Announcement from Intel yesterday on the availability of the new Quad Core Xeon chips:

Intel Launches Quad Core Xeon

On October 26, Apple Insider ran a piece convinced that Apple would move the Mac Pro to the 4-core Xeon “Clovertown” chips almost immediately.  I have to admit, believe it or not, while I have a dual-2.5 Ghz PowerMac G5, as I play with the new Intel-based Macs, I’m starting to get a lot of processor envy.  My photo library is now approximately 50GB and 30,000 shots.  With an average image size of 3-8MB, I can really feel the increased speed of the current Mac Pro when I play with them at the Apple Store.

I found this article on AnandTech where they actually replaced the current dual-core Xeon’s in a Mac Pro with the new chip, giving them 8 cores in their Mac Pro.

I have to admit – when Apple announced the Intel transition, I thought it had a lot more to do with marketing than strategy.  What better way to neutralize negative comparisons with PC hardware than to coopt the platform and let software be the differentiator.  However, I definitely underestimated how Apple would leverage the Intel pipeline to produce some really dazzling machines, at dazzling price points.  I know several people who have finally decided to get a Mac, and it was the price point of the Mac Pro vs. Dell that pushed them over the edge… I guess people forgot how much the PC manufacturers still like to squeeze margins out of the high end.

So, in case you are wondering, this makes another great holiday gift idea for me… I’d love an 8-core Mac Pro, if you could.  Thanks.