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Intel Tech Chief Reveals Secret Origins of the MacBook Air's Super Small Chip, Disses WiMax
Posted by Matt Buchanan at 4:00 AM on June 15, 2008
Here's something you didn't know about the MacBook Air's infamously tiny CPU: The shrinkage tech behind it had been collecting dust on Intel's shelf for a couple years since no PC manufacturer was interested in it. When Apple put in the call for a dwarven chip, Intel originally thought what Apple wanted was years away on their roadmap before re-discovering the concept--a year later they had it refreshed and ready to go. Which is the usual breakneck speed Apple moves, Intel's CTO Justin Rattner told Fortune. He also dished that they're collaborating on more breakthrough stuff that's "equally aggressive."
Here's something you didn't know about the MacBook Air's
Besides chatting about how Intel and Apple are now BFF and love working together, delivering super cool crazy tech to the masses, he said something fairly odd about WiMax, considering how much money they've been pumping into it. Basically, he said Intel pushed WiMax hard because at the time it was the best and easiest way to deliver broadband everywhere. Now there are alternatives, and their view is that "if WiMax succeeds, we'll have the bandwidth. If others succeed, we'll have the bandwidth." Does that smell like a vote of confidence to you, or ambivalence, sprinkled with hints of regret? [Fortune]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Leyths
Posted 5:27 AM 15/6/08
@nomax: *sigh*, and hopefully last.
Leyths
Gilbert
Posted 4:59 AM 15/6/08
I agree he doesn't sound too confident on WiMax, but what I think he's ultimately trying to say is that they missed the boat: competitors will have closed the gap by then.
People outside of realms such as these still seem to have no idea what WiMax is. They're just becoming comfortable with 802.11n, for that matter.
Gilbert
gamecrazychris
Posted 4:55 AM 15/6/08
Is it just me or does that part of the video where they show the processors being made show cpu's look like AMD chips.
gamecrazychris
jpitsch
Posted 4:52 AM 15/6/08
What other wireless tech will be faster than WiMax? Not 3G for sure.
jpitsch
nomax
Posted 4:51 AM 15/6/08
first.
nomax
LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M
Posted 6:11 AM 15/6/08
I think what he is saying about wi-max is that they will make money on it no matter what because the majority of chips going into computers that will take advantage of Wi-Max.
That its pretty much a Win-Win, even if one win is better then the other.
LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M
Rick36
Posted 5:57 AM 15/6/08
Fired MBAs? I thought the Macboys said they were soooo cool that they were self-cooling.
Rick36
tucker
Posted 5:55 AM 15/6/08
of course he's down on wimax - in four years it's gone virtually nowhere - and the future doesn't look bright.
@nomax: you're in what grade? first?
tucker
LJN
Posted 5:55 AM 15/6/08
@jpitsch: See LTE.
LJN
spyz88
Posted 5:53 AM 15/6/08
no wonder why there is so much heat that 2 of them fried on me and I had to finally exchange it for the MBP. They should have taken a little extra time...
MBP FTW!!!
spyz88
MastaFalse
Posted 5:52 AM 15/6/08
@Leyths: The internet ... serious fucking business.
MastaFalse
IVPPITER
Posted 5:51 AM 15/6/08
Intel's working with Apple to bring super fast porn on the next iPhone!
IVPPITER
walkerdarin2003
Posted 6:40 AM 15/6/08
@IVPPITER: did you forget that Apple just bought their own chip maker..... Why go elsewhere when you own a company that does it better for the mobile market.
walkerdarin2003
Torley
Posted 7:29 AM 15/6/08
I enjoyed learning about this background story: I find it inspiring when there's research and work done that doesn't have an obvious use YET but then a market emerges, often through innovation.
Torley
rudeadly
Posted 7:54 AM 15/6/08
@nomax: profile; "nomax has no friends."
awww.
rudeadly
chonnes
Posted 8:00 AM 15/6/08
@nomax: shouldn't you be hanging out at perezhilton.com?
chonnes
doobiebros22
Posted 9:07 AM 15/6/08
@nomax: Seventeenth. I win.
doobiebros22
sage2
Posted 11:59 AM 15/6/08
@nomax: Retarded.
sage2
Kaiser-Machead's got LindsayJoy's cookies on the SuperDrive
Posted 1:21 PM 15/6/08
Executives weren't interested in shrinkage?
I wouldn't be either!
Kaiser-Machead's got LindsayJoy's cookies on the SuperDrive
iomatic
Posted 4:38 PM 15/6/08
nomax is now your frenemy
iomatic
Kim98
Posted 4:35 PM 15/6/08
Well the Intel exec is absolutely right; WiMax is the HD-DVD of wireless standards. LTE (4G) will be the winner for a number of reasons. LTE has a billing model, a roaming model, high bandwidth, low power consumption etc. WiMax is like WiFi with longer range. Even 3.5G (e.g. UMTS/HSDPA) technologies are "good enough" to not really make WiMax interesting anymore. And by not interesting I am talking about both the consumers and the service providers.
Kim98
soggy_cheerio
Posted 5:41 PM 15/6/08
Way to feed the trolls, people.
soggy_cheerio
draiko
Posted 5:35 PM 15/6/08
WiMax is still in the game. It has a billing model, it's a proven technology, very successful when implemented correctly, inexpensive, and backed by big companies.
LTE is still 3 to 4 years away and has yet to be tested.
draiko
Kim98
Posted 7:18 PM 15/6/08
@draiko:
By billing model I mean that a person from Spain can go to Mexico and roam with his WiMax mobile device and automatically be authenticated and billed correctly - like with GSM and UMTS networks today. No such thing exist for anything WiFi based. Also with cellular networks the handoff between different generations is seamless. If you are in an area with WiMax and you drive out of the area you won't get the call / data traffic automatically continue over a cellular network. With 3G you automatically get the downgrade to 2G (or 4G to 3G or 4G to 2G or whatever) without missing a packet.
You claim WiMax is backed by big companies. The only big company I can think of that is betting big on WiMax is Sprint, and compared to other companies in the business they aren't actually that big at all with some 50M customers. Big companies are ones like Vodafone with 260M customers all around the world. Big companies are ones like Nokia, who sells half a billion handsets each year. No real players in the industry (China Mobile, Vodafone, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, etc.) believes in WiMax - everyone has moved on. They might have a device or two (e.g. Nokia N810 WiMax) to get some experience in the area but no real strategic emphasis.
When carriers worldwide get to upgrading their networks in 3 to 5 years, there's no chance in hell it will be to WiMax. The natural upgrade path is to LTE. The only place where one could really honestly call WiMax deployed today is in Korea, but even there only the capital region has any real meaningful coverage. So I would hardly call WiMax "proven technology"! If it has proven anything it is that nobody cares about it or believes in it.
Kim98
strider_mt2k
Posted 9:34 PM 15/6/08
Yeah Sprint has less and less customers all the time!
At the rate they're going we'll be rooting for them as the little guy in no time!
strider_mt2k
Stacky Botrus
Posted 1:10 AM 16/6/08
@nomax:
Take a hike - pig.
Stacky Botrus
darkilliminated
Posted 1:33 AM 16/6/08
I love my wii, and other consoles, but i just..don't see the point in having it..
darkilliminated
oopl
Posted 3:42 PM 16/6/08
So built into the Macbook Air's price is the re-discovered shrinking technology?
oopl
philibuster
Posted 6:03 AM 17/6/08
Oh yeah, but it's not really a die shrink, just a packaging shrink, right? so... what's the news?
philibuster
philibuster
Posted 6:02 AM 17/6/08
latest!
At least until the next person comments.
philibuster
Skeptical_Geezer
Posted 8:31 AM 17/6/08
@Gilbert: Yeah it must be pretty tough to get "comfortable" with 802.11n since it DOESN'T exist! The standard isn't scheduled to be released until next year! There should be a class action suit against manufacturers labeling hardware as 802.11n since it is REALLY pre-n, with a gamble on portions of the protocol that they THINK will be accepted into the standard.
Skeptical_Geezer