RUIZ from AMD asked about Apple...

[Pentium Killer]

... in an eweek article from yesterday said this :




eWEEK: What would the addition of Apple [Computer Inc.] to the 64-bit industry mean to AMD, to the industry?

Ruiz: First of all, I have no indication that Apple is even considering what we make. I've heard rumors going around. But you know it would be interesting because at some point in time if Apple is going to do a 64-bit version, they're going to face the decision, what do they do for it? I cannot picture Apple putting an Itanium in their stuff. So I think if they're going to do that they're going to figure out some way to get a PowerPC version of that. Or they're going to have to consider one of the alternatives we offer and see there's many more than that.

eWEEK: So they're not in talks with you, they're not evaluating the chip as far as you know?

Ruiz: You know, if they were I couldn't tell you, and if they're not I shouldn't tell you. But I think it would be an interesting relationship if that ever really happened.

[arn]

Originally posted by Pentium Killer
... in an eweek article from yesterday said this :


eWEEK: So they're not in talks with you, they're not evaluating the chip as far as you know?

Ruiz: You know, if they were I couldn't tell you, and if they're not I shouldn't tell you. But I think it would be an interesting relationship if that ever really happened.

heh... how's that for a non-answer.

arn

[DakotaGuy]

Huh...that kind of is the end all of the AMD speculation... Good to hear...Power PC is still strong and for all the disbelievers, Apple has something up their sleeves. They have stunned and amazed us before and over the next few months they will do it again. I think IBM will be the key to Apples future in the PowerMacs, and Motorola will continue to pump out better and improved G4's for our portable and consumer Macs, at least this is how I see the next couple of years.

[bluecell]

Actually, he didn't say either way. I've said it before, I really don't want to see another G4. There's no way I'm buying another Apple computer with a s*** CPU. Motorola is dead and Apple will be too if they continue on this path.

[AmbitiousLemon]

Originally posted by Pentium Killer
Ruiz:

I think if they're going to do that they're going to figure out some way to get a PowerPC version of that

Or they're going to have to consider one of the alternatives we offer and see there's many more than that.

[snip]

I think it would be an interesting relationship if that ever really happened.

he sidestepped the issue quite well, but he also dropped a handful of hints. however i think it best to be watching ibm closely rather than amd, and ibm has been doing more than just dropping hints as of late.

[Thirteenva]

Originally posted by AmbitiousLemon


he sidestepped the issue quite well, but he also dropped a handful of hints. however i think it best to be watching ibm closely rather than amd, and ibm has been doing more than just dropping hints as of late.

The only hints i think he dropped are ones that they would be interested in talking to apple about a processor switch.

He may as well have said "hey steve, we'd be real intersted in working with you, please approach us "

[pgwalsh]

Ha! I think that's great. I think if they weren't in any discussions with Apple he'd say, "we're not going to produce processors for Apple." He wouldn't leave it open as he has.

I don't care one way or another who produces the next processor for Apple. I hope it's a vast improvement over what they're offering now. I want to be blown away again.

Apple Processor Speculation:
Motorola G4 - with G5 (super fast) 2003 Q1?
IBM PPC 970 - Due in 2003 Q3?
AMD - ClawHammer PPC Version?

[Thirteenva]

Originally posted by pgwalsh
Ha! I think that's great. I think if they weren't in any discussions with Apple he'd say, "we're not going to produce processors for Apple." He wouldn't leave it open as he has.

Like i said above i think he may have left it open as an invitation for apple. I don't take it as him covering an existing contract between them. I take it as him trying to get apple to contact him about "one of the alternatives we offer".

Read this statement:

"if Apple is going to do a 64-bit version, they're going to face the decision, what do they do for it? I cannot picture Apple putting an Itanium in their stuff. So I think if they're going to do that they're going to figure out some way to get a PowerPC version of that. Or they're going to have to consider one of the alternatives we offer and see there's many more than that."

and this:

"But I think it would be an interesting relationship if that ever really happened."


These statements give me the feeling he's trying to tell apple they'd be willing to work with them.

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by Thirteenva
These statements give me the feeling he's trying to tell apple they'd be willing to work with them.

You don't think he'd just call up Steve and say hey whatcha got going under your hood? We can help. C'mon they're not going to seed a relationship through an article. I think they have discussed it or maybe they've gone "a lot" further. He surely can't say anything to the public because of an NDA. If he weren't already in discussion I'd imagine he would say "no."

[DakotaGuy]

Just a stupid little question, but anyhow which would be a more stable company in the future for Apple to go with, AMD or IBM? Isn't IBM actually a larger corporation then AMD? Doesn't AMD have some issues right now? Anyhow I am suprised so many Apple people are still hoping that Apple goes AMD and not IBM. I think in the long term IBM is going to be more stable and have a lot more capital to deliver.

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by Abercrombieboy
Just a stupid little question, but anyhow which would be a more stable company in the future for Apple to go with, AMD or IBM? Isn't IBM actually a larger corporation then AMD? Doesn't AMD have some issues right now? Anyhow I am suprised so many Apple people are still hoping that Apple goes AMD and not IBM. I think in the long term IBM is going to be more stable and have a lot more capital to deliver.

I don't think it's a stupid question. It's a very important question. IBM is much bigger than AMD.

However, AMD could use and OEM like Apple. Apple could play the PPC card with AMD and they may go for it. I think AMD, IBM, and Moto support each other combating Intel. I've heard that AMD and Moto share processor information with each other, but I have no proof of that.

[Thirteenva]

Originally posted by pgwalsh
You don't think he'd just call up Steve and say hey whatcha got going under your hood? We can help. C'mon they're not going to seed a relationship through an article. I think they have discussed it or maybe they've gone "a lot" further. He surely can't say anything to the public because of an NDA. If he weren't already in discussion I'd imagine he would say "no."

I don't think he's seeding a relationship through the article. i alsodon't think they expect apple to contact them tomorrow to talk just because this article is out there. That would be short sighted of me. I'm looking at this as if no talks have taken place yet and Ruiz is laying ground work for talks by getting word out.

I think he's getting the word out there that if apple feels they want to jump ship, he'll come with a life boat.

Thats all i'm saying. Thats why i don't think he'd just call steve and say, hey, want to strike a deal steve. They'll wait for apple to approach them and strike a deal more in their favor.

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by Thirteenva
Thats all i'm saying. Thats why i don't think he'd just call steve and say, hey, want to strike a deal steve. They'll wait for apple to approach them and strike a deal more in their favor.

I got what you were saying. The difference between us is I think they've already been in contact with Apple and you're saying that they're opening the door for the future.

[AmbitiousLemon]

Originally posted by Abercrombieboy
Just a stupid little question, but anyhow which would be a more stable company in the future for Apple to go with, AMD or IBM? Isn't IBM actually a larger corporation then AMD? Doesn't AMD have some issues right now? Anyhow I am suprised so many Apple people are still hoping that Apple goes AMD and not IBM. I think in the long term IBM is going to be more stable and have a lot more capital to deliver.

i kind of think of it this way. moto has been having issues, and ever since the g4 cooperation among the AIM triumvirate has been poor. people want to see an new trio. amd, apple ibm would be a strong coalition. i think most people would like to see ppc development between those (not just a clawhammer for mac). ibm is strong, but perhaps too large. their interests in apple are modest since it is such a small piece of their pie. amd would potencially be able to focus more attention on apple. also an apple amd relationship would garner much respect from pc folks. currently it looks like it is just ibm. some competition and cooperation among ppc developers would greatly improve the platform. also with the decline of the ms monopoly the two new players in the pc realm are dell and intel. if amd developers for apple as well as the wintel world it simply bolsters the companies power and therefore helps cut into the power of intel and their potencial to become the next evil empire.

[ok so ive been away from civilization for awhile and i like to hear myself talk, sorry for the long post]

[Thirteenva]

Originally posted by pgwalsh
I got what you were saying. The difference between us is I think they've already been in contact with Apple and you're saying that they're opening the door for the future.

I gotcha.

Well if they do have a deal in place they better announce it soon, the aniticipation is killing me. I'm itching for a new mac. I don't really need one, but i sure do want one....

[Blackcat]

Ruiz pretty much killed the Apple on AMD rumour there. Believe it please. He also confirmed the 970 for us, which is good.

Now the reason why he didn't just say "no" is because he doesn't know Apple won't call him next week. If they did and he had said no, Wallstreet would eat AMD for lying.

All businesses do this - give ambiguous answers, you don't know the future.

[bluecell]

Originally posted by Blackcat
Ruiz pretty much killed the Apple on AMD rumour there. Believe it please. He also confirmed the 970 for us, which is good.

Now the reason why he didn't just say "no" is because he doesn't know Apple won't call him next week. If they did and he had said no, Wallstreet would eat AMD for lying.

All businesses do this - give ambiguous answers, you don't know the future.

No, he didn't. He gave a rather brilliant non-answer. Exactly where did you see confirmation of the PPC 970? Read the interview again. And if IBM is Apple's next choice, I hope they provide more options in terms of processor selection and maintain their development.

[hvfsl]

IBM is a much bigger company (bigger than Microsoft) but AMD spends more money on chips, because that is what it's main business is. Anyway the only way Apple will totally switch to AMD is if they make a PPC chip (which is not as hard as it sounds). They can just buy the Moto chip people and use them to make a AMD PPC G5. Remeber that clause in the Moto contract that says Apple can buy the PPC chip business.

[pgwalsh]

Originally posted by hvfsl
IBM is a much bigger company (bigger than Microsoft) but AMD spends more money on chips, because that is what it's main business is. Anyway the only way Apple will totally switch to AMD is if they make a PPC chip (which is not as hard as it sounds). They can just buy the Moto chip people and use them to make a AMD PPC G5. Remeber that clause in the Moto contract that says Apple can buy the PPC chip business.

Apple buys the PPC chip business > AMD designs a new G5 chip > IBM produces the new chip in their New York plant. Ha!

[bluecell]

Both IBM and Motorola have proven to be very unreliable for Apple.

[Cappy]

Originally posted by hvfsl
Remeber that clause in the Moto contract that says Apple can buy the PPC chip business.

I'm going to call you on this. Show the proof. I've only seen this on a rumor site that I cannot remember where now and never seen a legit source make mention of it. If one has, someone please post it as I have always found it hard to believe.

As for Ruiz's comments you have to give him credit for his (non)answer. It was worded very well and there is nothing there meaningful to deduct anything from his statements.

The speculator in me would say that there's been too much smoke in the past that there's probably been talks but there were stories way back when that Apple was considering the Itanium as they were at some Intel show where an Intel rep was quoted as saying that Apple was interested in it. Talks are just that talks. Apple would be stupid to not already have been looking at options even years ago.

[Cappy]

Originally posted by bluecell
Both IBM and Motorola have proven to be very unreliable for Apple.

I would agree with you on this. I'm not sure they were that helpful when they were brought into the whole Mac clone licensing deal either. Desktop cpu's is just another market to them and Apple is just another customer. Sure IBM has their strengths but that is mostly due to their size. What is IBM's real focus? One word...Linux. Moto isn't even in the running and is just lost.

Note that I wouldn't be real disappointed if Apple went with IBM's 970 but I don't think moving to AMD would be a wrong move either. Apple might even have the money to buy AMD but I don't see that as a particularly bright move.

[bluecell]

Maybe some people don't realize that Hector Ruiz, before becoming the head of AMD, was the president of Motorola's semiconductor unit. He even took some of his former employees shortly after he took the position at AMD. Motorola filed a law suit over it. They were very upset, to say the least.

AMD is not as big as IBM, but that doesn't matter. AMD, like Apple, is driven by innovation. If such a relationship did exist between the two, both would benefit from it greatly. Where's IBM been since the G3? I shouldn't have to comment on Motorola's current state. Sure IBM's PPC 970 looks good, but will Apple actually benefit from it? I'm sure it would also work nicely in IBM Linux machines. Linux, being IBM's main focus, not Apple. If Apple wants to compete with companies like IBM, Dell, HP and Sun they have to rely on someone who can produce for them and stay on neutral ground. IBM is not on neutral ground.

So, yeah, I'm for AMD. Looking at the bigger picture, they would be better for Apple. PowerPC or x86-64.