Higher Processor Speeds and Heat? Where Do We Go From Here?

[AhhChoo]

With processors getting ever more powerful, higher operating temperatures seem to be an inherent result. The new MacBooks do put out more heat, especially under full load, and heat related issues appear to be more prevalent.
I would imagine that the new, powerful Mac Pros are big heat producers, although, since there's some "elbow room" inside the case, engineering a really effective cooling system for it shouldn't be an insurmountable problem.
The MacBooks(and MacBook Pros, of course), are another matter. Being notebooks, everything inside the case is miniaturized and packed tightly together.
There really isn't room in there to play around with innovative designs for effective cooling. It's apparent that Apple looked at liquid cooling, but found no way to successfully implement it in notebooks.
My big questions are, due to heat issues, have notebooks reached the limit as far as processor speed goes, and can the most current one's (Intel 'books) be successfully revised to allow for cooler operating temps?
Somewhere down the road, I'll be considering a MacBook or MacBook Pro, but if the cooling issues aren't successfully dealt with, I'll be in a quandary.
What do you think?

 

[Qion]

Erm, they'll get faster. They always do. Sooner will a liquid-cooled laptop appear than will a laptop with aged Core processors. People just wouldn't put up with it.

Besides that, Intel looks like they're really focusing on the issue, as are many others I'm sure.

 

[Mikuro]

On the desktop side, power consumption and heat output have gone DOWN with this latest generation. The Woodcrest CPUs in the Mac Pros are much more efficient than G5s in that regard — that's the biggest advantage of Intel's newer chips.

Intel has been focusing a lot of reducing power. From what I've heard, the Core 2 chips use less power (and generate less heat) than the original Core line at the same clock speed, and they perform better, too.

So it really doesn't look like we've hit the ceiling here. It's just the opposite, if you ask me. This is the beginning of the Laptop Age. I say that because it's the first time ever that I actually want a laptop instead of a desktop. They're that good, and it looks like Intel is committed to keeping them that way.

 

[Qion]

Yeah, my only qualm about buying a MacBook is that in a couple months it's processor will be outdated. I've never had top-of-the-line, and it's just so hard to justify a product that will be outdated so soon.