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'Intel Based Mac' Rumor Roundup...

Ummm...

Laurent said:
Let me rephrase that... If you bought an entry model say, 4 years ago, it's getting hard to move around with it if you use processor-hungry applications or games (we're talking about both platforms here). I was a little radical on my first comment, but you have to admit that this is a normal process and has always been the case with computers...

If Abercrombieboy is worried about Apple not supporting their old computers, he should know that the majority of G3 computers were still supported with the release of Mac OS X Jaguar (that's got to be like 8 years lifespan). I think we might get emulation similar to the switch between 68K and PPC...
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. I can't wait to sue Apple to support my G4 (like the G3 users did). And I'm sure half the features of the new versions of the OS won't work on PPC. This is so exciting!

Apple is not great about supporting older machines. The Tiger retail box did not contain a CD, despite the fact the the Education Store was STILL SELLING a CD-ROM iBook. To get the new version of Safari, you have to buy Tiger. And Apple iPod users w/o USB2 have to buy a $20 Firewire cable these days. Get used to it. In the end, Apple is like any other company.
 
nishishei said:
Probably have something to do with emulation capabilities.
Click to expand...
Ah - I see. If emulation is going to eat in to performance, better to do it on the low end where maximum performance isn't expected, rather than introduce it on the high-end and have everyone who expect their workstations and servers to push the speed limits jump on you.

[Edit]: Still though, if IBM and Moto aren't pulling through on the PPC line, doesn't this leave Apple with the same PowerMac problem it's currently facing?

admanimal said:
YES!!! I just posted a huge snip from Transitive's website which is at the top of this page that describes this.
Click to expand...
Caught it on the rebound - we must have been writing at the same time. Interesting stuff. Here's to hoping this is what Apple's doing!

Good grief, this thread is growing at the rate of a page every five minutes.
 
You guys need to quit it with the "maybe all these news sources are using the same (fake) source" talk, right now. Do you even realize how badly in denial you look when you say that? When you have a news story of this magnitude, you make sure you have multiple sources before you print it. And you make sure they are concrete. News.com, the WSJ, and the NYT don't print a story of this magnitude based on just one source. They pick up the phone and they contact their sources throughout the industry, and they contact the people involved, and even though no one talks on the record, there's a lot of stuff that's said off.

All this talk of this being a "ploy to flush out a mole" by Steve Jobs is also ridiculous. Has it even occured to you that these very credible and professional news organizations talked to people outside of Apple for a story regarding Apple and Intel. Perhaps even talking to someone at Intel? Steve Jobs has no power over Intel. He can't bludgeon Intel like he bludgeons small little Mac fan sites. Intel is a bigger and more powerful company than Apple.
 
I have really got mixed feelings about this. This could potentially mean faster and less expensive macs, while also ushering in new laptops that can run for 8 hours using dual core chips... I'm typing this while looking at my Powerbook that gets 3 hours and advertised to get 5 hours.

It's a double edged sword as Apple is damned either way. I don't think they would transition if they weren't getting the performance they wanted out of the intel chips, but this is also something that should have happened long ago when Star Trek was running faster on 486 chips.

I don't see this as the death of Apple, but hard times do lay ahead as Apple is the only one in the computer industry that continues to change the ball game DRASTICALLY for it's developers, customers, and partners.
 
FoxyKaye said:
Ew.

And people, please please stop changing your avatars to look like variations of the Intel logo, Intel Inside, and other Intel-related images.

We're not there yet, and it's terribly disconcerting. :(
Click to expand...

I had to change mine because it was the PowerPC logo. If I left that up, people would criticize me for still having an 8-Track player...wait someone already did...and no I have never owned an 8-Track player...or a Windows PC. In fact, It just seems weird that from here on out, there will never be a discussion of Mac Hardware v. PC hardware, because it will all be equal in performance...only Mac OSX v. Windows. I guess it just won't be as interesting anymore...

Wintel v. Mactel is just not that exciting.
 
dude

Abercrombieboy said:
I had to change mine because it was the PowerPC logo. If I left that up, people would criticize me for still having an 8-Track player...wait someone already did...and no I have never owned an 8-Track player...or a Windows PC. In fact, It just seems weird that from here on out, there will never be a discussion of Mac Hardware v. PC hardware, because it will all be equal in performance...only Mac OSX v. Windows. I guess it just won't be as interesting anymore...

Wintel v. Mactel is just not that exciting.
Click to expand...


ANY CHIP BUT THE P4, please :rolleyes:
 
This is not a rumor, it is true. I just spoke to my friend over the phone.. he works at Intel in the microprocessor design department and to him, it wasn't a surprise as much as it was to me. They have been planning this for quite a long time now and when I asked him why the transition.. he mentioned "Its the price".. and I go "huh? i thought its because ibm can't churn out processors fast enough and we're still stuck at 2.7 ghz" he said it wasn't a problem with ibm's manufacturing at all..just the price factor. He expects prices to be slashed quite drastically..which would be good for all of us!

For the people who whine about the resale value of their macs all I have to say is..get over it. A computer goes down in value no matter what, its not real estate you know. I, for one, welcome any hardware change that would make our macs faster, and cheaper. The real enemy here is windows.. not intel..I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal about this.
 
Music_Producer said:
This is not a rumor, it is true. I just spoke to my friend over the phone.. he works at Intel in the microprocessor design department and to him, it wasn't a surprise as much as it was to me. They have been planning this for quite a long time now and when I asked him why the transition.. he mentioned "Its the price".. and I go "huh? i thought its because ibm can't churn out processors fast enough and we're still stuck at 2.7 ghz" he said it wasn't a problem with ibm's manufacturing at all..just the price factor. He expects prices to be slashed quite drastically..which would be good for all of us!

For the people who whine about the resale value of their macs all I have to say is..get over it. A computer goes down in value no matter what, its not real estate you know. I, for one, welcome any hardware change that would make our macs faster, and cheaper. The real enemy here is windows.. not intel..I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal about this.
Click to expand...

thanks for the comment man, that really helps out! i hope you're not pulling our legs... :p
 
bozs13 said:
ANY CHIP BUT THE P4, please :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If they are going Intel, the P4 is a mass produced chip available in almost any config. I would almost promise you will see a P4 in some of Apple's first Intel offering, ie. iMac, eMac (if that is what they even will call them, my guess is there will be a whole name change along with this).
 
Music_Producer said:
This is not a rumor, it is true. I just spoke to my friend over the phone.. he works at Intel in the microprocessor design department and to him, it wasn't a surprise as much as it was to me. They have been planning this for quite a long time now and when I asked him why the transition.. he mentioned "Its the price".. and I go "huh? i thought its because ibm can't churn out processors fast enough and we're still stuck at 2.7 ghz" he said it wasn't a problem with ibm's manufacturing at all..just the price factor. He expects prices to be slashed quite drastically..which would be good for all of us!

For the people who whine about the resale value of their macs all I have to say is..get over it. A computer goes down in value no matter what, its not real estate you know. I, for one, welcome any hardware change that would make our macs faster, and cheaper. The real enemy here is windows.. not intel..I'm not sure why people are making such a big deal about this.
Click to expand...
Your friend didn't say if the new chips were going to be an X86 variant, an Apple-sponsored Intel PPC, or something else did he/she? That could at least put some boundaries on the wild speculation until tomorrow. Call them back!!!
 
Laurent said:
He said it, I confirm it... Whether the result is x86 or a custom CPU... This platform is going to be called:

Macintel

You just wait...
Click to expand...

That has a nice ring to it. :D

Better than Mactel.
 
Abercrombieboy said:
I had to change mine because it was the PowerPC logo. If I left that up, people would criticize me for still having an 8-Track player...
Click to expand...

Why would someone critisize you for something that hasn't even happened?


Wintel v. Mactel is just not that exciting.
Click to expand...

Maybe not, but Mac OS vs Windows will always be exciting :D
 
Also, its really about the business part..the cash flow, balance sheet, profitability, etc.

Now would apple benefit by selling high end macs to an elite few of us? Or would their profits rise if they sold high end macs (with a cheaper price tag) to ALL of us? The success of the ipod probably taught apple something. You can't survive in this world by 'thinking different' quite literally.. and for a long time. Picture this:

Powerbook laptop 15 inch screen with superdrive blah blah with an intel chip @ 3 ghz.. 8 hours of batt power.. with mac os x ..price tag : $1299 :D
 
NOT THE P4

Abercrombieboy said:
If they are going Intel, the P4 is a mass produced chip available in almost any config. I would almost promise you will see a P4 in some of Apple's first Intel offering, ie. iMac, eMac (if that is what they even will call them, my guess is there will be a whole name change along with this).
Click to expand...

Yeah, you might be right but I'm just hoping that apple pulls something frikin awesome out of their sleeves to blow us away again. (example, new chip, different chip, non-p4 chip etc.)
 
Music_Producer said:
This is not a rumor, it is true. I just spoke to my friend over the phone.. he works at Intel in the microprocessor design department and to him, it wasn't a surprise as much as it was to me. They have been planning this for quite a long time now and when I asked him why the transition.. he mentioned "Its the price".. and I go "huh? i thought its because ibm can't churn out processors fast enough and we're still stuck at 2.7 ghz" he said it wasn't a problem with ibm's manufacturing at all..just the price factor. He expects prices to be slashed quite drastically..which would be good for all of us!
Click to expand...

I'll believe it when Steve says it.
 
Abercrombieboy said:
I had to change mine because it was the PowerPC logo. If I left that up, people would criticize me for still having an 8-Track player...wait someone already did...and no I have never owned an 8-Track player...or a Windows PC. In fact, It just seems weird that from here on out, there will never be a discussion of Mac Hardware v. PC hardware, because it will all be equal in performance...only Mac OSX v. Windows. I guess it just won't be as interesting anymore...

Wintel v. Mactel is just not that exciting.
Click to expand...

All I can say is THANK GOD!!! Who isn't sick of "My hardware's better than yours!" How about getting some effing work done instead of getting into pissing matches. If anything, having similar hardware (it will never be exactly the same) will make a much more compelling case for Apple. Windows users can no longer blame inferior hardware for bashing Macs. if OS X is faster, or at least not too much slower than Windows on similar hardware, only the most hardened fanboy would fail to see the added security and productivity availible with a different operating system.

Isaac
 
FoxyKaye said:
Your friend didn't say if the new chips were going to be an X86 variant, an Apple-sponsored Intel PPC, or something else did he/she? That could at least put some boundaries on the wild speculation until tomorrow. Call them back!!!
Click to expand...

LOL..i'll call him when he gets back home..he;s out shopping with his family at Costco. I did ask him though if this would mean that all the software developers would have to recompile programs and he replied with a bunch of technical jargon that didnt make sense to me (im into music..not computers really) but essentially, yes. He said it won't be a major problem though and that the transition would be quite seamless.
 
vitrector said:
Yeah,
Quote (from Transitive web site): " We are pleased that Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) will begin shipping QuickTransit on their Prism product family beginning in January 2005. For more information on our relationship with SGI please click here.

We anticipate that a *second computer company* will deploy products enabled by our technology in early 2005 and that others will deploy QuickTransit before the end of the year. Unfortunately, strict confidentiality obligations prevent us from saying more about these relationships at this time."

Could the second computer company be Apple? Really, how many companies would really have a need for this technology at this time???

BTW, I wonder if the lawsuits involving some of the rumor sites were intentionally done to discourage anyone leaking this HUGE news piece before market close Friday. The timing of the CNET story is interesting, and all other stories followed. There is some MAJOR orchestration of info flow going on... The only slip was WSJ say 10 days ago, but interesting little after that until Friday 5PM.


just my 2 pfennigs worth
Click to expand...

Interesting. Well, the CNET story seems to cast doubt on my earlier (this month) thoughts that the intel chips would be the same type of uses as current (currently perform some function in the Xserve RAIDs) - CNET says these chips are CPUs for the low end and high end systems. But there's where I get confused - it must be a road map thing. On performance gains - the dual G5 does very well and better on certain tests against a dual 3.6 Xeon (and the new 64 bit MP Xeon has a frontside bus that tops at currently at 667 MHz with the single at 800 MHz), certainly against a P4 (tomshardware.com just had an interesting story about how much better a chip the P3 was - such that a Mobile Pent M [with P3 arch] outperformed the P4 and AMD high-end chips when that Pent M was overclocked from 2.2 to 2.5 GHz). Just don't get it. And to the road map issue - the speed for the consoles is going up, so there's SOME hope of further bumps. There's some recent consolidation of the IBM microprocessor units and they have rosy forcasts for the next power chips (thinksecret has the news story there). ... My PB G4 is as fast or faster than my new IBM thinkpad with its 1.7 GHz chip... Such a big move corporately has to be more than S. Jobs is ticked at IBM, Board had to vote on this move, would have had to be convinced. I just haven't seen great reasons for such a move out there in the public discussion.

I'm not going to get any work done tomorrow afternoon (ET) - that much is clear to me.
 
God i hope your right. It would be a pain the arse of develpers to have to re-code everying. Well we will all hopefully know tommorow.
 
On the note of preventing OSX from running on "other" x86 machines...

What about Fairplay?
- Apple says their music (AACs) are protected by Fairplay, AND
- Apple are probably trying to convince movie companies
that Fairplay will be protection for their movies too.

If Apple believes in their copy protection system, it's time to demonstrate that. If they make OSX for x86, then how about no special ROM chips to disable other x86s - use Fairplay to make sure each OS is legal and only installed on one machine (or 5 machines for the family pack).

If Apple wants music and movie producers to believe in their technology, they should believe in it themselves.
 
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