News for Monday, 29 January 2007

We received many questions following our news regarding changing the Mac mini's processor which we are going to try to answer here.
- The MacBook Pro and the MacBook have their processors directly soldered to the motherboard. So it's impossible to change them.
- The iMac and the Mac mini on the other hand have processors placed in connectors. This connector (or socket) is called the 479. It accepts both the Core Duo and the Core 2 Duo which are compatible pin for pin. On the other hand, don't try to install a Pentium M. Although it has the same number of pins (478), it is incompatible.
Intel offered two types of Core 2 Duos, the Exxxx series and the Txxxx series. The E series is designed for desktop computers and don't have the same number of pins, so it is not compatible. But on the other hand all the T series of processors are.
The T5xxx series of processors have at least 2 Mb of cache, while the T7xxx have 4. All Core Duo Ts are currently designed to function with a bus speed of 667 MHz (166.6x4). In a few months it should be possible to find some less expensive processors at 533 MHz. Although they will be less expensive and most likely compatible, their slower bus speed will have a severe effect on the global performance of the machine (unless performing a pin modification, but that's another story). Here is a recap of the compatible processors, the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo.
* Core Duo T2300 at 1.66 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core Duo T2400 at 1.83 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core Duo T2500 at 2 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core Duo T2600 at 2.16 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core Duo T2700 at 2.33 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core 2 Duo T5500 at 1.66 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core 2 Duo T5600 at 1.83 GHz (2 MB of cache)
* Core 2 Duo T7200 at 2 GHz (4 MB of cache)
* Core 2 Duo T7400 at 2.16 GHz (4 MB of cache)
* Core 2 Duo T7600 at 2.33 GHz (4 MB of cache)
Of note: the higher frequency models will make the fans spin faster.
- The Mac Pros also have interchangeable processors. It uses a socket 771. It will accept all the Xeon 51xx series with a 1333 MHz bus (there are Xeons with a 1066 bus which would slow down the machine). The 4 core Xeons are also compatible.
Here is the list of compatible 1333 Mhz bus processors:
* Xeon 5130. 2 cores at 2 GHz and 4 MB of cache
* Xeon 5140. 2 cores at 2.33 GHz and 4 MB of cache
* Xeon 5150. 2 cores at 2.66 GHz and 4 MB of cache
* Xeon 5160. 2 cores at 3 GHz and 4 MB of cache
* Xeon E5345. 4 cores at 2.33 GHz and 8 MB of cache
* Xeon E5355. 4 cores at 2.66 GHz and 8 MB of cache
Again, the 4 core processors will make the fans spin faster. They use 120W versus 80 for a 3 GHz and 60W for the others.
In any case, you will most likely void your warranty by changing the CPU.

Unlike most of the current pre-drafted 802.11n-based devices, the new Airport Express base station supports, in addition to the standard 2.4GHz band used for 802.11b/g, the 5GHz band. This is a good point as the 2.4GHz is rather overloaded in cities, most wireless devices are using it (WiFi, but also DECT phones, etc.).
When comparing performance of both frequencies, one can read on the web and find one way or the other; so we would recommend reading an old article from wi-fiplanet.com about 802.11a and g.
As reported by MacWorld, it might be a problem in some countries where regulations concerning the 5GHz band are more strict.
To reach the highest transfer speed with 802.11n and its 5GHz band, one needs to use simultaneously several channels, so one has to enlarge the bandwidth to 40MHz. So Apple might offer in EU countries a specific Airport Extreme base station, with different level of options concerning channel selections.

Adobe announces Lightroom's release.
After a little more than a year of public beta testing, Adobe has just updated the product pages of their website to include the release date, packaging picture, and price of what's now known as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0.
Two things of note: the price which is identical to Apple's Aperture, US$299.00, and a limited time introductory offer of US$199.00, which will probably also serve as a thank you to participants of the beta programme.
In Europe, things differ slightly: availability is scheduled for March, with very similar, but not identical pricing: Lightroom is offered for 174 € excluding VAT until june 22nd. After that, the 'regular price' will be 249€ excluding VAT.
In the UK, the pricing and availability are: £125 before April 30, and £175 after, with a release date of late February.
In the past, Adobe has been known to offer aggressive pricing on new software, notably inDesign which was launched to compete head on against QuarkXPress.
It's good to see that software specifically designed for photo enthusiasts and pro photographers are now numerous. A clear sign that large software companies are taking the sales figures of digital SLRs (which have seen a 1000% growth between 2003 and today) seriously.
For those interested in the evolution of digital photography, the next big event is the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) International Convention and Trade Show, probably the most important trade show in the world, and always the host of many important announcements. The PMA runs March 8 through 11 in Las Vegas. Apple, Adobe and all the other photographic software makers will be there.

Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow, and Steve Smith, Intel Vice President DEG Group Operations unveiled some information concerning the future Penryn, successor of today’s Core 2 Duo Conroe, a desktop CPU.

This processor will use 45nm engraving process vs. 65nm currently used for Core CPU models. But new features do not stop here:
- Penryn will fit 410 million transistors for the dual core version, and 820 million transistors for the quad core model. Currently dual-core Conroe (desktop version of Core 2 Duo) uses only 298 million transistors.
- larger cache memory (at least 6MB).
- Penryn will be the first Intel CPU to embark new transistor technology: Intel's high-k, metal gate transistors replace the silicon-based elements of the transistor. According to Intel's documentation, this technology will increase current 20, which should lead to a 20% increase in performance. Last but not least, it would also translate into a 5- to 10-fold reduction in source-drain and dielectric leakage. IBM and AMD just announced their 45nm Chip High-K Gate Process .
- As we already mentioned it previously, Penryn will feature the new Intel SSE4 instructions set aiming to enhance performance for multimedia.
Concerning back-compatibility of Penryn on current Conroe motherboards, both Intel representatives did not provide real information. What is known:
- Penryn will initially launch on Socket 775, however it does not imply that Intel will not make it evolving towards a new socket as it already done it in the past for other CPU.
- if firmware updates could solve some problems linked to CPU upgrade, it remains unclear if Conroe motherboards will be able to power properly the Penryn.
However, modification to be performed on the motherboard might not be major ones, so one could imagine some upgrade kits to be released by motherboard manufacturers.
Apple should of course be able to use this CPU in its future hardware models, however it remains unclear in which model? Notebooks will evolve to Santa Rosa, while MacPro will soon be available with the Quad Core Xeon. So, will Apple use Intel desktop CPU in its consumer dedicated hardware models, aka, iMac or a potential “MacPro for the mass” tower model?
To conclude, Penryn is an evolution of the current desktop CPU class, the next Intel CPU revolution will come next year with Nehalem.

Apple published 2 manuals dedicated to the new AirPort Extreme 802.11n:
AirPort Extreme (802.11 n) Setup Guide (Manual)
Designing AirPort Extreme 802.11 n Networks (Manual)
The first one describes how to install and plug the new base station, while the second one, more interesting to our point of view, unveils part of the new Airport Administration Interface.




It seems to be a real improvement compare to the current one, as it appears simpler to manage its Airport Extreme Station.
This new administration panel should be included together with the station itself, and be available in a near future via a software update as it supports all Airport base stations.