Which Intel processors will the "Macintel" systems use?

On June 20, 2005, EveryMac.com published:

Although the first systems will not ship until mid-2006 and the transition to Intel-based processors will not be complete until the end of 2007, most are looking at Intel's "roadmap" and speculating that the first "Macintel" systems will use the dual-core "Yonah" Pentium M processor.

ArsTechnica columnist Jon "Hannibal" Stokes is speculating that the Mac mini, PowerBook, and iBook models will begin using the dual-core "Yonah" Pentium M processor by the second quarter of 2006. This columist continues to speculate that the iMac models will begin using the "Sossaman" desktop "Yonah" Pentium M derivative by the third quarter of 2006, the PowerBook will be upgraded to begin using the "Merom" dual-core Pentium M (Banias) successor by the end of 2006, the Power Macintosh models will begin using the "Conroe" 64-bit desktop version of "Merom" by the first quarter of 2007, and finally, the Xserve will begin using a Xeon based on the "Merom" and "Conroe" architecture by the end of 2007.

AnandTech is speculating that he "would expect Apple to use a combination of both cores, 'Cedar Mill' for their entry level Power Macs, 'Presler' for their high end SKUs and potentially even a HT [Hyper Threading] enabled Extreme Edition for their highest end Power Mac" perhaps as early as mid-2006, while acknowledging that "Apple may very well just skip over the NetBurst generation of desktop processors and initially begin the switch to 'Yonah' on the mobile side--arguably where Apple needs a refresh the most. Then, in line with Intel's roadmap, introduce Intel's replacement architecture for NetBurst later in 2006 or by the middle of 2007."

On January 16, 2006, EveryMac.com added:

Although the first systems were originally announced to ship in mid-2006 and the transition to Intel-based processors was to be complete by the end of 2007, the first systems were released on January 10, 2006, and the same day, Steve Jobs stated that the transition would be complete by the end of 2006.

The Intel-based iMac "Core Duo" and MacBook Pro have been released, which use the "Yonah" Pentium M derived Intel "Core Duo" processors in line with earlier speculation.

The Mac mini "Core" uses Intel "Core Solo" and "Core Duo" processors as well.

The always excellent ArsTechnica more recently has provided in-depth speculation regarding the Intel-based "Mac Pro" system widely anticipated to be released next month.

The entire piece should be read in its entirety, but in particular the author concludes that:

I think Apple's CPU choice is clear cut. Strange as it sounds, the Xeon 5100 series is the best fit for the Mac. If Apple wants to keep the Quad name alive, it's the only option. Dual CPU configurations are not possible with anything else in Intel land, so if Apple wants to offer two CPUs and four cores, Xeon is the only game in town. . . Xeon also makes sense for the midrange box or boxes. . . We should see the Core 2 Duo in the low-end pro Mac.

We will all find out for certain soon enough.

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