Apple Recruiting Sony VAIO Engineers?

MacRumors · Jul 30, 2005, 06:05 PM

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Engadget claims that according to "a reliable source" that Apple has had trouble catching up in terms of intel-based designs for their upcoming PowerBook.

As a result, they are reportedly recruiting ex-Sony VAIO engineers to pull together a team:

Quote:

...apparently they’ve hired a headhunting firm in Japan which has been trying to recruit as many current Sony VAIO and ex-Sony VAIO engineers as they can in order to have a team in place as soon as possible.

Engadget's reliability for original rumors is unknown.

lilstewart · 08:30 PM

This is great. Sony Knowledge + Apple Knowledge= AWESOME.

freechris · Jul 30, 2005, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilstewart92

This is great. Sony + Apple = AWESOME.

stealing engineers away from sony doesnt look like Sony + Apple but uhm, i must admit, that if this is true, its actually pretty cool.

Mac_Freak · Jul 30, 2005, 06:17 PM

Apple, which curently produce the best looking hardware need help form Sony engineers this Bull**** I mean come on, how challenging can Intel chips be after having experience with PPCs

I think this is false rumors.

Don't beat me up for my opinion, Ok.

PCMacUser · Jul 30, 2005, 06:19 PM

Yeah Sony does a great job of laptop design, although their latest incarnations have had some thermal problems, particularly the S3 & S4 Series (which I think is their best looking).

Applespider · Jul 30, 2005, 06:20 PM

The question, if this is true, is why would Apple's engineers be behind the curve?

They've been tied up on an updated dual-core Powerbook (satisfying that exciting PPC based report) and are hence behind on the Intel versions...

or

they can't get the Intel MB's working as well as they hoped in a small enclosure

or

they're coping quite nicely but since they're planning global domination, they need a few extra bods and the Vaio people look good.

Who knows if any of those is right - let's just be thankful that they're headhunting Vaio engineers as opposed to Dell ones. And they don't leave the 'Intel' sticker placement in their hands...

AoWolf · Jul 30, 2005, 06:21 PM

sweet I really like some of the viao's. And if we can hurt sony while doing it even better!

jjmaximum · Jul 30, 2005, 06:23 PM

No tech guy here...why would it be that much different in engineering between the two chips???

I guess this is better than recruiting Microsoft programmers for the next version of OSX...

sethypoo · Jul 30, 2005, 06:24 PM

I really hope that these Intel PowerBooks will be faster than the last PPC update of the PowerBooks. I'm going to buy a 15" when Apple puts the Freescale 7448 in (hopefully) in September. I'm wary of these Intel processors. I want faster bus speeds and Altivec!

rockthecasbah · Jul 30, 2005, 06:29 PM

If it means better hardware im all for it, regardless of sony connections..

Surreal · Jul 30, 2005, 06:30 PM

the real reason this is of interest is that it presents a time frame for the powerbook. at least..it might give an idea of a minimum wait time. if they are really pulling people in, then it cant be too soon can it?

GFLPraxis · Jul 30, 2005, 06:32 PM

Great, Sony's ultra-thin laptops are quite good.

1984 · Jul 30, 2005, 06:32 PM

Sony was hired by Apple to take the Mac Portable and miniaturize it. The result? The PowerBook 100. Just a bit of Apple history.

Blue Moon · Jul 30, 2005, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surreal

the real reason this is of interest is that it presents a time frame for the powerbook. at least..it might give an idea of a minimum wait time. if they are really pulling people in, then it cant be too soon can it?

That would be adding speculation upon speculation...that's pretty speculative.

Sun Baked · Jul 30, 2005, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surreal

the real reason this is of interest is that it presents a time frame for the powerbook. at least..it might give an idea of a minimum wait time. if they are really pulling people in, then it cant be too soon can it?

Probably not a good sign for the Apple x86 notebooks if they are still putting together a design team.

It's a whole new set of design challenges that they will be facing, both in terms of the box and how to put the motherboard together.

Much easier to hire experienced talent than spend the time and money learning how to do it yourself.

eva01 · Jul 30, 2005, 06:42 PM

well this is just for their powerbook (hopefully) which means they may already have a design for the iBooks. maybe the powerbooks will come with a better screen. just will mean i will need to buy another powerbook just that much sooner, if it has a better screen.

digitalbiker · Jul 30, 2005, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Moon

That would be adding speculation upon speculation...that's pretty speculative.

Not really.

If they are really just hiring design engineers then that means a minimum of 18 to 24 months to a final product. But it is hard to tell if they are really hiring Sony engineers for this purpose. I kind of doubt it.

Apple engineers should be able to design for intel however it could be that they are too busy woring on PPC products and iPods.

allpar · Jul 30, 2005, 06:44 PM

Well...I will say this...Vaio's probably the best built PC laptop...

LaMerVipere · Jul 30, 2005, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allpar

Well...I will say this...Vaio's probably the best built PC laptop...

EEK, yeah sure, if you like horrible battery life and outdated overpriced hardware.

Everyone I know with a Sony portable has these problems + others.

xsedrinam · Jul 30, 2005, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Baked

Probably not a good sign for the Apple x86 notebooks if they are still putting together a design team.

It's a whole new set of design challenges that they will be facing, both in terms of the box and how to put the motherboard together.

Much easier to hire experienced talent than spend the time and money learning how to do it yourself.

I'm wondering too, if Blu-ray (Sony) DVD's future and video issues might not figure in, again if all is true?
http://news.com.com/Fox+movie+studio...l?tag=nefd.top
X

LaMerVipere · Jul 30, 2005, 06:51 PM

I don't believe this story. I mean c'mon, as someone else stated already, Apple has mastered the tricky and hot PPC, these Intel chips should be relatively easy.

the.snitch · Jul 30, 2005, 06:52 PM

Great

Vaio's are the sexiest looking PC laptops by far, and i'd love for a Powerbook to have as much features as some of those Vaio's Sony has - X-brite screens, All the usual I/O, Thin, and hopefully still made of metal.

mobility3 · Jul 30, 2005, 06:58 PM

"...apparently they’ve hired a headhunting firm in Japan which has been trying to recruit as many current Sony VAIO and ex-Sony VAIO engineers..."

This sounds like some kind of hi-tech adventure movie... and do you think these Sony engineers are just going to jump ship to join Apple?

em500 · Jul 30, 2005, 06:58 PM

As good as Apple design is, nobody does miniaturization better than the Japanese. Just take a look at the stuff from dynamism.com like the Panasonic W4, it's close to 2 pounds lighter that the 12" PB.

GetSome681 · Jul 30, 2005, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobility3

This sounds like some kind of hi-tech adventure movie... and do you think these Sony engineers are just going to jump ship to join Apple?

Actually, this happens all the time. Engineers and researchers, good ones that is, in high-tech fields are constantly being recruited by head hunters to "jump ship." Whether they jump ship or not depends on what Apple's offering them, mostly in terms of a paycheck.

Jul 30, 2005, 06:10 PM	#2
lilstewart macrumors 68040 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Illinois	This is great. Sony Knowledge + Apple Knowledge= AWESOME. __________________ macbookpro 17" unibody antiglare Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart? St. Gerard Majella Last edited by lilstewart : Jul 30, 2005 at 08:30 PM.

Jul 30, 2005, 06:17 PM	#4
Mac_Freak macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Queens, New York	Apple, which curently produce the best looking hardware need help form Sony engineers this Bull** I mean come on, how challenging can Intel chips be after having experience with PPCs I think this is false rumors. Don't beat me up for my opinion, Ok. __________________ 15.4" Unibody MBP 2.53GHz, 320/7200 17" PB G4 1.33Ghz, Rev. B, ATI MR 9600 64MB, 1GB, BT, AP, 80GB HD, [ For Sale ]**

Jul 30, 2005, 06:20 PM	#6
Applespider macrumors 603 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: looking through rose-tinted spectacles...	The question, if this is true, is why would Apple's engineers be behind the curve? They've been tied up on an updated dual-core Powerbook (satisfying that exciting PPC based report) and are hence behind on the Intel versions... or they can't get the Intel MB's working as well as they hoped in a small enclosure or they're coping quite nicely but since they're planning global domination, they need a few extra bods and the Vaio people look good. Who knows if any of those is right - let's just be thankful that they're headhunting Vaio engineers as opposed to Dell ones. And they don't leave the 'Intel' sticker placement in their hands... __________________ Oops.... the cat killed the rabbit

Jul 30, 2005, 06:21 PM	#7
AoWolf macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Daytona Beach	sweet I really like some of the viao's. And if we can hurt sony while doing it even better! __________________ I do not exist 1.6 Ghz. MacBook Air

Jul 30, 2005, 06:23 PM	#8
jjmaximum macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Gainesville, FL	How different are they? No tech guy here...why would it be that much different in engineering between the two chips??? I guess this is better than recruiting Microsoft programmers for the next version of OSX...

Jul 30, 2005, 06:19 PM	#5
PCMacUser macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jan 2005	Yeah Sony does a great job of laptop design, although their latest incarnations have had some thermal problems, particularly the S3 & S4 Series (which I think is their best looking).

Jul 30, 2005, 06:24 PM	#9
sethypoo macrumors 68000 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sacramento, CA, USA	I really hope that these Intel PowerBooks will be faster than the last PPC update of the PowerBooks. I'm going to buy a 15" when Apple puts the Freescale 7448 in (hopefully) in September. I'm wary of these Intel processors. I want faster bus speeds and Altivec! __________________ Weeeeeee!

Jul 30, 2005, 06:29 PM	#10
rockthecasbah macrumors 68020 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Moorestown, NJ	If it means better hardware im all for it, regardless of sony connections.. __________________ 15'' 2.4ghz MacBook Pro (Matte), 2GB RAM, 200GB HD Wii code: 7876 8987 6478 7445 My Last.fm "Ignore her, she's a feminist"

Jul 30, 2005, 06:30 PM	#11
Surreal macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2004	the real reason this is of interest is that it presents a time frame for the powerbook. at least..it might give an idea of a minimum wait time. if they are really pulling people in, then it cant be too soon can it?

Jul 30, 2005, 06:32 PM	#12
GFLPraxis macrumors 601 Join Date: Mar 2004	Great, Sony's ultra-thin laptops are quite good.

Jul 30, 2005, 06:32 PM	#13
1984 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2005	Sony was hired by Apple to take the Mac Portable and miniaturize it. The result? The PowerBook 100. Just a bit of Apple history. __________________ 198419841984 Where were you when the hammer flew? 13" MacBook Pro, 2.53 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 128GB SSD ::: iPhone 3G S⃣ 32GB

Jul 30, 2005, 06:42 PM	#16
eva01 macrumors 68040 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Gah! Plymouth	well this is just for their powerbook (hopefully) which means they may already have a design for the iBooks. maybe the powerbooks will come with a better screen. just will mean i will need to buy another powerbook just that much sooner, if it has a better screen. __________________ If I go on a crazy non-sensical rant, it's the painkillers talking. If however I make perfect sense I take full credit.

Jul 30, 2005, 06:44 PM	#18
allpar macrumors regular Join Date: May 2002	Well...I will say this...Vaio's probably the best built PC laptop... __________________ car reviews and business and organizational development articles are all very fine, but here's a prime site for Mac statistics software

Jul 30, 2005, 06:51 PM	#21
LaMerVipere macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chicago	I don't believe this story. I mean c'mon, as someone else stated already, Apple has mastered the tricky and hot PPC, these Intel chips should be relatively easy. __________________ MacBook Pro + iPhone 3G

Jul 30, 2005, 06:52 PM	#22
the.snitch macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Auckland, NZ	Great Vaio's are the sexiest looking PC laptops by far, and i'd love for a Powerbook to have as much features as some of those Vaio's Sony has - X-brite screens, All the usual I/O, Thin, and hopefully still made of metal.

Jul 30, 2005, 06:58 PM	#23
mobility3 macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: various	yeah right! "...apparently they’ve hired a headhunting firm in Japan which has been trying to recruit as many current Sony VAIO and ex-Sony VAIO engineers..." This sounds like some kind of hi-tech adventure movie... and do you think these Sony engineers are just going to jump ship to join Apple? __________________ apple, the fruit of temptation?

Jul 30, 2005, 06:58 PM	#24
em500 macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2005	As good as Apple design is, nobody does miniaturization better than the Japanese. Just take a look at the stuff from dynamism.com like the Panasonic W4, it's close to 2 pounds lighter that the 12" PB.

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