There has been much speculation as to which Intel CPU core will make its way into the first iterations of the Intel-based Macintosh. With Apple's rather varied low to high end offerings, it seems clear that we will see a similarly varied list of CPUs put to use in Macs ranging from the low-end, consumer Mac mini and eMac to the high-end, professional Power Macintosh series. Let us remember that Apple has indicated that its first Intel machines (consumer units) are about a year out, while the last of the transition (pro machines) are about two years away. That said, clearly the current Intel landscape is not where we should look in speculation as to which processor will be found in a given Mac.

Tom's Hardware Guide has posted a most informative and insightful article relevant to this discussion entitled, "Dothan Over Netburst: Is The Pentium 4 A Dead End?." The article examines the current Pentium M ("Dothan") as compared to the "Netburst" Pentium 4. Evolved from the Pentium III (which was always clock-for-clock, faster than the deep-piped Pentium 4), The Pentium M offers impressive performance in general and far more processing power per watt than the Pentium 4.

The processors down the Intel roadmap that are considered likely candidates for the first Intel-based Macs (Yonah, Sossaman, Merom, and Conroe) are all derived from the Pentium M and represent a departure from the current Pentium 4's Netburst architecture. Most in-the-know onlookers would agree that this departure is a Good Thing, as avoiding the flawed Netburst architecture entirely, which Apple seems in a good position to do given its stated timeline, would be a winning way to emerge into the world of "Intel inside."