You know, at some point, it's simply nice to come across some rumor related to Apple and involving something else than the company's future tablet, iPhone, iPod and so on. In fact, that's the case with one of the latest such pieces of information just “floating around” the Internet, related to the hardware solution that will power the future Mac Pro incarnation.

So, as Hardmac reports, this future version of Apple's desktop system will be built around 32 nm 6-core Intel processors, which, quite surprisingly, will not be called Core i9, as some people might have expected, but retain the Core i7 name. However, given the fact that they're different from the basic Core i7 models, they'll be included in the Extreme series.

The same source indicates the fact that the first such CPU to see the light of day should be the i7-980X, capable of reaching 3,33 GHz and featuring no less than 12 threads. This CPU will also sport 12MB of Intel SmartCache, Hyper-Threading and Turbo-Boost technologies, as well as an integrated memory controller. However, it will be something of a power hog, since we're apparently talking about 130W TDP.

The i7-980X may use Intel's QuickPath Interconnect technology and support 2 x 16 or 4 x 8 discrete graphics, together with the company's X58 chipset. Of course, this new CPU will most likely take up the first position in Intel's list as far as the retail price is concerned, which means that the inferior models will, hopefully, get a little cheaper.

No word on just when it will make an appearance in Mac Pros, but given Apple's usual update schedule, we should see the first machines using the 6-core CPU make an appearance around March 2010 (or a few weeks earlier).


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