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Apple Diversifies Chip Orders for iOS Device and Apple Watch Amid Predictions of ARM Macs
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I'm sorry but once they stop making Intel mac, is the day I stop buying them
I think its a really bad idea to drop x86 platform, I can only see bad things from this shift including a more locking down of OS X. Think walled garden for OS X as well.
It's hard to say. The A8X is getting pretty close to the older Core chips. It would mean the end of Boot Camp as we know it, but Parallels and VMWare Fusion may live on if they can get the emulation right. Apple is good at emulation and has changed processor architectures twice before.
My guess is that Intel's delays with Broadwell may accelerate a switch, if it is indeed planned. As it stands, the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro have not had significant updates in nearly 2 years.
I can't understand why for many people this idea is simply 'stupid'. I'm not saying it's right, but for me the reasons (for Apple) are quite clear:
- much more control on its hardware and its schedule. Everyone rants when Apple is slow updating its devices, designing chips in-house would accelarate the process
- Better battery life. We all know Intels aren't so great with power.
- Windows will run on ARM, that means Apple (maybe) will provide bootcamp. Does the experience with Windows suck because it can't handle binaries properly? It's a microsoft's problem, not Apple's.
- "Supporting two different platforms is a terrible idea and ". Well, transitions. A couple of years and they'll move entirely on ARM. They already did it.
incorrect. the only reason to consider ARM processors in macs is to get improved battery performance.
Surface RT was a flop because Microsoft couldn't make it backward compatible. There is a much smaller library of native OS X software, and Apple has changed the processor architecture for the Mac twice already. It would mean the end of Windows running natively on the Mac, but they may not be as concerned about that anymore. Windows PCs are cheap enough where someone who needs a PC may just get one as a spare. And Microsoft has already written Office for iOS, so writing Office for an ARM-based OS X may not be that difficult for them.
Am I right in thinking Apple has some sort of deep involvement with ARM? Or is it just the PowerVR side they have shares in? Either way a move like this will only benefit Apple and its share holders from what I see, us users would be screwed over IMO. The Mac would go back to being a niche toy product.
The next Mac I buy could very well be the last I buy if it has no Intel in the future.
The next Mac I buy could very well be the last I buy if it has no Intel in the future.
According to AppleInsider:
So an iMac with up to 32 cores (8 CPUs x quad cores/CPU)? Wow.
If this does happen, it would be interesting to see Apple totally redo Mac OS X in Swift. Yes, It's a big change, but it would be an interesting one. I'll wait and see if it's a good or bad change if/when they release it.
So an iMac with up to 32 cores (8 CPUs x quad cores/CPU)? Wow.
If this does happen, it would be interesting to see Apple totally redo Mac OS X in Swift. Yes, It's a big change, but it would be an interesting one. I'll wait and see if it's a good or bad change if/when they release it.
An ARM Mac would compete with the now common $250 laptops while maintaining the required 40% margin Apple demands.
The laptops and minis will be appliances with highly crippled ports but with performance comparable to Intel Macs of just a couple years ago or so.
If Apple can compete with low end Chromebooks, laptops, and cheater PC's and maintain pricing not much higher, and margins much higher, Apple will be around for years to come as a viable business despite bottom fishing competition.
Rocketman
The laptops and minis will be appliances with highly crippled ports but with performance comparable to Intel Macs of just a couple years ago or so.
If Apple can compete with low end Chromebooks, laptops, and cheater PC's and maintain pricing not much higher, and margins much higher, Apple will be around for years to come as a viable business despite bottom fishing competition.
Rocketman
Emulating other platforms is very slow, there is a reason why Apple doesn´t emulate the iPhone or iPad on XCode
I'm sorry but once they stop making Intel mac, is the day I stop buying them
I think its a really bad idea to drop x86 platform, I can only see bad things from this shift including a more locking down of OS X. Think walled garden for OS X as well.
The trend for Apple is proprietary crap. Mac Sales rose significantly when they moved to intel. If these "rumors" are true, you have to wonder what kind of clowns are making decisions at Apple.
The proprietary storage they include in all devices and the soldered RAM they include in almost all devices is a sign that my days purchasing Apple computers is coming to an end sooner than later. I can't afford a $3K Mac Pro and the fact that it only has 256GB of proprietary flash means I would not want to afford it.
When you think about it, without the iPhone (and possibly the iPad), Apple is a WEAK company!
Yup - I don't even think the newer gen i3's benchmark as well.
Of course there are considerations for RAM tied to the system and the differences in arch.
But from a simplistic view (Geekbench), the A8X is on par with the low-power i5's of only 2 years ago.
LOL, they would need to do it with compatible hardware, not proprietary crap. Back to the 90's we go with Apple. When Apple owns as little of the market share as they do (with computers), they can pull everyone with them. People will not invest in developing for Apple ARM based products, just like they didn't with be PowerPC crap. They will invest in developing for the 90+% marketer of Windows. Whether we like Windows or not, they OWN the OS market.
Yes - I'm not saying it would be immediately better. And of course, they wouldn't change it all over night.
But there could be some pretty cool things that come out of a move to ARM. Given Apple's success with the iPhone/iPad chips, I'd be excited to see what they could do on the laptop/desktop side.
Sure would beat waiting around for Intel only to be disappointed by their offering (Core M so far).
This news, the 'New' Mac Mini, and their stock buybacks are making me think that WE are the ones being played for suckers...
Multi Core - most of those lower powered Intel chips are dual core so that single core score would be a bit higher.
I'll find the equilibrium point....where the A8X meets Intel.
Seems like the 2011 MBA with the i7-2677M is the eqaul point based on multi-core scores.
The 2013 11" MBA with the i5-4250U comes in at roughly 2500/5000....whereas the A8X hits 1850/4500. Not too far off.
And that's comparing one of Intel's Core U chips....
The new Core M in that Lenovo hit some terrible benchmark scores - like in the 1800/3500 range.
*DISCLAIMER* I understand Geekbench isn't the end-all-be-all, but its a simplistic comparison of chipsets and really the only cross-platform comparison tool I have at my disposal. I take the results with a grain of salt.
So the A8X is as fast because it has more cores than Intel (isn't this the same argument we used against Android folks when talking about quad core parts vs dual core?)
I would like to see the transition just to see how the market reacts. Can the market afford to lose the folks that would go with an ARM OS X computer? Will the market just port OS apps over to make a quick buck?
That's good to know. The makes Bootcamp on ARM a lot more likely. I guess MS is as intrigued by non-x86/x64 CPUs as Apple.
I'm sorry but once they stop making Intel mac, is the day I stop buying them
I think its a really bad idea to drop x86 platform, I can only see bad things from this shift including a more locking down of OS X. Think walled garden for OS X as well.
I'm having deja vu...I remember seeing that exact comment when Apple moved from the PPC to Intel. The sky didn't fall. I'm sure it won't again.
Apple co-founded ARM with Acorn Computers and VLSI Technology but sold most of their shares in the company by the end of the 90's after they scrapped the Newton.
Apple is far bigger now than they were back then - even as the PC market shrinks Macs stay pretty consistent.
I think they have something like 12% of the PC market.