iHotu
Aug 29, 09:05 AM
Hope they bring back the $499 price point, Merom or not
fr4c
Nov 23, 11:22 PM
Psht. I can get that up here for free.
No need to rub it in.
Sent from the neighbors down south.
;)
No need to rub it in.
Sent from the neighbors down south.
;)
rxse7en
Oct 23, 11:33 AM
New MacBook Pro's and video iPods for some, abortions and miniature American flags for others
Sacrilicious!
Sacrilicious!
liketom
Jul 19, 04:20 PM
Which is exactly why the past few weeks have been a great time to load up on Apple stock. Apple has been increasing computer sales with transitional computers. The "real" machines aren't out yet.
In other words, Apple growth won't be slowing down any time soon. In fact, it should probably accelerate over the next 12 months.
with a little help from us Mac users out here who end up buying 2 Macs or more a year ;)
i tell you this year is getting real expensive for me , Mac Mini Intel then the Black Book and later this year the new Mac Pro and just don't even talk about iPods yet :D Apple is skinting me worse then a divorce
In other words, Apple growth won't be slowing down any time soon. In fact, it should probably accelerate over the next 12 months.
with a little help from us Mac users out here who end up buying 2 Macs or more a year ;)
i tell you this year is getting real expensive for me , Mac Mini Intel then the Black Book and later this year the new Mac Pro and just don't even talk about iPods yet :D Apple is skinting me worse then a divorce
hulugu
Nov 29, 08:58 PM
Why are we still talking about the Zune. Does anyone really care? It's just another mp3 player among so many others behind iPod. :rolleyes:
It will never match the iPod's popularity, ever.
I think the feeling was, this is the last full measure for anyone expecting to knock the iPod off its pedestal without a serious sea-change in technology, to mix my metaphors a little.
Sony tried, Dell tried, Creative is trying, and really only Samsung and SanDisk are having any success. The real threat it appeared was from Microsoft who could use their money and leverage the support of WMA, the XBox, and other technologies to support the Zune.
Instead, Microsoft made a clunky box, reinvented the software wheel, and severed the Zune from all the PlaysForSure companies. The only real leverage the Zune has is it's connection with the XBox, which the iPod can do as well. The Zune is a massive duplication of effort, and will surely do more to eliminate the smaller players in the market, such as SanDisk, than affect the iPod's sales.
Furthermore, I would ask anyone to avoid buying the Zune, no one should reward Microsoft for releasing a product that is effectively unfinished. Really for $250.00 you get to do their beta testing, and that's not a privilege anyone should have to endure.
It will never match the iPod's popularity, ever.
I think the feeling was, this is the last full measure for anyone expecting to knock the iPod off its pedestal without a serious sea-change in technology, to mix my metaphors a little.
Sony tried, Dell tried, Creative is trying, and really only Samsung and SanDisk are having any success. The real threat it appeared was from Microsoft who could use their money and leverage the support of WMA, the XBox, and other technologies to support the Zune.
Instead, Microsoft made a clunky box, reinvented the software wheel, and severed the Zune from all the PlaysForSure companies. The only real leverage the Zune has is it's connection with the XBox, which the iPod can do as well. The Zune is a massive duplication of effort, and will surely do more to eliminate the smaller players in the market, such as SanDisk, than affect the iPod's sales.
Furthermore, I would ask anyone to avoid buying the Zune, no one should reward Microsoft for releasing a product that is effectively unfinished. Really for $250.00 you get to do their beta testing, and that's not a privilege anyone should have to endure.
quadgirl
Sep 1, 03:32 PM
I disagree.
Merom makes more sense. Yes, they did get a G5 inside of the iMac, BUT, it was known for serious reliability problems. Overheating, blown capacitors, etc. The G5 iMac was really a poor design because it could *never* handle that much heat.
So, if they are going to use Merom, great. It's a small case, it doesn't have big fans (like the Mac Pro), I would rather have a cool (not hot) case with quiet fans as well as a reliable machine.
We can always hope for a Conroe mini-Mac Pro, but it will probably never happen.
The G5 is an insanely hot processor (along the lines of the Pentium 4 netburst cpus) and Apple should have a medal for making it work. Conroes are cool, really cool, so it can be done.
Maybe Apple's priority is to keep the iMac silent and as slim as possible (beauty before power). The problem is that the Merom maxes out at 2.33 ghz and the Macbook Pro 17" may well end up with that processor. It doesn't make sense to keep a consumer desktop at the same speed of the pro laptop. But then again, neither does it make sense putting a laptop processor in a desktop, unless a slim/quiet design is Apple's priority.
Merom makes more sense. Yes, they did get a G5 inside of the iMac, BUT, it was known for serious reliability problems. Overheating, blown capacitors, etc. The G5 iMac was really a poor design because it could *never* handle that much heat.
So, if they are going to use Merom, great. It's a small case, it doesn't have big fans (like the Mac Pro), I would rather have a cool (not hot) case with quiet fans as well as a reliable machine.
We can always hope for a Conroe mini-Mac Pro, but it will probably never happen.
The G5 is an insanely hot processor (along the lines of the Pentium 4 netburst cpus) and Apple should have a medal for making it work. Conroes are cool, really cool, so it can be done.
Maybe Apple's priority is to keep the iMac silent and as slim as possible (beauty before power). The problem is that the Merom maxes out at 2.33 ghz and the Macbook Pro 17" may well end up with that processor. It doesn't make sense to keep a consumer desktop at the same speed of the pro laptop. But then again, neither does it make sense putting a laptop processor in a desktop, unless a slim/quiet design is Apple's priority.
Phishin' it
Oct 23, 09:32 AM
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/intelcoreduo.html
That no longer exists. Go to the mbp page and click the core duo icon, and I get a page not found.
This will probably change by the time anyone verifies it. :rolleyes:
I got the same thing.
That no longer exists. Go to the mbp page and click the core duo icon, and I get a page not found.
This will probably change by the time anyone verifies it. :rolleyes:
I got the same thing.
MUBiomed
Feb 20, 09:43 PM
Current setup... my sig.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/SilverS3/Photo-0214.jpg
It is time to drink the intel Kool-aid my friend
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/SilverS3/Photo-0214.jpg
It is time to drink the intel Kool-aid my friend
thereubster
Oct 23, 10:52 AM
Its not going to happen yet. The Chipset to support it isn't yet available (till next year)
I'm picking Core 2 Duo (up to 2.33Ghz optional), FW800, new superdrives with DL support (or MAYBE Blu-ray option, they are available after all), New display options (higher rez), larger HD and thats it.
What I would like to see them add is eSATA support but I bet they dont.
I'm picking Core 2 Duo (up to 2.33Ghz optional), FW800, new superdrives with DL support (or MAYBE Blu-ray option, they are available after all), New display options (higher rez), larger HD and thats it.
What I would like to see them add is eSATA support but I bet they dont.
BeefUK
Aug 29, 09:23 AM
Why is everyone so hung up on Merom?
I never expected the mini to go that way this year. Remember, the entire point of the mini is to be LOW COST.
The switch to Intel caused the price of the mini to jump $100. I would much rather see its processor lag behind a little bit if they can get that price back to $499.
Same thing with the Macbook, I'd rather see a $999 Macbook with the current chips than a $1,099 Macbook that keeps up with the Macbook Pro's chips.
Of course, there's nothing saying Apple will lower the prices but IF they do then I would be very happy to see the "old" Intel chips stay in those machines another 6 months. The first core chips are still VERY fast chips, it's the rest of the system (video card) that's holding things up now. I wonder how much extra benefit you'd even get from a Merom chip in a mini.
I agree, if the mac mini is dropped in price but keeps the Core Duo, I think that is a logical step. I think one of the original ideas of the mini was to tempt switchers, who already have a PC, but want to try a mac for cheap. I was nearly tempted last year, but held off for the Intel Update, and then decided I wanted a laptop instead.
However if they keep prices the same, then that seems a strange decision.
I have to say though I hope u are wrong with regard to the Macbooks, i'm hoping for a Core 2 Duo update so I can purchase my first mac. Maybe if they don't i'll just save up some more money and buy and Core 2 Duo MBP when they're released!!
I never expected the mini to go that way this year. Remember, the entire point of the mini is to be LOW COST.
The switch to Intel caused the price of the mini to jump $100. I would much rather see its processor lag behind a little bit if they can get that price back to $499.
Same thing with the Macbook, I'd rather see a $999 Macbook with the current chips than a $1,099 Macbook that keeps up with the Macbook Pro's chips.
Of course, there's nothing saying Apple will lower the prices but IF they do then I would be very happy to see the "old" Intel chips stay in those machines another 6 months. The first core chips are still VERY fast chips, it's the rest of the system (video card) that's holding things up now. I wonder how much extra benefit you'd even get from a Merom chip in a mini.
I agree, if the mac mini is dropped in price but keeps the Core Duo, I think that is a logical step. I think one of the original ideas of the mini was to tempt switchers, who already have a PC, but want to try a mac for cheap. I was nearly tempted last year, but held off for the Intel Update, and then decided I wanted a laptop instead.
However if they keep prices the same, then that seems a strange decision.
I have to say though I hope u are wrong with regard to the Macbooks, i'm hoping for a Core 2 Duo update so I can purchase my first mac. Maybe if they don't i'll just save up some more money and buy and Core 2 Duo MBP when they're released!!
Gatesbasher
Mar 24, 02:42 PM
All of what you said! Especially the part quoted -and the true nut of it that I took the liberty of bolding. The "dumbing down" of our ears continues apace.
And I forgot to mention things like what (even "HD") radio stations are doing to the signal - e.g., compressing nearly all popular music to a 20 db maximum dynamic range, and in some cases even speeding up the play (while "correcting" for frequency), allowing a better fit with their commercial breaks.
I wasn't aware of that. I suppose in a car, for example, where there's a high noise floor, reducing the dynamic range might be a good idea—but that should be a knob on your unit, not theirs!
Edit: The frequency thing kind of reminds me of the old days, when the electric utilities used to bitch and moan that: "We're not selling a timekeeping service!" Even so, while there might not be exactly 60 cycles in every second all day, they'd speed up or slow down a little bit towards midnight to make sure there was exactly 5,184,000 cycles in a day. If your TV picture started rolling late at night, that was probably why!
And I forgot to mention things like what (even "HD") radio stations are doing to the signal - e.g., compressing nearly all popular music to a 20 db maximum dynamic range, and in some cases even speeding up the play (while "correcting" for frequency), allowing a better fit with their commercial breaks.
I wasn't aware of that. I suppose in a car, for example, where there's a high noise floor, reducing the dynamic range might be a good idea—but that should be a knob on your unit, not theirs!
Edit: The frequency thing kind of reminds me of the old days, when the electric utilities used to bitch and moan that: "We're not selling a timekeeping service!" Even so, while there might not be exactly 60 cycles in every second all day, they'd speed up or slow down a little bit towards midnight to make sure there was exactly 5,184,000 cycles in a day. If your TV picture started rolling late at night, that was probably why!
benjayman2
Feb 28, 01:57 PM
First attempt to get everything in one shot.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6433/img0390ko.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/i/img0390ko.jpg/)
Gave up and started taking pics of parts of our new room.
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3861/img0392y.jpg (http://img651.imageshack.us/i/img0392y.jpg/)
Digital and Analog entertainment
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/4808/img0394m.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/img0394m.jpg/)
Second attempt to get everything in one shot.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9025/img0396ki.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/i/img0396ki.jpg/)
Pic from the window bay.
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1438/img0398p.jpg (http://img84.imageshack.us/i/img0398p.jpg/)
The only pic that I thought turned out decent.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/1701/img0386of.jpg
Hardware in the sig
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6433/img0390ko.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/i/img0390ko.jpg/)
Gave up and started taking pics of parts of our new room.
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3861/img0392y.jpg (http://img651.imageshack.us/i/img0392y.jpg/)
Digital and Analog entertainment
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/4808/img0394m.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/img0394m.jpg/)
Second attempt to get everything in one shot.
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/9025/img0396ki.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/i/img0396ki.jpg/)
Pic from the window bay.
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1438/img0398p.jpg (http://img84.imageshack.us/i/img0398p.jpg/)
The only pic that I thought turned out decent.
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/1701/img0386of.jpg
Hardware in the sig
tonydickinson
Mar 25, 09:41 PM
I would advise people not to take too seriously the words of tonymacx86 who admittedly does a great deal to help the junior hackintosh brigade, but he is not well respected by many serious OSX86 supporters, who claims he uses a lot of stolen code, and asks for money from people who cannot do it themselves.
Macrumors needs to seriously consider using this tonymacx86 as a reliable source. As I stated before he gets info from other sources, and this is often highlighted by others
See this quote ex Netkas...
6950 AND 6970 DO NOT WORK IN ANY CURRENTLY AVAILABLE VERSION OF OSX FOR MACS OR HACKS !!!!
THE NEWS STORIES THAT WERE LIFTED FROM HERE ARE INCORRECT !!!!!
DON'T BUY A 69XX CARD UNLESS YOU CAN AFFORD TO WAIT A FEW WEEKS (OR MONTHS) TO USE IT IN OSX !!!!!
OK, done my part. And if you still think they work, go ask your buddy "Tony" how to make them work.
Sad but macrumors - please take more care.
Macrumors needs to seriously consider using this tonymacx86 as a reliable source. As I stated before he gets info from other sources, and this is often highlighted by others
See this quote ex Netkas...
6950 AND 6970 DO NOT WORK IN ANY CURRENTLY AVAILABLE VERSION OF OSX FOR MACS OR HACKS !!!!
THE NEWS STORIES THAT WERE LIFTED FROM HERE ARE INCORRECT !!!!!
DON'T BUY A 69XX CARD UNLESS YOU CAN AFFORD TO WAIT A FEW WEEKS (OR MONTHS) TO USE IT IN OSX !!!!!
OK, done my part. And if you still think they work, go ask your buddy "Tony" how to make them work.
Sad but macrumors - please take more care.
PBF
Apr 10, 02:13 AM
WOW!!! iCal looks *********g UGLY... I hope they add an option to use a standard gray toolbar area... That seems so unlike apple to do something like that.
Heh.. What if they give everything that look :). I think I would switch to windows if they did that..
I don't understand why everyone seems to dislike the "new" iCal so much. Clearly, it was adopted by iPad iOS at first and now by Mac OS X Lion. Nothing new here. Nothing unexpected.
I don't remember people disliking/complaining about the iCal look on iPad at all. I tell ya, people complain just for the sake of complaining. What a crowd. :rolleyes:
Heh.. What if they give everything that look :). I think I would switch to windows if they did that..
I don't understand why everyone seems to dislike the "new" iCal so much. Clearly, it was adopted by iPad iOS at first and now by Mac OS X Lion. Nothing new here. Nothing unexpected.
I don't remember people disliking/complaining about the iCal look on iPad at all. I tell ya, people complain just for the sake of complaining. What a crowd. :rolleyes:
dguisinger
Aug 7, 03:35 AM
Have you tried rubyonrails? I've done some webservices for testing, and this is very slick.
Just give it a testdrive (www.rubyonrails.com)
Not really what I'm looking for, I'm trying to connect a Cocoa-app to a web service with minimal work; Rubyonrails looks like its primarily for developing web applications. But thanks anyways.
Just give it a testdrive (www.rubyonrails.com)
Not really what I'm looking for, I'm trying to connect a Cocoa-app to a web service with minimal work; Rubyonrails looks like its primarily for developing web applications. But thanks anyways.
EagerDragon
Jul 19, 08:42 PM
Actually Vista is rather good in various areas in comparison to Windows XP SP2 and it is getting better as MS nears release (I use is it on various Windows developer systems I do work on and note my primary work is Mac development on Mac OS X). Don't discount Vista...
Of course with that said... even if Vista is amazing (in comparison to Tiger/Leopard) the fact that Vista will often require users to upgrade older computers to make it usable will play to Apple's advantage. The upgrade (hardware and software) disruption that Vista is going to cause is a perfect point for folks thinking about switching to a Mac to make the jump... they have to spend the money anyways so why not get a Mac (especially since if they don't like Mac OS X they can fallback on running Vista or XP on it).
Did you noticed you compared Vista to XP and said it was "rather good and getting better?
I agree with most of what you stated, but..... With all the carving that M$ performed on Vista, IMHO there is little reason to drive the current XP users to switch to Vista. Besides as you stated, it is likely to need a large numbers of users to upgrade in order to see some eye candy that looks cool.
You are using it, what will drive the sales?
Compare that to the % of users that upgraded to Tiger in the first and secon year and % wise Tiger was a lot more attractive that Vista will be to upgraders.
Leopard will be an even bigger hit.
But yes I agree with most of what you stated, but it sucks compared to Tiger and Leopard.
Of course with that said... even if Vista is amazing (in comparison to Tiger/Leopard) the fact that Vista will often require users to upgrade older computers to make it usable will play to Apple's advantage. The upgrade (hardware and software) disruption that Vista is going to cause is a perfect point for folks thinking about switching to a Mac to make the jump... they have to spend the money anyways so why not get a Mac (especially since if they don't like Mac OS X they can fallback on running Vista or XP on it).
Did you noticed you compared Vista to XP and said it was "rather good and getting better?
I agree with most of what you stated, but..... With all the carving that M$ performed on Vista, IMHO there is little reason to drive the current XP users to switch to Vista. Besides as you stated, it is likely to need a large numbers of users to upgrade in order to see some eye candy that looks cool.
You are using it, what will drive the sales?
Compare that to the % of users that upgraded to Tiger in the first and secon year and % wise Tiger was a lot more attractive that Vista will be to upgraders.
Leopard will be an even bigger hit.
But yes I agree with most of what you stated, but it sucks compared to Tiger and Leopard.
Yaboze
Mar 22, 11:20 PM
I love my classic and would buy another in a heartbeat if something happened to this one.
I hope they keep it around. :apple:
I hope they keep it around. :apple:
bigrobb
Nov 26, 05:36 PM
I just bought a mazda 3 to on Monday, I love it, its fun to drive to.
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1290889627.jpg
=] bought it on Tuesday, of course it had to rain on Wednesday so that's why it's all dirty >.>
More pictures when it's clean :P
http://www.uploads.calvinet.com/uploads/1290889627.jpg
=] bought it on Tuesday, of course it had to rain on Wednesday so that's why it's all dirty >.>
More pictures when it's clean :P
AppliedVisual
Oct 23, 11:04 PM
64 bit has to do with memory addressing, not GUI speed. Someone posted they felt it unlikely Santa Rosa (Intel 64 bit memory support chips) would be released early. But doesn't Intel have a 64 bit memory addressing system similar to the ?965? now?
64bit instructions can provide a speed boost for certain computationally-intense applications that are optimized for it. Think scientific / visualization type apps where high precision values are needed and when 64bit values are being used, suddenly on a 64bit platform with 64bit registers, the time for a multiplication operation can effectively be cut in half. That's very simplistic, but not all that far off. Over in PC Land, some 3D rendering softwares have 64bit to 128bit (Lightwave is 96bit) operation pipelines in place for their precision values. Their 64bit optimized versions are showing 15 to 35 % speed ups depending on the various task vs. the 32bit version of the software doing the same thing on a 32bit OS, so there is a boost...
While you won't see the speed advantage in your Tiger or Leopard GUI, you'll notice it if you run any calculation-intense software that's optimized for the 64bit platform. So there's a bit more there than just being able to address more memory....
If you don't need 3+ GB of portable memory NOW, you might as well wait till June 07 or buy whatever is available now and be really happy with it.
I'm starting to feel like a broken record with this one... If you do need more than 3GB of RAM now, then you're out of luck. Intel is not shipping any mobile chipsets capable of addressing anything larger than a 32bit address window (4GB). Factoring in all the memory addresses used by system overhead, BIOS, video memory, etc..., you come up with just a fuzz over 3GB that you can actually address and use, even if you install a full 4GB. This won't change until they ship Crestline -- the updated mobile chipset (i965). The Desktop i965 series has already been shipping for a while now and that works with the desktop Core 2 Duo CPUs (Conroe).
64bit instructions can provide a speed boost for certain computationally-intense applications that are optimized for it. Think scientific / visualization type apps where high precision values are needed and when 64bit values are being used, suddenly on a 64bit platform with 64bit registers, the time for a multiplication operation can effectively be cut in half. That's very simplistic, but not all that far off. Over in PC Land, some 3D rendering softwares have 64bit to 128bit (Lightwave is 96bit) operation pipelines in place for their precision values. Their 64bit optimized versions are showing 15 to 35 % speed ups depending on the various task vs. the 32bit version of the software doing the same thing on a 32bit OS, so there is a boost...
While you won't see the speed advantage in your Tiger or Leopard GUI, you'll notice it if you run any calculation-intense software that's optimized for the 64bit platform. So there's a bit more there than just being able to address more memory....
If you don't need 3+ GB of portable memory NOW, you might as well wait till June 07 or buy whatever is available now and be really happy with it.
I'm starting to feel like a broken record with this one... If you do need more than 3GB of RAM now, then you're out of luck. Intel is not shipping any mobile chipsets capable of addressing anything larger than a 32bit address window (4GB). Factoring in all the memory addresses used by system overhead, BIOS, video memory, etc..., you come up with just a fuzz over 3GB that you can actually address and use, even if you install a full 4GB. This won't change until they ship Crestline -- the updated mobile chipset (i965). The Desktop i965 series has already been shipping for a while now and that works with the desktop Core 2 Duo CPUs (Conroe).
yellow
Oct 23, 03:16 PM
eGads I hope so!
I have a "new" MBP supposedly being ordered for me by work.. let's hope the bureaucracy works IN my favor for once! :)
I have a "new" MBP supposedly being ordered for me by work.. let's hope the bureaucracy works IN my favor for once! :)
slackpacker
Mar 24, 02:32 PM
i would love to buy an off the shelf gpu for half the price of a mac branded amd card. please let this be true then i will not sell my 2008 macpro
sluthy
Jan 2, 06:35 PM
Did that not just happen ... :cool:
Likely:
Speed bump to one or more Mac lines
...
Less likely:
....
Major upgrade to Mac mini (video card upgrade) or MacBook Pro
New Displays
...
Unlikely:
...
Major upgrade to any line other than mini or MBP
...
:( How long ago were the MBPs updated? Because I'm looking to buy Jan/Feb and I'm not confident that the current spec is competitive. It at least needs a HD screen.
Likely:
Speed bump to one or more Mac lines
...
Less likely:
....
Major upgrade to Mac mini (video card upgrade) or MacBook Pro
New Displays
...
Unlikely:
...
Major upgrade to any line other than mini or MBP
...
:( How long ago were the MBPs updated? Because I'm looking to buy Jan/Feb and I'm not confident that the current spec is competitive. It at least needs a HD screen.
Laslo Panaflex
Mar 18, 09:17 AM
I read your petition, and I didn't sign it. I really don't think that a mac that hooks up to a TV is a good idea, look at webtv, it failed miserably. I agree with you that they need to get it down to 500 - 600 dollar price range, and maybe they will soon since the iPod is bringing in the dough. But really, apple is not going to overtake M$ and x86 computers, not anytime soon at least. Plus apple has always made there money on hardware, they pretty much give there software away, where as M$ makes money on software.
iGav
Feb 25, 07:51 AM
looking at the very current and very genius Fiat Twin Air engines i have to say that very refined turbocharged small displacement/ few cylinder engines are actually the next step over the overly complicated hybrid systems
The Twin Air is conceptually brilliant... but its real world numbers haven't anywhere near matched up to Fiat's official figures (68.9mpg official - 35.7mpg real world, neither of which are particularly brilliant to begin with) and there lies one of the problems with small capacity engines, in anything other than ideal test conditions (i.e. rolling road), it is extraordinarily difficult to even approach the officials figures in everyday conditions, because put simply, they have to be razzed.
Like what you've said though, there's a compelling argument to be made that a diesel-electric hybrid (like VW's XL1 Concept), with energy recovery would probably be the best arrangement (particularly for an urban car), in this instance the diesel engine is isolated from the actually drivetrain (reducing NVH etc) and the electric motors counter the age old argument of petrol>diesel refinement.
I do think that smaller capacity, fewer cylinder engines are the way to go, but only if the absolutely most important factor is addressed first, and that is one of weight, until then...
The Twin Air is conceptually brilliant... but its real world numbers haven't anywhere near matched up to Fiat's official figures (68.9mpg official - 35.7mpg real world, neither of which are particularly brilliant to begin with) and there lies one of the problems with small capacity engines, in anything other than ideal test conditions (i.e. rolling road), it is extraordinarily difficult to even approach the officials figures in everyday conditions, because put simply, they have to be razzed.
Like what you've said though, there's a compelling argument to be made that a diesel-electric hybrid (like VW's XL1 Concept), with energy recovery would probably be the best arrangement (particularly for an urban car), in this instance the diesel engine is isolated from the actually drivetrain (reducing NVH etc) and the electric motors counter the age old argument of petrol>diesel refinement.
I do think that smaller capacity, fewer cylinder engines are the way to go, but only if the absolutely most important factor is addressed first, and that is one of weight, until then...
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