Dear Steve,

How did you swing getting your hands on the new chipsets before everyone else? Are you trying to cut me out?

Regards,

The Devil

@matt buchanan

"Which you means you should a solid performance boost in these babies, not just better efficiency."

drink. more. coffee.

: It appears that Intel is once again providing a custom chip for Apple in the 3.06 GHz top-end model. According to TGDaily the chip is still a Santa Rosa-era chip but the only technical difference between it and the upcoming X9100 "Montevina" CPU appears to be the a 11 watt TDP differential.

I'll tell you how he did it.

Dear Intel,
"John Mayer here...."

The price is killing me, though. Apple lowering the "Apple premium" is a major component to its recent marketshare growth. In a time when $800 buys one a powerful laptop, charging $2,000 for an all-in-one might scare off some consumers.

I don't care what Jim Kramer says, iChat and the rest of the bells and whistles do not justify the price point.

IMHO, I think that the pricing needs a little work.

There's only one way to be sure. Apple, let me smell yo dick.

@taoprophet420: Thanks, updated.

@divideby7: Why can't I be John Mayer too? I'm sad.

[www.tgdaily.com]

If you want to get technically, they aren't quite Montevina yet... but sure as heck close enough.

Is the speed bump really enough to buy apple? IMHO no...

@OMG! Ponies!: Well, they start at $1,200. I'd say that's pretty low.

@taoprophet420: The 3.06GHz chip is the X9100. Not a one off chip for Apple. The 2.66GHz chip is an unknown model number. That could be a one off, but more likely a repalcement for the 2.53GHz chip that Intel will also be offering.

The most important thing is that these weren't set to be released for over a month. And still, Intel usually can't supply Apple with enough chips for immediate sales. It looks like Apple's marketing engine has paid off nicely for Intel in the past with Apple-only chips for a set period.

• X9100 (3.06 GHz, 6MB L2 1066MHz FSB, 44W TDP) - $851 [May 2008 Release Date]
• 9600 (2.8 GHz, 6MB, 1066 FSB, 35W TDP) - $530 [May 2008 Release Date]
• UNKNOWN (2.6 GHz, 6MB, 1066 FSB 25W TDP) - $?????
• SP9400 (2.4 GHz, 6MB, 1066 FSB, 25W TDP) - $316 [May 2008 Release Date]

What Montevina offers over the Santa Rosa platform:

• WiMAX (which won't be enabled on the iMac)
• Hardware H.2.64 decoding
• Lower power usage (not a big selling point in a desktop)
• Smaller chipser and subsequent MoBo
• Blu-ray HDCP support on chip
• Can use Integrated GPU for Blu-ray playback
• Robson 2.0 (2nd version of Turbo memory)
• DDR3 RAM
• Intel GMA X4500 (3 versions)

"charging $2,000 for an all-in-one might scare off some consumers" - OMG! Ponies!

Dude, that $2,000 gets you a 24" display. There are cheaper iMacs, you know.

And the iMac is price competitive with all-in-one offerings from Dell & Gateway.

Yes, you pay extra for the beautiful, slender form factor. And to many of us, that's money well-spent.

That said - Apple, it's time for a new midrange tower with a consumer-focused price!

I'm nostalgic for the days of the sub-$1,500 Power Mac.

@LagunaSol: And it's made from aluminium and glass, and has a faster and better (aka more expensive) processor than any machine he is referring to.

hell, the iMac is about 6 tanks of gas for me ! :) (sad, I know)

@LagunaSol:

"I'm nostalgic for the days of the sub-$1,500 Power Mac."

Preach on brotha man. I know that hymn too.

@FThorn:

LOL Maybe the H2 is not for you.

I would like to hear any news about the displays, if they will still have the same issues as the current imacs (20" with the cheaper panel, 24" with the backlight problems) as I have been holding off on getting one for exactly this reason: if you create an all-in-one computer where you can't ever upgrade the display, you ought to make said display at least decent IMHO...

@SuperCollider:

dude, hilarious

@OMG! Ponies!:

Jim Kramer is not really talking about a consumer point of view, he is looking at it from an investor point of view. And as long as Apple keeps charging premium pricing for objects that fill people with childlike wonder, it will be a decent investment.

@What dreams may come: It's a consuemr machine and it's perfect fine for consumers. If you are doing professional image/colour work then one should get a machine designed for such a task. I certianly don't break out my Nokia phone's calculator when doing calculus.

@Leonard Nimrod: I don't know you, but even if I am looking at a webpage and the left side of the screen is brighter than the right (24") or the top of the page's text looks fine and the bottom looks greyish/boldish (20") or vice-versa depending where my head is, it bothers me. I don't think wanting a screen that works decently is something that should be reserved for 'professionals'

I somehow think that if your nokia cellphone's screen worked only for one specific orientation and was horribly washed out for all the others you wouldn't stand for it.

@FThorn: You run on gas? Sweet...

@discomonkey:

@divideby7:

Thankyou, i needed that so bad. i don't know why but it REALLY made me laugh. i owe you.

Retailers are offering starting to offer $100 discounts on the New macbook already, just like the did 2 weeks ago with the aluminun imac, i guess WWDC is going to bring a lot of surprises this year

snitch29: Linkage?