Why are intel i cores only dual core?

bobtomay

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Whomever told you that all i5 chips are quad core on a PC do not know what they are talking about. The fact is, every current gen Intel i5 mobile chip is dual core - whether they're in a Mac, Dell, HP or any other brand you can name.

Just head to Dell and check it yourself - take a look at their 15" XPS notebook line and you'll find the following i5 chips available:

i5-2410M
i5-2520M

Both dual core, because Intel is not making a quad core mobile i5 chip at this time.
And the mobile chips are used in practically every notebook made except your higher end gaming rigs because - they require less power, producing less heat and are easier to cool in the compact form of a notebook and thus provide longer battery life.

Here is a full comparison listing of the current mobile i5 chips - link.
 
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Only the 13 inch has the dual core i5 2415m or i7 2620m, and trust me. The Processor in the 13 inch is an absolute monster for what it is, it's performance is much higher than a Core 2 Quad (quad core) and is the absolute limit of what will run in a 13 inch computer without melting the thing. The dual core processor makes the thing run hot enough as it is. The processor is a quad thread processor, that means that the computer sees 4 cores not two, it makes processing more efficient by being able to run a second set of processes while the core is waiting on a process or idle.( This is called Hyperthreading, btw.)
 
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How much speed do the i5 cores increase compared to normal cores. Will we see quad core as standard in the next generation MacBooks?
 

bobtomay

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Not really sure what you're talking about there unless maybe Turbo Boost. Don't know what a "normal" core is either. Without going to count, I would guess that Intel has over 50 chips they've put out that are labeled as an i5.

Whether a quad core becomes standard across the board in the MacBook line has everything to do with Intel. They will not only have to create a quad core requiring low power, easily able to keep it cool and provide long battery life, but they'll also need the quad cores to take over the low end price point of their lineup.
 

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How much speed do the i5 cores increase compared to normal cores.

Do you mean the Core 2 Duo? It depends on the clock speed and particular generation of CPU. It's extremely hard to do an objective comparison unless you're comparing apples to apples (no pun intended).

Will we see quad core as standard in the next generation MacBooks?

We already have quad-core MacBooks. My 15" i7 is a quad core CPU.

Do note, however, that having a quad core CPU doesn't necessarily make your CPU twice as fast as a dual core. Most software is completely unaware of more than one processor, let alone four. The only time you would see a performance difference is if the benchmark was based on a piece of software that could actually take advantage of 2 AND 4 cores.

My advice is to stop worrying about specs and enjoy using your computer. Unless you're running heavy hitter software like the Adobe CS range, AutoCAD or something that does video rendering, chances are you wouldn't know the difference if you had a quad core CPU.
 
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Couple notes on the Sandy bridge i5 (Intel 2415m):
1: Clock for clock it's insanely more powerful than a core 2 duo or such, I worked out the numbers, the base i5 in the 13inch out performs the entire last generation macbook lineup. Everything.
2: i5 2415m modes: normal clock: 2.3Ghz. (automatic) turbo mode on two cores working: 2.7Ghz. Turbo mode on a single threaded app: 2.9Ghz for core 1 /2.3Ghz for core 2.
3: In most scenarios the i5 2415m is actually FASTER than a quad i7 in the 15 inch due to a higher clock speed and the fact that many parts of code are still single threaded.
4: 2415m Vs last gen CPUs: When being used in turbo mode one single core of the 2415m actually matches a single core the Desktop i7 930. (!!! huge wow here) to consider that the i7 930 out performed every single laptop cpu made before this year, that is saying something. Yes the Quad core pro is almost twice as fast potentially,but the i5 is not a bottleneck in any way. Your bottle neck in modern day work is your Hard Drive and Graphics card.
 

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