Reliable sources have further confirmed recently to Think Secret that new iBooks and Mac minis—as well as iPod shuffles—will debut at Macworld Expo San Francisco next month.
Apple's new Mac mini and iBook are expected to be among the first—if not the first—systems to feature Intel's new mobile processor, code-named Yonah. Intel will make a big splash with Yonah as part of if its Viiv media center effort, which will be unveiled in detail at the Consumer Eelectronics Show (CES) Jan. 5-8, just days ahead of Macworld Expo.
A dual-core version of Yonah is expected to be ready by the time the Mac systems are announced, while a single-core version is slated for delivery by the end of the quarter. Intel will offer two versions of each processor design, Think Secret has learned.
The dual-core version of Yonah, which sources say will be marketed as "Centrino Duo," will be available in a low-voltage version at speeds of 1.5GHz, 1.66GHz, and 1.83GHz, while a faster "performance" version will ship at speeds of 1.66GHz, 1.83GHz, 2.0GHz, and 2.16GHz. Bus speeds and L2 cache are expected to remain the same between the variants, at 667MHz and 2MB, respectively. Sources cautioned that not all speeds might be announced concurrently, and that the performance dual-core Yonah might not be mentioned until later in the quarter.
Yonah's launch could mean that dual-core Yonah iBooks, at speeds of 1.5GHz, might be announced in January, while faster PowerBooks, packing the performance version of the processor, might arrive later in the quarter, although that remains pure speculation at this point. Think Secret first reported that Apple was prepping Intel-based iBooks in mid-November, and sources more recently noted that the 14.1-inch iBook will likely be replaced by a 13.3-inch widescreen version. Think Secret also recently reported details of the revamped Mac mini that will pack an Intel processor.
It's unclear if Apple has any ambitions of incorporating the single-core version of Yonah into its products. The Centrino successor will be available in an ultra low voltage version at speeds of 1.06GHz and 1.2GHz, and a standard version at speeds of 1.66GHz and 1.83GHz. Given that these processors will not be ready to be incorporated into any existing low-end Apple products—and that sources report Apple wants to trumpet its laptops as being the first to feature the dual-core processor—it seems plausible that Apple will simply pass over the single-core chip.
Details concerning the new iPod shuffle are unavailable at this point. This past weekend, Apple noted on its Web site that the 1GB version is sold out for the holiday, with "expected availability [in] mid-January."
