Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

'Intel Based Mac' Rumor Roundup...

rashdown_online said:
Might meet a nice young lady in the posh hotel with option 3). Looks like it option 3 then.

20 mins to go!!!!!!!! :p
Click to expand...

by nice young lady I'm guessing you mean dirty young wench?
What to do if she whispers 'see you in one minute' then slides her room keys to you just as Steve starts the immortal line 'Just one more thing...'

Tough call...not really...It'd make a great poll though.
 
Intel/AMD and Closed Architecture too

Earendil said:
Can someone clear this up for me...
With all the talk of having to emulate and recompile programs for x86 chips such as Intel, I'm starting to wonder something.
Does this mean that OSX would run on any x86 based chip, or would Apple be able to (effectively) lock out any computer except for Apple computers using an Intel chip?
Click to expand...

Right now, there is precious little inside a Macintosh that you can't find in a Windows PC by some manufacturer or the other. Changing the CPU affects people who program on the system level, but it may not even affect application developers if their tools are recompiled on the x86 instruction set. You'd be able to write Applescripts and Automator applications without knowing whether the CPU was x86 or PowerPC. Certainly for the end-user the impact is mainly psychological.

It makes a lot of sense for Apple to switch. They can't get the chips they want from IBM. They can cut costs, raise profits, and raise performance in one fell swoop. Because the Intel and AMD chips run cooler there are fewer constraints on design. They can put out notebooks and tablets with performance the G4 can only dream of. Imagine a PowerPC with two 3GHz dual-core multi-threaded CPUs--the performance would be staggering. Plus there is competition between Intel and AMD. They could switch back and forth between Intel and AMD without a hitch, because the instruction sets are the same. If you had an Intel Macintosh and an AMD Macintosh, the ony way you'd be able to tell which is which is by reading the manual.

However, that doesn't mean that you'll be able to run OS X on any machine you like. For a computer to run, it has to have a BIOS, and that is where the Apples will remain proprietary. OS X will only run on Apple BIOS, and Apple BIOS will only be on Apple machines. So the closed hardware platform remains. That is to Apple's advantage, because if they control both the hardware and the software, they minimize mismatch problems.

So if Apple switches the CPU, just roll over and go back to sleep. It won't affect you much at all. Since you know in advance when you are going to buy your next Macintosh, you'll be able to time your purchase of software upgrades to minimize any financial loss.
 
Inspiring

Have viewed this forum for years now- this is the first time I have been inspired to write in! A change to X86? Intel? The world has gone insane!

Even if it doesn't happen - it is a good exercise in change. It could happen any time! If it happens - I trust apple to make it work. Anything else would be a disappointment.
 
Dr.Gargoyle said:
Hmmm, I didn't knew belgians IQ were that high... interesting. There might be hope for old europe after all... ;)
Click to expand...

Ay ay ay.. that's below the belt :D

Especially for a Swede hehe..
 
wwdc

Steve say "one more thing, you know im sick and tired of all of this processor/ibm/motorola things... and im sick of having just 3 % marketshare so im announcing you that Apple just bought Dell computer and HP/compaq, and we're porting os x on x86 machine, with both intel and amd offering."
 
Sounds nice to a hacker. Really bad for users.

skellener said:
One thing I do truly hope Steve announces is that Carbon is finally dead! With Macromedia owned by Adobe now, there aren't many more apps left lagging around using this (MS is the only other that comes to mind). Pure Cocoa is what need from now on, whatever chip doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

No, no, no, no, no.

Like it or not MS is an enormous presence in the Apple world. Apple needs Office to run in OS X. People have talked about a Windows emulation layer, but that won't cut it. Many Mac users spend a lot of their time in Office. (For people who write for a living, nothing else is acceptable. The publishing industry is Word-centric.) If Office is running in emulation, why bother with a Mac at all? And being forced to switch to Cocoa might well be the excuse Microsoft needs to drop the Mac entirely.

I can live with x86 and a lot of other things. But this "Cocoa only" crap is the kind of thinking that will send Apple into bankrupcy really fast. The entire middle range of the market (between people who can get away using Wordperfect 12 or Pages and hackers who don't care) would drop out.

This might work in 5 or 10 years, if there is a massive move away from Office to open productivity platforms, but not now. No.
 
Less than 20 minutes to go and u guys are still arguing away!!

Personally i'm sh*tting bricks over here :(

...15 minutes to go and counting...what does our future hold :( :(
 
Mac-Xpert said:
The switch to Intel could very well mean the end of Apple hardware, if OS-X runs on X86 and offers windows compatibility allowing viruses and adware to infiltrate our systems.
Click to expand...

I would love to hear how moving to an x86 processor is going to increase the likelihood of OS X getting infested with ad ware. Even viruses I find hard to believe, but yes, a very small percentage of viruses might be able to run some byte code on the chip if written just so... (Still find that unlikely)

...but ad ware? Let me hear it.

Here's what will increase viruses though - the increase in market share Apple may gain after offering computers with excellent hardware virtualization and lower costs.

By your logic, my Debian box should be infested with ad ware and viruses - I acknowledge that they do exist for Linux, but I'm not aware of any that will infect a Linux box that were written for Windows. In order to believe that this would at all be an issue for OS X I'd have to see Windows viruses infecting Linux.

It's too bad that Windows is so poor that it is warping people's opinions about the hardware it runs on ;)
 
isaacc7 said:
Whatever, Steve will make sure that you can't install OS X on anything that it isn't meant to be. A CPU is only part of the system. True, anything is possible, but it wouldn't be too hard to make it too much of a pain to hack. Even if windows could be installed, viruses affect the OS, not the hardware, how would a virus mess up an OS X system without root privledges?
Click to expand...
It could if apple creates a windows software compatibility mode much like the classic mode today. Viruses and adware could infect the system through that.

isaacc7 said:
Apple having a choice of CPU manufacturers can only be a good thing.
Click to expand...
Not if that CPU isn't PPC compatible. I still need to see some proof of this Transitive emulation to believe in that. Even today in classic there are limitations in the compatibility with OS-9 software. Not every thing works, or works the right way. Running PPC code in emulation on a x86 system is sure to create al sorts of problems and instabilities.

isaacc7 said:
I have a feeling that there will be a speed boost with the new chips even though there is emulation involved.
Click to expand...
Why? the current Pentium 3.8 Ghz or the 3.6 Ghz Xeon systems are hardly any faster than the 2.7 Ghz G5. When IBM introduces the 970MP it will very likely run beyond 3 GHz and it will have a larger cach so it will surely be as fast as the pentium D which is also only clocked at 2.8 Ghz.

The new e600 chips from freescale will have much higher bus speeds than the current G4, and could be quite competitive with Intels centrinos.
 
fitinferno said:
They just mean no live feed, right? There will still be a delayed one? *confused*
Click to expand...

All I mean is that the article is the first time over the last couple of days that the ThinkSecret team even mentions all this switching stuff. Up until now they been all tight-lipped.
 
it's the OS

It's DEFINITELY the OS. All the hype about Apple hardware being superior is just wrong. There is no Apple hardware really (in the powermac line). Even my old G4 is made from off the shelf components.. I've upgraded almost everything in it except the motherboard. I love that about my mac.

I just hope they release some super fast awesome computer based on a new Intel processor. And I hope it is as upgradeable as the G4/G5 is now.
 
Dr.Gargoyle said:
Is this what they call the calm before the storm?
Everything is as usual, store is open, apple is still boasting about the superior G5 processor... Could this just have been a terrible nightmare of what might have been???
Click to expand...

Perhaps. Fear of the unknown is a terrible thing.
If there is nothing in this Intel rumor then I for one will be disappointed, I'd rather Apple continue to innovate and make bold brave chances rather than stay with the G5 and IBMs brickwall. After reading most of the posts Apple should make the move sooner rather than later, why wait? Sure some Mac users will be angry but where will they move to? XP on an Intel Dell PC or OSX on an Intel Apple PC? Easy choice I'd say.
 
MacRohde said:
All I mean is that the article is the first time over the last couple of days that the ThinkSecret team even mentions all this switching stuff. Up until now they been all tight-lipped.
Click to expand...

The whole think secret situation is confusing/disturbing :( :confused:
 
bug said:
By your logic, my Debian box should be infested with ad ware and viruses - I acknowledge that they do exist for Linux, but I'm not aware of any that will infect a Linux box that were written for Windows. In order to believe that this would at all be an issue for OS X I'd have to see Windows viruses infecting Linux.
Click to expand...
Yes but Linux doesn't run windows software. The only reason I could think of that apple would like to switch to x86 would be because the would like to offer windows compatibility in their OS making it easy for people to switch to the mac. Currently they can't do that, but maybe they can if they run on x86 hardware.

If they would run on x86 but have no windows compatibility, than your right that viruses or ad ware should not be a problem
 
Mac-Xpert said:
Why? the current Pentium 3.8 Ghz or the 3.6 Ghz Xeon systems are hardly any faster than the 2.7 Ghz G5. When IBM introduces the 970MP it will very likely run beyond 3 GHz and it will have a larger cach so it will surely be as fast as the pentium D which is also only clocked at 2.8 Ghz.

The new e600 chips from freescale will have much higher bus speeds than the current G4, and could be quite competitive with Intels centrinos.
Click to expand...

The rumor is that Apple will replace the low end stuff and the lap tops. You're right that the current chips from intel aren't any better than the G5, but they are a hell of a lot better than the current G4 chips in the laptops and Mini. Even if Freescale eventually has products that can compete with today's Centrinos, I will bet you anything that Itel's speed of advancements will kill Freescale's. This is about the future, Freescale has been a millstone around Apple's neck for too long, why would anyone want to keep them?

Isaac
 
id like a clear anwser from software dev

Is it so difficult to port an apps ? Let say im Adobe, and Steve Job just announce they will use x86 chips. Im planning my next photoshop, how will it be difficult for compagny like thtat to port their software ?
 
Two minutes to go, and I'm gonna throw in my guess. I don't think all these big sources like the NY Times could be simultaneously wrong. Also, it makes sense Apple would have to go to Intel since IBM, which really has no need for Apple's business, has taken so long to deliver a G5 suitable for laptops.

I'm sticking with Apple regardless. I'm sure they will continue to make great hardware even if OSX goes x86. I'm confident that developers will follow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back