Intel just recently announced big plans for its next series of processors! The list of improvements and new features is simply stunning. It’s especially interesting because as a Computer Engineer I actually start to understand what exactly all those things mean.
Without going into too much detail, just check out the article on AnandTech. Particularly interesting for me are three things (probably more if I could grasp their full meaning…):
- The first series of new chips, the Penryn series, will go into production in the second half of this year. That means that it is possible that Apple will use them in their computers and laptops right about the time I was planning on buying a new laptop, meaning I might not have to wait much longer to get one of those power horses.
- Second, the mobile version of the Penryn introduces a new level of power management, shutting off almost everything that is not totally necessary at that moment. That means longer battery life and less heat produced, two very important thing for mobile computing.
- Third, Penryns will use a new transistor design using HK+MG gates which decrease current leakage and result in less power needed to switch transistors on and off. With about 820 million transistors, you can imagine the difference it will make in power consumption of the chip. AnandTech again explains the technology better than I ever could.
It looks like a very interesting year for the computing world and I hope I can take advantage of that new cool stuff before long!
Christoph
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