. More cores, not faster clock speeds, drive performance increases in today's processors."

Sounds like Windows 7 is going to have some competition.

Is Nvidia elbowing out Intel at Apple again? Will the same Nvidia GeForce 9400M chip that caused a small sensation when it dislodged Intel graphics silicon in the MacBook line land in the Mac Mini too?

Is Nvidia coming to the Mac Mini?

(Credit: Nvidia, Apple)

Tom's Hardware is speculating that it's Nvidia's Ion platform that is Mini-bound.

But Nvidia's Ion chipset is tied strictly to Intel's Atom processor. It seems unlikely that Apple would demote the Core 2 Duo-based Mini to the slower Atom chip. Though anything is possible with Apple, it seems more likely that Apple will upgrade the ancient Intel GMA 950 graphics to the GeForce 9400M, sans Atom.

Apple could be planning some ultra-small Mini whose thermals can only handle a low-power chip like the Atom z540 (1.86GHz) or dual-core 330 (1.6GHz). Like I said, anything's possible at Apple, but unless there's a good reason I don't think a "new, slower" Mini hobbled by the Atom makes for happy Apple customers.