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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple is considering dropping Intel CPUs in favor of its own chip design, according to a report from Bloomberg. It was rumored last year that Apple was considering switching from Intel to ARM processors in future laptops.
Apple engineers have grown confident that the chip designs used for its mobile devices will one day be powerful enough to run its desktops and laptops, said three people with knowledge of the work, who asked to remain anonymous because the plans are confidential. Apple began using Intel chips for Macs in 2005.

While Apple is now committed to Intel in computers and is unlikely to switch in the next few years, some engineers say a shift to its own designs is inevitable as the features of mobile devices and PCs become more similar, two people said. Any change would be a blow to Intel, the world's largest processor maker, which has already been hurt by a stagnating market for computers running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software and its failure to gain a foothold in mobile gadgets.
Apple has recently moved away from using off the shelf chips in its iOS devices in recent years, launching its latest A6 and A6X chips based on custom designs. The company has acquired a number of hardware firms to ramp up its expertise in integrated circuit design.

Apple acquired chip designer P.A. Semi in 2008 for $278 million, ARM specialist Intrinsity in 2010, and most recently, Israeli flash memory firm Anobit earlier this year.

Apple first announced its move to Intel processors back in 2005, dropping PowerPC chips because of issues with power consumption and limited availability of high-performance processors.


Article Link: Apple Considering Switch From Intel Chips in Future Macs
 

Purant

macrumors 6502
Aug 26, 2012
305
0
Please no.

I've been through the PPC to Intel transition. It wasn't pretty.

All software through rosetta was VERY slow and it took a couple of years until all the software I needed had a half-decent universal binary version out.

I don't want to go through that again.
 

iSteve-O

macrumors regular
Oct 2, 2011
233
57
Not again. Remember When you decided to drop Google Maps and make your own? How did that turn out?
 

nickn

macrumors 6502
Jun 17, 2011
386
0
Haha! Apple might as well put a gun to its head. My Pentium 4 from eight or nine years still has a good edge over any mobile CPU. According to Geekbench, the A6X manages to get an impressive score of around 1700. Compare that to the Mac Pro though, which benches scores of over 38000, and I think you can all see a problem. This forum in particular likes to say specs don't matter, but I don't think even you all would be stupid enough to fall for a move like that.
 
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bbeagle

macrumors 68040
Oct 19, 2010
3,539
2,972
Buffalo, NY
Apple did an amazing job switching from Motorola chips to Intel chips. I'm sure the experience Apple had doing this will help in this new move.

It will also allow iOS apps to run on Macs, and vice-versa. This is good and bad in so many different ways.
 

TwoBytes

macrumors 68040
Jun 2, 2008
3,086
2,032
Is this a case of users are interested in CPU power and Apple are interesting in money, profit margins and controlling everything? (But CPU speed)
 

Vol7ron

macrumors 6502
Jun 11, 2009
281
189
Derry, NH
The reason I started using Mac's was because of the x86 architecture. If Apple moves away to an ARM based architecture, then i may have to move into linux, back to windows 7, or just stay with my old Mac.
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
no more bootcamp?

Yeah, that would suck. You could theoretically run Windows RT, but MS isn't selling it on its own, only with tablets. And you wouldn't be able to run any x86 apps, which would pretty much defeat the purpose.

I really hope this doesn't happen.


It will also allow iOS apps to run on Macs, and vice-versa. This is good and bad in so many different ways.

If this was their primary goal (and I doubt it--Macs and iOS are totally different interfaces) there would be no point in using ARM because iOS apps work on x86 out of the box. When you test an app on the iOS simulator (not an emulator) it's running in an x86 environment.
 
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nuckinfutz

macrumors 603
Jul 3, 2002
5,537
398
Middle Earth
Haha! Apple might as well put a gun to its head. How will any ARM chip compare to even the oldest and slower Intel cpu? My Pentium 4 still has a large edge over any mobile CPU....

You would need to know what ARM has in the next few years. For that we wait and see.
 

I8P'CS

Suspended
Jul 29, 2010
355
31
This is the reason I;m waiting for the 2013 iMacs and beyond, I can sit and wait as I have 2011 Model but like the design of new iMacs besides Apple always bumps things on 2 Gens. Hope this is one of them.

Although the article says they won't change for a few years, hope thats wrong.
 

hathornb

macrumors member
Mar 1, 2010
44
0
We already deal with lagging gaming ability as it is, why do we have to have lagging core processors? Not a fan of this at all.
 

mc.stever

macrumors newbie
Oct 20, 2008
7
0
Unless they have a way to be able to run windows as well as it is run now in Fusion etc., this will be a very bad idea. Doesn't matter how much power they save etc., the ability to run windows was one of the reasons I came back to the mac.
 

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,283
1,753
The Netherlands
In related news: "Apple Considering Moving Away from Classic "Personal Computer" Design, focussing on more single-purpose hardware-software-optimised devices (like iPad, iPhone, PS 3, Xbox 360, etc.)

And why not?
 
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