Mac OS X Snow Leopard Does Require Intel Processors

[MacRumors]

Despite all the reports that Mac OS X Snow Leopard would only support Intel machines, some users held onto hope that PowerPC chips might be supported. Apple, however, has posted the technical requirements for the upcoming Mac OS X operating system and it does indeed require an Intel processor.

The full list of general requirements include:

- Mac computer with an Intel processor
- 1GB of memory
- 5GB of free disk space
- DVD drive for installation

Apple first announced that they were switching from PowerPC to Intel processors in June 2005 and finally completed the transition in August 2006. Since then, all shipping Macs have contained Intel-based processors. Apple's Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be released in September.

Article Link: Mac OS X Snow Leopard Does Require Intel Processors

[DSG]

That much seemed clear from the pricing strategy.

[sushi]

During the WWDC keynote presentation, it was mentioned that Snow Leopard would run on all Intel based Macs but not PPC Macs.

No surprises here.

Edit: I am sure some are disappointed that Snow Leopard will not work on the PPC platform. As of September, new Mac OS releases are Intel only.

[Skika]

Nothing of value is lost.

[BlizzardBomb]

They can still run Leopard though. PPC had a good run, but dropping it allows further optimization on the Intel side.

[Southernboy]

Inevitable and sensible. Despite only owning PPC machines I can understand and appreciate that it was time for Apple to move on, and time for me to buy some new kit

[GossipGirl]

Serious users who would want SL straight away would have already upgraded to Intel by now, anyway.

They've had 4 years.

[Matek]

Well, Apple has always been praised for using new technologies and going forward. It unfortunately means they often abandon stuff they consider obsolete without much thought, so users who want to use their machines for a long time are left out, but that's just how their sale strategy works.

As I already mentioned in another topic - Ubuntu 9.10 will be coming out soon after Snow Leopard and will be available in PPC flavour as well, so this doesn't mean PPC users can't enjoy new software anymore.

I was also wondering - you think this could have anything to do with disk space reduction of the new version of OS X?

[Morky]

Whoever bought the last new PPC Mac in 2006 had access to the latest and greatest OS for three years. Apple's software updates and those of many developers usually support the current and previous OS, not to mention Leopard is basically on feature parity with Snow Leopard, at least in the UI. Thus, it will be five to five 1/2 years from their purchase that they will be truly out of date. When you consider most of the last PPC machines were not purchased in 2006, but late 2005, it's more like six years. That's a long time in the PC world.

Snow Leopard is about cleaning up the OS and building for the future, so it really was necessary to focus their efforts appropriately.

[andylyon]

Originally Posted by GossipGirl

Serious users who would want SL straight away would have already upgraded to Intel by now, anyway.

They've had 4 years.

+1

No surprises really.

[Morky]

Originally Posted by Matek

I was also wondering - you think this could have anything to do with disk space reduction of the new version of OS X?

I would say it accounts for most of the space reduction. For each executable to contain instructions for two architectures would mean approximately double the binary size. Only images and media would not need to be duplicated.

[wetrix]

Originally Posted by Matek

I was also wondering - you think this could have anything to do with disk space reduction of the new version of OS X?

Definately. That's how all the OS X slimmer application works - by removing the PPC or Intel components of large applications.

[Arthagnan]

I got a PowerMac G5. But I'm not sad. PPC has had their time... Hail the new Intels.

[Otaviano]

I can understand people that bought PowerMac G5s being a bit ticked off. It's a pretty heavy investment. However from a business perspective this is a very smart move in order to keep the OS optimized and progressing forward.

[Matek]

Serious users who would want SL straight away would have already upgraded to Intel by now, anyway.

They've had 4 years.

Check your facts. Mac Pro and Intel Xserve were announced on August 7th 2006, the latter became available in November 2006, which means people can still have valid AppleCare 3-year warranty on their machines while Apple is already cutting off their support OS-wise.

I can understand people that bought PowerMac G5s being a bit ticked off. It's a pretty heavy investment. However from a business perspective this is a very smart move in order to keep the OS optimized and progressing forward.

Well, it's not a smart move in terms of ticking off the customers. I don't know how all the obscure Linux distros can always cover 15 different architectures (stuff like IA-64 and SPARC included) while a company as big as Apple lets their customers down.

[Truffy]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Despite all the reports that Mac OS X Snow Leopard would only support Intel machines, some users held onto hope that PowerPC chips might be supported.

APPLE IN IT KNOWS WHAT IT'S TALKING ABOUT SHOCK!


Seriously, it was inevitable. Presumably security updates will continue unt9il 10.7 is released, and there are few new features in SL beyond performance improvements. No great loss, and I say that as a PowerMac owner.

[indie1982]

Originally Posted by Matek

I was also wondering - you think this could have anything to do with disk space reduction of the new version of OS X?

Did anyone else notice that when Bertrand Serlet said Snow Leopard saves you 6GB it was "thanks to technologies like file system compression"? Not explicitly refinements in code.

[fotografandoti]

snow leopard has been done to have an optimized OS for the intel architecture.
I'm 110% sure will exist any SL for old processor. The kernel has been stripped and reduced just to run on Intel.
Sorry guys....

[Truffy]

Originally Posted by Matek

I was also wondering - you think this could have anything to do with disk space reduction of the new version of OS X?

I doubt it. As was stated during the keynote, the reduction in footprint is related to compression. Someone on MR also noted the additional space needed for language packs. Perhaps compression of unused (or rarely used) support files has something to do with it.

Apple's been releasing PPC- and Intel-specific updates of the OS for ages, so that's unlikely to be an issue. Universal binaries for applications on top of the OS may well be another matter entirely.

[ipoppy]

Yeap...i see prices of all G5 machines going down to the chaina town . I am one of those owners
Strangely enough, however, iMac G4 keep the same prices since few years, but that is because of its beauty. Apple really should bring that design back again.

[mabaker]

I for one was secretly hoping that an enhanced version of Leopard (which SL in fact is) would be also available at least for the 64bit PPC line of Apple computers which are still up till today very much capable machines.

They would still very much benefit from all the jizz built in into SL. It's not that Apple itself is not acknowledging that SL is just pure enhancement of Leopard.

[sunfast]

The time had come.

Leopard is pretty damn good for PPC machines I'd say.

[Truffy]

Originally Posted by Matek

Ubuntu 9.10 will be coming out soon after Snow Leopard and will be available in PPC flavour as well

Ironically enough, the latest version of FreeBSD is also available for the PPC platform:
ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...pc/7.2-RELEASE

[Warbrain]

Really? People should have given up hope last WWDC when it was only released to devs to run on Intel machines...

[raggedjimmi]

5gb install? Wow, that's fairly small.
No big loss over dropping PPC support. They're old chips now and if it means a faster, smaller Snow Leopard then I'm all for it. My Powerbook will just have to sit on Leopard. I hope they keep it updated for a bit longer than their previous OS's though.