Wednesday April 12, 2006

- MacBook and Wi-Fi 108 Mbits/s wireless network - Lionel - 18:16:35

Readers from XLR8Yourmac have reported that when booting on WinXP they could get access to 108 Mbits/s-capable Wi-Fi router.
This is of course not surprising if one look a bit inside Wi-Fi drivers, and on the MBPro motherboard.
The Airport chipset in the MBPro is an Atheros AR5001, which is compatible with 802.11 a/b/g wireless network as well as with "turbo mode" 108 Mbits/s.
So if Apple would simply modify OSX drivers, one could also use 108 Mbits/s wireless connections without using WinXP. But since the Airport base stations are not compatible, neither providing 108 Mbits/s mode, then the chance to see Apple modifying the drivers to makes this mode available in OSX are quite low; especially if one consider that it would "promote" the use of non-Apple branded Wi-Fi base stations.
One can also consider that Apple has not updated its wireless station offer since a long time, and competitors are already proposing models taking advantages of 802.11n, but also using the Mimo technology to improve both active range and data transfer speed. Beside the APX, featuring wireless printing capabilities but also quality issues,, all other Apple's wireless network offers are currently outdated.

[translation by Eric]

- MacBook: made by Orpioo - Lionel - 14:40:01

While waiting for the MacBook to be finally released, we have decided to publish a design made by one of our forum members, Orpioo.

Based on rumors/info, I have tried to design what could be a MacBook.
Rumors have spread that the MacBook will be using a 13.3" display featuring a 16/9 ratio. Based on this expectation, one can defined:
- 13.3" with 16/9 ratio (1280x720), the panel should be: height: 6,52'' - width: 11,59''
- to be compared with the current 12.1'' with 4/3 ratio(1024x768): height: 7,26'' - width: 9,68''
So the panel should be 1.91"(4,85 cm) larger but should lose 0.74"(1,88 cm) in height. A radical change.
Based on the current design, hereafter is an image of what could be the MacBook( using the same scale than an current iBook)
Of course I have added an iSight since the MBPro as well as the iMac have one. I have also minimize the thickness of the panel case on both side of the display.
Based on this rumored panel, the size of the case will have to be almost brand new, as the 13.3" panel will change the size of the motherboard itself. Not sure that the optical drive and the battery can still sit side by side as it is in the current iBook12".
As for the MBP, I have reduced the thickness of the MacBook.

In addition, due to the increased width of the MacBook, the keyboard location might move a bit, and speakers could be relocated on both side of the keyboard as for the MBPro. Now what is Apple waiting for to release the MacBook? To save on CPU cost, linked to the use of Intel Core Duo in all MacBook models, Apple might have delayed the introduction of the MacBook, since the Yonah will soon be cheaper as we reported earlier today.

[translation by Eric]

- Performances of MacIntel with FCP5.1 - Lionel - 12:14:54

Thanks to Philippe for this info.

I have just read an article from a German website describing the performances of Macs with the last version of FCP (Universal Binaries).
Computer tested:

Apple G5 Dual 2Ghz, 1.5GB, NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE 128MB
iMac G5 20" 2.1 GHz, 1.5GB, 128MB
iMac Intel 20" 2GHz Core Duo, 1.5GB, X1600 128MB
MacBook Pro 2GHz Core Duo, 1.5GB, Mobility X1600 128MB

Results obtained with MacIntels are quite impressive!


(results in seconds)

Source: http://www.final-cut-pro.de/stage/_inhalte/berichte/019_fcp_ub_test.shtml?navid=1

In summary, with FCP5.1, the MacBook Pro is simply 3 times faster than a PMG5 Dual 2.0GHz!
On the forum of http://www.final-cut-pro.de, a user has reported that a PMG5 Quad with 4.5GB of RAM has carried the task in 63seconds!
It seems quite clear, that even a Mac mini powered by a Core Duo will be able to run FCP with overall performance not so far of those ones obtained with a PMG5 Quad...

Another video application - ffmpegX - will soon be updated to Universal Binaries:
http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=294844&sid=844a090090e619b154b7503518b3b64c

I am starting to regret the recent acquisition of a PMG5 Dual 2.3GHz...

So imagine the performance that can be expected with the Intel CPU that will be used to the replace the PPC970MP in the Power Mac.


[translation by Eric]

- Prices of Intel Core Duo/Solo CPU will drop end of May - Lionel - 11:34:39

According to The Inquirer, Intel will significantly cut the price of its Core Duo/Solo CPUs on Mat 28th.
Below is a table displaying the current and expected prices according to the CPU models.


The Core Solo CPU currently used in the mac mini entry level model might simply disappear by the end of May. A new high-end Core Duo CPU should be introduced with a 2.33GHz clock speed.
So by the end of May, following the Core Duo/Solo revision (both price and models), we should know what will be the strategy of Apple regarding the price and models of the future MacIntel. Will Apple immediately apply the CPU price drops directly on the MacIntel, or will they wait for a hardware revision that might happen earlier or with a higher frequency than in the past with the PPC?


[translation by Eric]

- CineBench: new version boosts results on MacOSX - Lionel - 11:26:29

Source : XLR8yourMac

Maxon has updated last week its benchmarking software Cinebench 9.5. This new version supports last OpenGL updates found in MacOSX. As a results performance are really boosted.
Hereafter are the results obtained with a PMG5 Quad equipped with a GeForce 7800 GT running 10.4.6.


The left panel displays results obtained with the old version, while the right panel shows the results with the new version. With this update, the gap between Mac and PC equipped with the same graphic card does not exist anymore.

Similar results obtained with a MacBook Pro, even more impressive:


In addition, one of our readers, Samo, has sent us results of tests performed with an iMac Core Duo 2.0Ghz 20" using either MacOS X 10.4.6 or Windows XP Pro SP2:

MacOSX:
Rendering (Single CPU): 308 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 583 CB-CPU
Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.90
Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 359 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 1434 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 2907 CB-GFX
OpenGL Speedup: 8.09

WinXP Pro:
Rendering (Single CPU): 294 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 534 CB-CPU
Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.82
Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 351 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 1425 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 2987 CB-GFX
OpenGL Speedup: 8.50

Now, the story would be perfect if a patch for Doom3 is released to benefit of those improvements.

[translation by Eric]

- Remapping the MacBook Keyboard in XP [updated] - Lionel - 02:59:56

Following our problem with the French keyboard mapping of the MacBook under XP (via Boot Camp), our friend Spacetitox released an extension which solves the problem.
He also has other patches on his site to enable Ctrl + Alt + Del support and also for emulating a right click.
To find these essential drivers:
http://www.spacetitox.info/
[translators note: While the site is in French, you can find the drivers for Ctrl + Alt + Del under the "Ctrl + Alt + Suppr" tab and the drivers for the right click under "Clic Droit" (this driver enables Ctrl + click, which is familiar to Mac users)]

[update]: The site is now available in english version and all patches are also available in english version.

[translation by jwa]