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MacBook Developer Note
This note describes the MacBook computers based on the 2.1 GHz and 2.4 GHz based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processor on 45 nm process technology, introduced in February 2008. It includes information about distinguishing features of the computer, including components on the main logic board: the microprocessor, the other main ICs, and the buses that connect them to each other and to the I/O interfaces.
The computer comes with Mac OS X version 10.5.2 or later installed.
The value of the MacBook model identifier string is MacBook4,1.
Architecture
The architecture of the MacBook is based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processor on 45 nm process technology and two ICs, the North Bridge memory controller and the South Bridge I/O controller, connected to each other by a Direct Media Interface (DMI) bus. The North Bridge provides the bridging functionality among the processor, the memory system, and the DMI. The South Bridge supports these components:
Ultra ATA/100 bus for the optical drive (running at UATA/66)
A 1.5 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) bus for the hard disk drive
1-lane PCI Express link for the AirPort Extreme module
SPI bus, direct memory access bus to the boot ROM
USB 2.0 controller, which in turn supports the Bluetooth module, IR receiver, built-in iSight camera, built-in trackpad and keyboard, and 2 external USB 2.0 ports
Channel to the audio subsystem
1-lane PCI Express link for the Ethernet PHY
33 MHz, 32-bit internal PCI bus to the FireWire 400 (1394a) OHCI and PHY
A DMA controller internal to the South Bridge supports LPC DMA (low pin count direct memory access). The DMA controller has registers that are fixed in the lower 64 KB of I/O space. The DMA controller is configured using registers in the PCI configuration space.
Figure 1 provides a simplified block diagram of the North Bridge, South Bridge, and the buses that connect them together.
Features
The MacBook computer includes a built-in iSight video camera and an integrated IR receiver. For a complete list of user-visible features, see the MacBook specification sheet at Apple's Specifications site. Other features are described in this section.
Intel Core 2 Duo Microprocessor
The microprocessor in the MacBook is an Intel Core 2 Duo processor on 45 nm process technology with the following features:
2.1 GHz or 2.4 GHz microprocessor
3 MB shared, on-chip L2 cache
Intel Advanced Digital Media Boost
Connection to the North Bridge over an 800 MHz frontside bus
Supports Intel 64 Architecture
See the Intel Core 2 Duo Processors support site for detailed microprocessor documentation.
Intel Advanced Digital Media Boost accelerates data manipulation by applying a single instruction to multiple data at the same time, known as SIMD processing. SIMD technology accelerates vector math operations and floating-point calculations. Advanced Digital Media Boost supports Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) versions 1, 2, 3, and 4 and allows the processor to execute most 128-bit instructions every clock cycle.
For information on Advanced Digital Media Boost, refer to Technology@Intel Magazine.
SSE4 offers over 50 additional instructions in two major categories:
SSE4 Vectorizing Compiler and Media Accelerators
SSE4 Efficient Accelerated String and Text Processing
For information on SSE4, refer to the Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 4 (SSE4) Instruction Set Innovation support site
Intel 64 Architecture increases the linear address space for software to 64 bits and supports physical address space up to 40 bits. The technology also introduces a new operating mode referred to as IA-32e mode. IA-32e mode operates in one of two sub-modes:
Compatibility mode enables a 64-bit operating system to run most legacy 32-bit software unmodified
64-bit mode enables a 64-bit operating system to run applications written to access 64-bit address space
In the 64-bit mode, applications may access:
64-bit flat linear addressing
8 additional general-purpose registers (GPRs)
8 additional registers for streaming SIMD extensions (SSE, SSE2, SSE3 and SSE4)
64-bit-wide GPRs and instruction pointers
Uniform byte-register addressing
Fast interrupt-prioritization mechanism
New instruction-pointer relative-addressing mode
An Intel 64 Architecture processor supports existing IA-32 software because it is able to run all non-64-bit legacy modes supported by IA-32 architecture. Most existing IA-32 applications also run in compatibility mode.
Processor Bus
The processor bus is an up-to-800 MHz bus connecting the processor to the North Bridge. The bus has 32-bit wide data running in both directions. The processor has 32-bit addressing.
The point-to-point architecture provides each subsystem with dedicated bandwidth to main memory. The North Bridge implements an independent processor interface. The input clock to the processor PLL is 200 MHz.
Memory
The computer provides two RAM slots that accommodate 200-pin DDR2 SDRAM SO-DIMMs up to 1.25 inches in height. The SO-DIMMs must be DDR2 PC2-5300-compliant and must be unbuffered, unregistered, 8-byte, nonparity, and non-ECC. The MacBook ships standard with up to 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM SO-DIMMs. Maximum capacity is 4 GB. For additional information, refer to RAM Expansion Developer Note.
Direct Media Interface Bus
The North Bridge and South Bridge are connected by a Direct Media Interface (DMI) bus, a high-speed, bidirectional, point-to-point link supporting a clock rate of 1 GB per second in each direction.
Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) Boot ROM
The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) Boot ROM consists of 2 MB of on-board flash EEPROM. It includes the hardware-specific code and tables needed to start up the computer, load an operating system, and provide common hardware access services.The EFI Boot ROM connects to the South Bridge via Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus.
Graphics/Video Subsystem
Internal to the North Bridge is the Intel GMA X3100 graphics subsystem. The MacBook has a mini-DVI connector for an external video monitor. For more information on the graphics subsystem and display capabilities, refer to Video Developer Note.
For more information on PCI Express, refer to PCI Developer Note.
Serial ATA Drive Interface
The MacBook comes with a 5400 rpm Serial ATA (SATA) Gen-I (1.5 Gbps) hard disk drive, in the following configurations:
2.1 GHz: 120 GB (optionally 160 GB or 250 GB)
2.4 GHz (white): 160 GB (optionally 250 GB)
2.4 GHz (black): 250 GB
The SATA hard disk drive operates through an AHCI 1.1 controller that supports advanced SATA-II features such as Native Command Queuing (NCQ) and PHY power management.
For more information on SATA, see the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) website.
For information on the AHCI controller, see http://www.intel.com/technology/serialata/ahci.htm.
Ultra ATA Interface
In the MacBook computer, the South Bridge controller provides an Ultra ATA/100 interface (running at UATA/66) to the slot-loading SuperDrive or Combo drive. The drive can read and write optical media, as shown in Table 1 and Table 2.
The optical drive is configured as device 0 (master) and complies with the ATA/ATAPI-5 industry standard. For information on parallel ATA interfaces, see the International Committee on Information Technology Standards (INCITS) Technical Committee T13 AT Attachment website.
Media type | Reading speed | Writing speed |
|---|---|---|
DVD +/- R | 8x (CAV) | 8x (CAV) |
DVD+/-R DL | 6x (CAV) | 4x ZCLV |
DVD-ROM | 8x (CAV) | - |
DVD-ROM DL | 6x (CAV) | - |
DVD +/- RW | 6x (CAV) | 4x ZCLV |
CD-R | 24x (CAV) | 24x (CAV) |
CD-RW | 24x (CAV) | 10x CLV (high speed or ultra speed media) |
CD-ROM | 24x (CAV) | - |
Media type | Reading speed | Writing speed |
|---|---|---|
DVD +/- R | 6x (CAV) | - |
DVD+/-R DL | 5x (CAV) | - |
DVD-ROM SL | 8x (CAV) (DVD-5) | - |
DVD-ROM DL | 5x (CAV) (DVD-9) | - |
DVD +/- RW | 5x (CAV) | - |
CD-R | 24x (CAV) | 24x ZCLV |
CD-RW | 24x (CAV) | 16x ZCLV (ultra speed media) 10x CLV (high speed media) 4x CLV (standard speed media) |
CD-ROM | 24x (CAV) | - |
FireWire Controller
The computer has one IEEE-1394a FireWire 400 port, which supports transfer rates of 100, 200, and 400 Mbps. For more information, see FireWire Developer Note.
Ethernet Controller
The computer has a built in Ethernet port for a 10BASE-T/UTP, 100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T Gigabit operation. For more information, see Ethernet Developer Note.
USB 2.0 Controller
The South Bridge includes an integrated USB 2.0 controller supporting the Bluetooth module, IR receiver, built-in iSight camera, built-in trackpad and keyboard, and 2 external USB 2.0 ports (one high-powered). The USB ports comply with the Universal Serial Bus Specification 2.0. For more information, see Universal Serial Bus Developer Note.
AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Module
The MacBook computer has an internal AirPort Extreme module, connected to a dedicated 1-lane PCI Express link and a Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (enhanced data rate) module, connected to the USB 2.0 controller. AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth have independent built-in antennas. For more information, see AirPort Developer Note and Bluetooth Developer Note.
Audio System
The computer has a built-in microphone, a combination analog audio line-in and S/PDIF digital optical audio line-in jack, and a combined analog output and S/PDIF digital optical audio line-out jack. For more information, see Audio Developer Note.
System Management Controller
The MacBook uses an advanced system management controller (SMC) to manage thermal and power conditions, while keeping the acoustic noise to a minimum. The SMC is fully independent of the operating system.
Copyright © 2008 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Updated: 2008-03-04