Nanotech - The Circuits Blog

Intel is about to roll out some pretty impressive mobile processors, finally bringing its "Nehalem" Core i architecture to the mainstream mobile space. So, what can we expect from Apple?

First, a little recent history. Apple, so far, has elected not to use the Core i7 quad-core mobile processors announced back in September in its MacBook Pro line. Which isn't that surprising. The first crop of laptop i7s barely qualify as mobile processors: they have a desktop-like TDP (thermal design power) of 45 watts that wreaks havoc on battery life.

That said, as an example of what an Apple rival has chosen to do, the Hewlett-Packard Envy 15 now offers both the i7-720QM (1.6GHz, 6MB cache) and i7-820QM (1.73GHz, 8MB Cache)--both quad-core Core i7 processors.

A big imponderable is whether Apple will adopt a future 32-nanometer version of the quad-core mobile i series for the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Presumably, this would have a lower TDP and be more amenable to Apple.

Now, for some armchair analysis. Arrandale: One of the burning questions (at least among some in the tech media) is whether new MacBooks will use Intel's "Arrandale" mobile Core i series of processors. Arrandale is significant for two reasons: it is part of Intel's 32-nanometer chip roll-out and is the first instance of Intel combining the graphics function with the main "CPU" processor. This results in better overall power efficiency and integrated graphics performance that "doesn't suck" anymore, as some observers have put it.

One school of thought is that Apple will not use the processor. If there is any truth to that rumor, that makes for a head-scratching scenario since Arrandale will be the pillar of the mobile Core i3 and i5 lineups. A likely scenario is that Apple--one way or another--chooses to attach Nvidia or ATI discrete graphics processors to Arrandale, or a facsimile thereof.

Nvidia or ATI: And speaking of Nvidia and ATI, instead of trying to second-guess Apple on all of the possible graphics chip permutations, the easier question to ask is: which graphics chip supplier will prevail this time around? Nvidia--despite defects in some of its past offerings--has been dominant over the last year or so across the MacBook lineup. Will this continue? Or will Apple strike more of a balance between Nvidia and ATI?

Remember, that Apple is touting the general compute function of the graphics processing unit, or GPU, in OS X Snow Leopard. "Now a new technology in Mac OS X Snow Leopard called OpenCL takes the power of graphics processors and makes it available for general-purpose computing," according to Apple ad copy. (Translation: using the GPU more like general-purpose CPU.) Are Nvidia and ATI OpenCL equals?

MacBook Air: And what, pray tell, will happen to the MacBook Air? Which is coming up on its second anniversary in January. I won't venture a guess (not yet at least), though I have a personal interest in this subject since I have been using an Air since February 2008.

Blu-ray: And finally, next-generation optical drives. Will MacBook Pros finally get Blu-ray? Maybe. There seems to be some pessimism about Apple adopting Blu-ray, as reader comments (and threads on other forums) suggest.

Apple, in all of its wisdom, will provide the answers to these questions soon enough.

Updated at 6:05 p.m. PST: adding Blu-ray discussion.

The trend-setting MacBook Pro and Air both now face tough competition from Hewlett-Packard, which has the resources to match, and in some cases exceed, Apple laptop designs.

HP Envy 13

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

I will expand very briefly on a previous post where I compared, on technological merits, the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro and Air laptops with an HP Envy 13 in response to some of the comments attached to the post.

I had stated, as an opinion, that the aluminum-clad HP Envy 13 had eclipsed Apple MacBooks technologically in some crucial areas. Namely, processors offered, screen resolution, graphics, and battery life.

The assertion that the HP Envy 13 has surpassed, in some important respects, the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro in technology shouldn't be that surprising considering the financial and technological resources that HP has.

Companies like HP and Dell bifurcate their lineups into inexpensive (typically retail consumer models) and more expensive (often business models). Some models are of decidedly lower quality than Apple--as many comments quickly point out--but some are equal to or better than a roughly equivalent Apple laptop both in quality and technology.

The Envy 13--which is HP's entry into the luxury laptop category--falls into the better-than-Apple-laptop-technology category, in my opinion. The luxury Adamo line from Dell is also making a play to, at the very least, achieve parity with Apple's MacBook line.

Again, this is an opinion, not a be-all, end-all verdict on the fate of Apple. And not a review per se that gets into benchmarks. I'm just looking at the raw technology.

Opinion pieces invariably elicit strong counter arguments--not to mention strong opinions (or invective). Especially when Apple is involved.

Firefox has a CPU usage issue and, consequently, can cause overheating problems in some laptops, particularly ultraportables. That's what I've found over the last couple of years.

But don't take my word for it. This is documented on a Mozilla support page entitled "Firefox consumes a lot of CPU resources." The page states: "At times, Firefox may require significant CPU [central processing unit] resources in order to download, process, and display Web content." And forum postings like this one about a Dell Netbook are not uncommon: "Mini9 would get way too hot."

The Mozilla support page goes on to say that "you can review and monitor CPU usage through specific tools" and describes ways to limit CPU usage, such as: "A Firefox add-on, called Flashblock, allows you to selectively enable and disable Flash content on Web sites."

Let me describe my experience. I find that tab for tab, Firefox uses decidedly more resources than other browsers--Safari, for example. And in the past (when I was actively using a Windows Vista-based machine) Firefox also compared unfavorably with Microsoft's Internet Explorer for CPU usage.

More specifically, here's the behavior as I see it. When I'm accessing sites with multimedia content such as the CNET front door, Firefox CPU usage will bounce around between 30 and 60 percent, and sometimes spike higher (80 percent and above), as indicated by the Mac OS 10.6.2 Activity Monitor.

On the other hand, the Safari CPU usage with the same pages open is much lower--typically between 2 percent and 10 percent.

My theory is that most users don't notice this because in mainstream laptops, this isn't an issue. But it can become an issue in ultraportables--typically under an inch thick--which are more sensitive to heat because of the design constraints. The ultrathin Apple MacBook Air, which I use as my main machine, is a good example.

The fan is usually an audible indicator of CPU usage issues. When I'm using Firefox and I have tabs open on multimedia-rich sites (which is par for the course these days), the Air's fan will almost invariably kick on and stay on until I close the tabs. As I write this, the fan has finally shut down after I closed the Firefox tabs (e.g, CNET front door). Those same tabs in Safari are still open and not causing any significant spike in CPU usage or fan activity.

When I contacted Mozilla, a technical support person guessed that Safari is possibly better at optimizing Flash-based sites compared to Firefox. And that may be true. However, I had similar issues before when I was using a Hewlett-Packard business ultraportable (also very thin like the Air) that were not necessarily tied to Flash usage. In short, Firefox was less efficient with CPU usage compared to Microsoft's IE 8. And the behavior was similar. The HP laptop would quickly heat up and the fan would kick on.

Finally, let me reemphasize that I'm guessing that most users don't notice this because heat dissipation is not a big issue for mainstream laptops that are not necessarily thermally-challenged when accessing multimedia-rich Web pages. That said, this has been a steady problem for me because I use ultraportables almost exclusively and has forced me to limit my use of Firefox.

If the speculation about a new MacBook Pro is on the money, the step up to Intel's quad-core mobile technology would have a profound impact on this vaunted line of Apple laptops.

Is a Core i series Apple laptop on the way?

(Credit: Apple)

So, why would Apple adopt a Core i processor in a laptop? The short answer is OS X Snow Leopard. The new operating system is designed to be better at wringing more performance out of multicore processors--and the Core i chips pack four cores.

The long answer is the Core "i" chips themselves. The Core i, a.k.a. "Nehalem," is a brand new Intel microarchitecture brimming with performance improvements over the current Core 2 design.

For starters, the recently announced mobile i7-820QM processor integrates a hefty 8MB of cache memory--compared with the 6MB in the fastest Core 2 Duo that Apple currently offers on the MacBook Pro. Generally, the larger the cache memory, the better the performance.

But Intel has done a lot more than just up the transistor count via a larger cache. While the quad-core i7-820QM is rated at 1.73GHz, a single core can be "overclocked" to 3.06 GHz. Intel does this with a technology dubbed Turbo Boost, which speeds up and slows down individual cores to meet processing and power-efficiency needs, respectively.

Need more convincing? The Core i7 also comes with Hyper-Threading, which can double the number of tasks--or threads--a processor can execute. You won't find that in the Core 2 chips.

Digital media creation also gets a boost. Intel claims up to 81 percent faster video encoding.

And the mobile Core i7 is not a power hog--relatively speaking. The i7-820QM is rated at 45 watts, less than a third of the power envelope of the desktop Core i7. With such a powerful processor, heat would be an issue of course but the 45-watt power envelope is manageable.

That said, there are reports that Apple is not bringing out any more products this year. So, along these lines, alternatively, Apple could opt initially for the upcoming "Arrandale" Core i chips--due by the beginning of next year--that are based on a more advanced 32-nanometer manufacturing process. (Current Core i processors use a 45-nanometer process.)

Arrandale integrates graphics silicon into the same chip package as the main processor--a first for Intel. Because of this high level of integration, Arrandale, however, is a dual-core chip.

But probably the closest thing to a rumored MacBook Pro refresh is the iMac, which has the same space-constrained characteristics of a laptop. The quad-core Core i7 in the new iMac "boosts application performance up to 2x over the previous-generation iMac," according to Apple--and that's what consumers can expect with a Core i series laptop.

By not coughing up a low-cost MacBook, as some had expected, Apple has ceded a potentially huge market to PC makers. But is this just all part of Apple's marketing genius?

$999 is as low as Apple will go.

(Credit: Apple)

The announcement Tuesday of the $999 white polycarbonate MacBook was pretty ho-hum as product refreshes go (same price, same color as before) but the implication was important: Apple is surrendering a large, emerging laptop market to Microsoft and its coterie of PC makers.

Not that it's necessarily a bad strategy. Market researcher Gartner said recently that Apple's shipments in the U.S. grew year-over-year by 6.8 percent to total 1.57 million during the third quarter, putting it right behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Acer. Comparatively, overall PC shipments in the U.S. grew by 3.5 percent from a year earlier.

But among those unimpressive overall PC numbers (HP's third-quarter shipments grew only 2.7 percent), was an impressive statistic for Acer: buoyed by Netbooks, Acer's shipments grew by 61.4 percent year-over-year, and it blew past Dell to become the No. 2 PC maker worldwide based on this growth.

Granted, Netbooks are a relatively low-profit segment (i.e., profit on a $400 Netbook is going to be a lot less than that on a $999 laptop). Nevertheless, they're a hot market. Intel CEO Paul Otellini has stated numerous times that Intel was able to create a market that grew faster than either the iPhone or Nintendo Wii. Case in point: Windows 7-based Acer Netbooks are now big on the Home Shopping Network--which claims to have sold more than 5,000 in one segment on Saturday.

And that's not the only market Apple is punting on. A new category of inexpensive, thin laptops has emerged with the roll-out of Windows 7 on Thursday. Like Netbooks, these laptops are light (typically 4 pounds) and don't include an optical drive. But they are relatively powerful and full featured. The 15.6-inch Acer Aspire Timeline, for example, with a 320GB hard disk drive and dual-core Intel processor is fairly well-endowed at only $500.

Apple is not receiving a lot kudos in the mainstream business press ... Read More

With new lower-cost Apple MacBooks reportedly on the way soon, it's time to engage in a favorite diversion: what, pray tell, is inside?

(Credit: Apple)

The low-cost MacBooks may appear sooner than expected and would be "the most affordable notebook offerings in the Mac maker's history," according to an AppleInsider report.

The idea that the new models would be unprecedentedly low-cost is intriguing in itself considering the recent appearance of low-cost "ultrathin" laptops from Hewlett-Packard and Asus, among others, that typically range between $600 and $900.

And what powers these laptops? Low-cost Intel ultra-low-voltage "ULV" processors like the SU4100 or SU7300. And what's so important about these processors? They are at the heart of a new wave of laptops that boast extra-long battery life, some claiming up to 10 hours. Will Apple opt for battery life over performance? The current 13-inch white polycarbonate MacBook uses relatively high-performance Intel processors and claims about five hours of battery life.

Another thought: will this be Apple's un-Netbook? With no immediate plans for a Netbook (though a media pad is expected next year), this may be an opportunity for Apple to go at least half way toward addressing the low-end laptop segment.

Along these lines, will Advanced Micro Devices processors be forever ostracized from the MacBook lineup? In a hotel near the Intel Developer Forum that ended on Thursday, AMD was showing off an MSI dual-core ultrathin laptop with ATI graphics that starts at about $500. Not bad for a Netbook-like price. (Yeah, I know, highly unlikely.)

The truth is MacBooks are trending toward low-cost already. Even the once stratospherically priced MacBook Air can be had for less than $1,500 and the 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,199. So, a MacBook that comes in lower than $999 (the starting price of the current MacBook) wouldn't be a big surprise. It would be a surprise if Apple went as low as $800. Now that's a cheap MacBook.

Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday announced its first Netbook with an 11.6-inch screen and Nvidia's Ion chipset as well as two inexpensive "ultrathin" laptops.

HP Mini 311 Netbook uses an 11.6-inch screen and Nvidia Ion chipset

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The Mini 311 is the first HP Netbook to use a large screen--11.6 inches exceeds the upper limit of 10 inches on standard Netbooks--and is the first to get high-octane Nvidia Ion graphics--the same graphics used in laptops such as the Apple MacBook Air.

The 11.6-inch diagonal LED display is available in high-definition 1366x768-pixel resolution. It includes HDMI and VGA video connectors.

Nvidia's Ion chipset is a graphics processing unit (GPU) that works together with the low-power Intel Atom processor to generate standard-laptop-like graphics performance.

"By processing data-intensive applications in parallel with the CPU, ION-based Netbooks offer many of the same capabilities of full-sized notebooks including support for all versions of Microsoft Windows," Nvidia said in a statement.

HP 'ultrathin' ProBook 5310m

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

Analysts believe that getting mainstream-laptop level of performance in a Netbook is important. "Our research shows that most people who buy a netbook expect it to behave like a full-sized notebook," according to a statement that Nvidia provided from Tim Bajarin, principal analyst at Creative Strategies. "With Ion-based Netbooks like this one from HP, consumers can expect a well-rounded experience and the ability to handle nearly all of their everyday computing needs," he said.

The Mini 311 will start at $399 in the U.S.

HP also introduced a couple of relatively inexpensive "ultrathins," the ProBook 5310m and Pavilion dm3. The ProBook 5310m is 0.9-inches thick, weighs in at 3.7 pounds, and sports a 13.3-inch diagonal LED high-definition display. It is offered with a Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 (low-power) processor and combines durable, black anodized aluminum with a magnesium frame.

The HP Pavilion dm3--also classified as an ultrathin--comes in an all metal design, with up to 10 hours of battery life via the standard six-cell battery. The dm3 uses a 13.3-inch diagonal LED screen and offers AMD or Intel processors and a discrete graphics chip.

HP Envy 13 laptop is a higher-priced, higher-performance thin laptop

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The HP ProBook 5310m starts at $699 with an Intel Celeron dual core and $899 with Intel Core 2 Duo. The notebook is expected to be available in North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region on Oct. 22 with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.

The HP Pavilion dm3 starts at $549 with an AMD processor and $649 with an Intel processor and is expected to be available starting Oct. 22 with the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.

The higher-priced and higher-performance sub-one-inch-thick "Envy 13" laptop bears some of the hallmarks of the MacBook Air, such as an aluminum body and a robust graphics chip. The Envy 13 will come with an Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400, ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics, and a 1,366x768 display. It starts at $1,699.

It's a well-known fact that circuit boards and liquids don't mix, but there are more bizarre ways to break your laptop. A Massachusetts-based computer repair company has listed the top 10 ways that people deep-six their laptops--MacBooks, in particular.

Is your MacBook an accident waiting to happen?

(Credit: Apple)

In many respects, a laptop is an accident waiting to happen. Often there is no more than a thin piece of plastic between the user and disaster. And Apple MacBooks are particularly vulnerable at Starbucks these days due to their increasing popularity over the standard-fare Dell laptop.

But spilling coffee on your keyboard is one of the less colorful ways to break your laptop (Apple MacBook Air owners take note: No. 7).

Computer repair company MicroReplay, which specializes in repairing Apple computers, listed the top 10 ways that consumers kill their laptops.

The List:

10. Sorry, honey, I punched the laptop: "Striking a laptop computer with a fist, even while (the laptop is) closed, will jostle the logic board and stop the computer," said Joseph Kouyoumjian, president and founder of MicroReplay. Estimated repair cost: $1,000.

9. Facebook freakout: A teenage girl discovers a picture of her boyfriend kissing another girl becomes outraged and flings her MacBook off the desk, sending it crashing onto the hardwood floor. Estimated repair cost: $475.

8. Cockpit crusher: The pilot of a commercial Airbus A320 moves his seat forward while the laptop is on the floor, crushing the case and breaking the logic board. Estimated repair cost: $800.

7. Temper Toss (a subset of the "Facebook freakout"): Thrown objects can easily break a laptop's screen. "If you receive bad news on your BlackBerry, resist the temptation to throw near your open Apple MacBook Air." Estimated repair cost: $500.

6. Hurling. "If you puke on your laptop, don't even tell the laptop computer repair company what the liquid is," notes Kouyoumjian. "If we know it's bodily fluid, we don't want it." Estimated repair cost: Fix it yourself, please.

5. Passing out drunk on your Dell laptop: Your sleeping bodyweight can bend the case, and may also ruin the screen. Estimated repair cost: $325--$500.

4. MacBook laptop as foot stool, or scale: No Laptop computer is designed to support your weight, so stepping on your laptop will almost certainly break it. Repair cost: Depends on how much you weigh....

3. Ear buds as laptop or notebook computer terrorist: "Closing your laptop with your ear buds inside will crack the screen," according to Kouyoumjian. "This kind of laptop computer repair is growing with alarming speed. It seems we love our ear buds, yet forget that they are not made of cushy foam. We see a lot of cracked screens as a result." Estimated repair cost: $440.

2. Your 5-year-old discovers gravity! Any time you drop your laptop from more than 2 feet, it can shake loose a chip or board, and break the machine. Estimated repair cost: $300.

1. Starbucks hates your keyboard: "Liquid spills on a laptop's keyboard short them out every time. Maybe it's the caffeine that makes us jittery, but so many laptops are killed by coffee there should be a warning on the paper cup." Estimated repair cost: $350 to $500, depending on the amount of time the computer was left running after the spill.

A few tweaks of the MacBook and Apple could render the Netbook a non-issue.

At the risk of adding to the cacophony of gratuitous advice directed at Apple, the company could bypass the Netbook and go directly to the inexpensive "ultrathin" category--where Apple seems to be headed anyway with the incredibly shrinking price of the MacBook Air. In short, take the thin, aluminum unibody enclosure that is a MacBook and move it downmarket.

(Credit: Apple)

Ultrathins are Netbooks without the compromises. A light, small, pick-up-and-go design that has a reasonable size screen and the horsepower do to what a conventional laptop can do. That is, a slightly smaller, discounted--but not so cheap to be unprofitable--version of the MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro. (OK, there's the $999 white MacBook but that's not exactly the future of Apple design.)

And Intel chip designers are doing their best to enable this category (while keeping Netbook silicon static) by delivering a wide range of low-power processors that deliver mainstream laptop performance (I count 12 ultralow-voltage, or ULV, processors offered by Intel at present). Intel executives are doing their part too, spending a lot of time talking up inexpensive ultrathin laptops and, by insinuation, putting down Netbooks.

Ultrathins--when and if they arrive in volume--are expected to have a median price point of about $850 and be, at the most, one-inch thick (and, according to Intel, usually thinner).

The timing could be right. This report from CNET's Crave blog suggests that Apple needs to tone down its pricing to maintain market share. (Whether Apple really cares about maintaining market share is another discussion.) And there is a fairly steady drumbeat of commentary saying Apple needs to consider a cheaper laptop.

That said, there's nothing like the here and now. A consumer today can buy an approximation of an inexpensive ultrathin: a refurbished MacBook Air for $999. That's a start.