Double Take: Next-Generation Platforms and Processors

This blog post references my article 'Double take: Reassessing x86 CPUs in embedded-system applications' in EDN's April 27, 2006 edition.

PowerPC processors no longer have an exclusive hold on the Macintosh platform. In early March, Apple introduced the latest versions of its iMac, Mac mini, and 15-in. MacBook Pro, its first three Intel Core Duo- (and, in one case, also Core Solo-) based system series. Over the coming months, Apple plans to unveiled additional Intel-powered platforms (17" PowerBooks are rumoured to be poised for unveiling at the NAB show I'm at as I write these words, and I'm also hoping for news on next-generation Power Macs), with the transition from PowerPC to Intel forecasted to be complete by year-end.

Core Duo, also known as Yonah, contains enabled virtualization support; whether or not this was true wasn't initially clear, but recent announcements from Parallels clarify the picture. Core Duo is also available in a server-tailored spin, code-named Sossaman, with an extended memory physical address space and multiprocessor hooks.

At the early-March IDF, Intel unveiled detailed data on its next-generation Core microarchitecture, which will first appear in the server-targeted Woodcrest, desktop-targeted Conroe, and mobile-targeted Merom spins. Conroe and Woodcrest should ramp into production by sometime in the third quarter, with Merom following by year’s end. Quad-core, dual-die CPUs also received demos at IDF. For more information on Core-based CPUs, please see my previously published IDF report.