ARM-based OS X machine ready for prime time next year?

[alexrmc92]

Yes that's right, Microsoft spent a billion dollars to make sure that Apple computers, 7% of the PC market and shrinking, could still run Windows apps on the percentage of Mac users who even do that (so like 4% of the PC market). Microsoft doesn't care that much about such a small percentage of the market (smaller than anyone running 8, 7 or XP)

More than likely MS was hedging its bets incase Intel wasn't able to improve the x86 architecture for power consumption.

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So much misinformation in this post.

1. There's no benefit of going to ARM at all.
2. ARM is increasing in performance more than Intel because Intel already has the performance. ARM won't ever succeed Intel, it's just not that great an architecture.
3. Haswell is but one step towards better power consumption. Intel chips will be as power efficient as ARM long before ARM is comparable in performance to Intel.
4. Exactly, developers would have to recompile their apps, and thus everyone would have to update/purchase new versions, just like the Intel switch aaaaannnd BREAKING COMPATIBILITY.
5. The whole point of this wasn't the dual binary it was that they'd effectively be giving an end of life to all their current existing machines.

So all in all a terrible idea for Apple.

There is no misinformation in my post...

1. What i said was factual, i never said there was a benefit to ARM, but OS X had been running on intel processors since cheetah, just not in the public domain. Don't believe me? Watch this video around 4:35 onward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghdTqnYnFyg

If they ran just in case scenarios for intel they probably have them for ARM as well, especially considering iOS started from OS X. This has nothing to with ARM or Intel being better or one being more beneficial than the other. All i said was that if they did for Intel (an architecture not being used at all by apple at the time) then they probably have done it for ARM (an architecture that they currently have in house) too.

As for there being no benefit, thats not true. Apple could build all of their chips in house (or via samsung or other third party). This would cut costs quite a bit. They could add OS X specific features into their processors and have complete control over their architecture. It's just not beneficial enough at this moment in time because ARM cannot compete when a user needs more power than an iPad.

2. Again i never said ARM was going to beat intel, but you cannot tell me with 100% certainty that ARM wont some day get close. Maybe they will, or maybe they won't things can always change. People used to say Apple would never take any major percent of Microsoft's user base away...

3. This is probably true considering the differences in how Intel / ARM builds chips. Most of ARM's designs are licensed and modified while Intel builds all of their chips in house which helps intel stay ahead of the game instead of having 20 manufactures going 20 different directions with chip designs.

4. This is nothing if apple ports all of the API's and Libraries as well. Opening Xcode, changing the target platform, and clicking recompile. Apple could even build in a cross compiler so developers on older machines can compile for newer ones. The only people this would not apply for are the apps that have CPU specific code, or third party libraries that are intel only (which isn't a very large portion).

5. They already do this, When it comes to older machines apple wont release firmware updates so they can run the latest OS. Look at mountain lion, they could have released firmware updates to give 32bit EFI macs a 64bit EFI system (the ones that had 64 but processors), but they didn't. They are doing it even more so now that RAM, CPU, and other components are now soldered to one board with no replacement options except for replacing the whole board. Macs are now throw away machines, and thats how apple wants it. This way they can sell you new hardware every 2-3 years. The new mac pro just sealed he deal.


I never said ARM was a good idea, in fact i pointed out that it wasn't a good at idea, at least at this time. But i can tell you eventually we will see a unified phone, tablet, and pc experience in some form or another and by then Apple will probably have picked a single architecture for everything, Whether it be ARM, Intel, AMD, Mips, etc...

 

[maflynn]

Microsoft tablets have always been awful, yet Apple managed to do a very nice tablet.

Do not judge Apple's potential from Microsoft's failures.

What other tablets has Microsoft produced They only came out with the RT and Pro versions of their Surface AFAIK.

As for judging apple's potential, I think its right to see Microsoft's missteps and learn from them. One huge misstep is the windows rt tablet. This created confusion with the consumers who thought they were getting a real windows computer but instead received a slower tablet that had almost no apps to run on it.

The same came be said about a potential ARM based MBA variant, slower computer (compared to the current intel offerings) with few native apps. Sure they can embrace a rosetta like feature again but that makes so little sense when Apple enjoying huge successes with the intel platform.

 

[B...]

What other tablets has Microsoft produced They only came out with the RT and Pro versions of their Surface AFAIK.

As for judging apple's potential, I think its right to see Microsoft's missteps and learn from them. One huge misstep is the windows rt tablet. This created confusion with the consumers who thought they were getting a real windows computer but instead received a slower tablet that had almost no apps to run on it.

The same came be said about a potential ARM based MBA variant, slower computer (compared to the current intel offerings) with few native apps. Sure they can embrace a rosetta like feature again but that makes so little sense when Apple enjoying huge successes with the intel platform.

If "almost no apps" means about 100,000. But relative to Apple's 600,000+, the Windows App Store is a ghost town after the apocalypse, to quote CNet.

 

[Moonjumper]

What other tablets has Microsoft produced They only came out with the RT and Pro versions of their Surface AFAIK.

Microsoft Tablet PC was a 2001 specification that any manufacturer could build. Companies such as HP did, but not for long. They were not well received by the market.