When the Macintosh 128K was introduced back in 1984, it used the 68K processing architecture. This lasted ten years until the first PowerPC Mac's, namely the 6100, 7100 and 8100, were introduced in 1994. This second era would last 12 years until 2006, when the unthinkable took place and the first Intel Macintosh's entered the world. This began the 3rd era or Mac processor architecture and this is the current state of affairs.
While both transitions were necessary, the major change occurred relatively quickly and to a little surprise in both cases. With the Intel architecture currently only around for 9 years as of this new year, it is highly conceivable that this current era could be facing and end in the not too distant future. With Apple's continued consumer focus, desire to increase battery life and portability of laptops, as well as designing arguably the most powerful ARM bases chips on the market, leaving Intel never seemed less ridiculous.
What are some of your thoughts on the likelihood of anther transition in the foreseeable future? I think it is an interesting topic to discuss!
While both transitions were necessary, the major change occurred relatively quickly and to a little surprise in both cases. With the Intel architecture currently only around for 9 years as of this new year, it is highly conceivable that this current era could be facing and end in the not too distant future. With Apple's continued consumer focus, desire to increase battery life and portability of laptops, as well as designing arguably the most powerful ARM bases chips on the market, leaving Intel never seemed less ridiculous.
What are some of your thoughts on the likelihood of anther transition in the foreseeable future? I think it is an interesting topic to discuss!