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Apple Considering Switch From Intel Chips in Future Macs

There will come a time when Apple will make a string of decisions - motivated 100% based on profit and greed - with no consideration for user needs. In a few decades, Apple could go the way of other great companies that were titans in their era, and then withered on the vine.

I need Intel because some PC software I need for business won't run on Mac. Hence I rely on Fusion/Parallels.

After the debacle of coming out of Microsoft, I have decided to keep my data in a format that is platform independent. So if Apple gets stupid, I can shift in an instant. My email is in IMAP, and all files are in platform-independent formats.

I don't relish the thought, but Apple has shown it is willing to dump customers in the chase for profits. e.g. dumping matte screen users from iMacs and Retina screens and going all-glossy; dumping Rosetta users when much PowerPC software is still within its useful range. And if this rumor is true, Apple would be dumping people that need Intel to run Parallels/Fusion.

The reason why this rumor is scary is because Apple has shown the propensity to only make decisions based on money and profits. Apple is well capable of such short-sightedness.
 
2-3 years ago I was telling a few friends that I have a feeling Apple will switch to ARM or something similar once the become more powerful.
 
nuckinfutz said:
My only question is:


"How long is it going to take for Microsoft and others to copy?"
Click to expand...

Copy what??? Microsoft already streamlined their desktop/tablet OS line. Windows 8 has full backward compatibility and Windows RT to run only latest apps. Surface tablet comes default with RT but capable of running Windows 8 when released.
 
kcamfork said:
If this is true, I guess my 2012 mbp will be my last Mac...
Click to expand...

It is true.

In the same way that the rumors of a 'second iPad in the fall' were true, after 3 years of saying it.

And after 10-12 years of them saying this rumor, while ARM gains power etc, it might eventually become true.
 
nuckinfutz said:
I'm gobsmacked that you even have the audacity to think you know what's coming in 5 years let alone 10. Where does this delusion of grandeur come from?
Click to expand...

Oh, it's easy. I have many many years of experience in semiconductor industry. Nothing happens quickly there. And here is one hint - this industry has no precedents of any company defeating Intel in CPU designs. That's 30 years now. All this talk about Apple hiring super talent from Samsung, AMD and PA Semi... The truth is all these people worked for companies destroyed by Intel (like AMD and Digital Equipment Corporation - remember those great Alpha processors?)

So, obviously I do not know what's going to happen but I definitely would not bet on Apple beating Intel in CPU design.
 
This is just a recycled rumor from a while back. On one hand, it could help Apple a lot, but more importantly, it would hurt me a lot since I plan to stick with my Intel Xeon Mac.
 
No, no, no! This is unacceptable! I refuse to use any computer without Intel! If this happens, I will never buy Apple again!
 
anubis said:
LOLOLOL. It's been 832 days since the last meaningful update to the Mac Pro because of limited availability of high performance processors. Oops.
Click to expand...

Seems to be penty enough for all the other shops who produce high powered workstations to move to Intel's latest and greatest.

The only reason the Mac Pro hasn't been updated is because Apple doesn't want to update the Mac Pro.
 
lilo777 said:
Oh, it's easy. I have many many years of experience in semiconductor industry. Nothing happens quickly there. And here is one hint - this industry has no precedents of any company defeating Intel in CPU designs. That's 30 years now. All this talk about Apple hiring super talent from Samsung, AMD and PA Semi... The truth is all these people worked for companies destroyed by Intel (like AMD and Digital Equipment Corporation - remember those great Alpha processors?)

So, obviously I do not know what's going to happen but I definitely would not bet on Apple beating Intel in CPU design.
Click to expand...

Oh well hell if you're in the industry then I'm no longer gobsmacked. I think the sabre rattling going on here is premature. A wholesale move to ARM architecture could take 4 years or more. We would need to see what ARM does for and Encore of the A50 series.

Yeah I remember the DEC Alphas :D Those were the days.
 
If Apple move away from Intel it will force my hand to move back to Windows after over 14 years of using Macs. Windows 8 is actually really good even though i prefer OSX. I am already annoyed with some of Apples decisions like not upgrading the desktop models frequently and concentrating to much on form over function.
 
I have suspected this ever since Apple bought the chip design firm and stuck it in their mobile devices. It is only a matter of time before they do the switch. Considering that they write the software they can do it.

Yes bootcamp will be bye bye and since I never had luck with bootcamp due to excess heat, it doesn't bother me a bit.

Unless, windows comes out with a arm version, which I believe might happen. As Microsoft seems to be aping everything Apple does, including opening its own stores and what not.
 
AaronEdwards said:
Got tired of waiting, so I call your second statement bulls**t.

The Iphone 4S can do about 5,000 MIPS, a Intel Core i7 2600K can do about 128,300 MIPS, thus 25 times a many. A Pentium 4 Extreme Edition from 2003 does about 10,000 MIPS, twice as many as the iPhone 4S.

Anyway, considering your prediction, I'm not sure why I bother...
Click to expand...

128 billion instructions per second? I find that very optimistic. I'd say that number is twice the theoretical limit, and four times what highly optimised code does.

There are of course vector operations, but vector performance is what is easiest to copy.
 
nuckinfutz said:
Oh well hell if you're in the industry then I'm no longer gobsmacked. I think the sabre rattling going on here is premature. A wholesale move to ARM architecture could take 4 years or more. We would need to see what ARM does for and Encore of the A50 series.

Yeah I remember the DEC Alphas :D Those were the days.
Click to expand...

And I was involved in their design. So I am not at all happy about how it all ended :(

And here is one more point. At some moment (around 1997?) Samsung actually got involved into Alpha processor design with the idea of "beating" Intel with superior architecture. It did not work. And we know that Samsung is a very serious competitor - just look at what they did in smart phone market.
 
Amd

No, no, no Apple; You're doing it wrong. What you should be doing is striking a deal with AMD to use their APU in the MacBook Air. APUs use x86 cores, so the apps will work easily, and won't need any porting like you would need with ARM.

Another benefit with The APU is the graphics. AMD has great graphics compared to Intel, and that's what consumers will be taking advantage of the most. Also, with the savings that Apple would get with a deal with AMD, Apple would be making a much larger profit per device sold since AMD chips are much cheaper.
 
lilo777 said:
And I was involved in their design. So I am not at all happy about how it all ended :(

And here is one more point. At some moment (around 1997?) Samsung actually got involved into Alpha processor design with the idea of "beating" Intel with superior architecture. It did not work. And we know that Samsung is a very serious competitor - just look at what they did in smart phone market.
Click to expand...

You guys did good stuff. The Alpha was a great processor. Sometimes a products star shines only briefly. I hope you Alphas engineers all found good landing places afterwards.

----------
catchatyou said:
No, no, no Apple; You're doing it wrong. What you should be doing is striking a deal with AMD to use their APU in the MacBook Air. APUs use x86 cores, so the apps will work easily, and won't need any porting like you would need with ARM.

Another benefit with The APU is the graphics. AMD has great graphics compared to Intel, and that's what consumers will be taking advantage of the most. Also, with the savings that Apple would get with a deal with AMD, Apple would be making a much larger profit per device sold since AMD chips are much cheaper.
Click to expand...

AMD had a shot with the redesigned Macbook Air. Wonder if they'll get future consideration.
 
This may be true

and then...
"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!"
 
if apple switches their processors to be all in house, then their better be a price cut on their notebooks
 
nikhsub1 said:
If these custom chips do not allow people to run other OSes on the machines Apple will lose a ton of business, no doubt. If these CPU's can run Windows and the like, I don't see a huge issue. It really doesn't make much sense to me for them to switch but hey, I don't make those decisions for them or know what they might me thinking.
Click to expand...

What if the primary processor was an x86 type and the 2nd processor was an ARM. Like separating the workload from a normal CPU and the GPU...you could make a seperation between OSX functions and ARM Specific code...like emulating an iPad to run apps....
then they could make clever ad's showing off both processors...
 
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