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Macintosh Moving to Intel Processors [Updated]

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ccrandall77 said:
My first reaction to this is "THIS SUCKS!". But I think if this is done correctly, it might turn out to be OK.

The biggest concern I have is for the support of Altivec. In the sciences, vector processing is utilized heavily. And just from the benchmarks I've seen, algorithms that leverage Altivec are much, much faster than the equivalent on the Xeon or Operton.

My second biggest concern is with the compilers. It looks like they are going to be using the Intel compilers over GCC. Will these compilers:

1.) be free?
2.) be as ANSI compliant as GCC?

My preference would've been to move to Intel (well, I'd rather it was AMD) in the consumer lines (iBook, Mac Mini, eMac, iMac) and keep the G5 in the Power line and perhaps upgrade the Powerbook to G5 or Freescale G4. However, if they are moving everything to Intel, I hope they at least add the Altivec engine to the Pro-line of machines. This would at least give power users a real reason to stick with Apple, while people intersted in consumer-line products would continue to be interested in Apple because of style and form factor.
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1) No Intel Compilers are not free, they are about anywhere from $380 to $800
 
I don't mind them switching away from that awful PPC processor, but Intel? C'mon, AMD is kicking their butt right now. Steve Jobs, I dunno what kind of pot you're smoking but I want some because it must be really good stuff.
 
Dr.Gargoyle said:
Intel and Mac.... who could have guessed that 6 months ago.. :eek:
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Steve Jobs and the Apple design team, plus those writing OSX ... as evidenced by Marklar and Steve's comments today concerning the ongoing design on Intel-based equipment for the past 5 years. What Joe Average would have guessed this 6 months ago? Not me, that's for sure.
 
sw1tcher said:
So, does this mean no G5 PowerBook tomorrow (Tuesday)?

/sarcasm
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Was hoping the announcement today was the death of "that guy".
 
brent1a said:
Well persuade me that my perception below is wrong then:

It's been said that the main reason OSX is virus-free is because of it's niche of a marketshare and therefore malicious codewriters have been completely disinterested.
In my book it's pretty simple- As the marketshare of OSX86 rises ^ so does the interest of malicious code writers.
A year after Leopord is released it will be just as bloated as Winbloze.
Click to expand...

People don't refer to windows as bloated because of the spyware... bloat refers to all the unnecessary things that are actually tied into the OS - Internet browser, media player, messenger, etc.

I keep my windows system running fine. Most slowdowns/problems are on the user end. Windows is not as good as OS X, but it's not as awful as most people make it out to be
 
Abercrombieboy said:
On the bright side, if any of us long time Apple users gets lonely for a PowerPC chip after Mac has gone to Intel, you can buy a Microsoft xBox 360.
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I don't know if I am going to laugh or cry...
Ms going with PPC and Apple going with Intel... How are we going to spinn this to ourselves??. Just have a look at posts 6 months ago.
If I didnt knew better I could have sworn that all those people have been killed in a terrible accident and been replaced by people from a Intel fan site. :rolleyes:
 
I don't care what chip they use. As long as I can buy a Mac and run OS X and NOT have to run Windows, I'm a happy camper! Bring it on! :cool:
 
ccrandall77 said:
My first reaction to this is "THIS SUCKS!". But I think if this is done correctly, it might turn out to be OK.

The biggest concern I have is for the support of Altivec. In the sciences, vector processing is utilized heavily. And just from the benchmarks I've seen, algorithms that leverage Altivec are much, much faster than the equivalent on the Xeon or Operton.

My second biggest concern is with the compilers. It looks like they are going to be using the Intel compilers over GCC. Will these compilers:

1.) be free?
2.) be as ANSI compliant as GCC?

My preference would've been to move to Intel (well, I'd rather it was AMD) in the consumer lines (iBook, Mac Mini, eMac, iMac) and keep the G5 in the Power line and perhaps upgrade the Powerbook to G5 or Freescale G4. However, if they are moving everything to Intel, I hope they at least add the Altivec engine to the Pro-line of machines. This would at least give power users a real reason to stick with Apple, while people intersted in consumer-line products would continue to be interested in Apple because of style and form factor.
Click to expand...

I wonder about this also.. Could be that the Apple X86 hardware has an Altivec helper processor on the motherboard?

Only time will tell !?!?

Doesn't Apple still own part of the AIM technology (Apple, IBM, Motorola (Freescale) ) that produced the G3,4,&5 processors?

You posted a great question!!
 
mac_and_amd_fan said:
I don't mind them switching away from that awful PPC processor, but Intel? C'mon, AMD is kicking their butt right now. Steve Jobs, I dunno what kind of pot you're smoking but I want some because it must be really good stuff.
Click to expand...
Reports over the weekend have said that Apple will leave open the possibility to using AMD chips in the future, and I believe (though could be in error not being a PC guy) that the chips are interchangeable to some degree. No?!?! :confused:
 
mac_and_amd_fan said:
I don't mind them switching away from that awful PPC processor, but Intel? C'mon, AMD is kicking their butt right now. Steve Jobs, I dunno what kind of pot you're smoking but I want some because it must be really good stuff.
Click to expand...

it totally agree, AMD is whooping Intel. Intel's processors don't run that cool. Don't let that fool you, they run so frikken hot. AMD's are cool, quiet, and fast. - I hate intel becasue of the 20KB L1 Cache and 2MB L2 cache, whereas AMD is smart - 64 or 128KB L1 Cache and 1MB L2 Cache - tons faster.
 
jZilla said:
That Intel signature ident adverts... an Apple ad, shows a sweet case, the gorgeous OS... then "bling bling bling bling!"...

I feel sick :-(
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You should feel happy because that "bling bling bling bling" just payed for half the cost of that ad......
 
LatestMacFan said:
But really clayj, wasting $2500 for a computer (yes a fancy one, and yes am a big fan of Apple) that we all know will not be worth it once they start pumping the new line in the market, was swinging wintels vs. Apple PBs for my new laptop and thanks Apple you solved it!
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Yeah, but in the meantime, you have no computer. And the computer you buy today isn't going to die the moment the new machines are available, nor will its value become zero. AND they're talking about the new gear being available a YEAR from now.

I'll certainly be looking forward to the new machines when they are released, but if I needed a computer now, I would go ahead and get one.
 
Now I've downloaded the Xcode 2.1 and
recompiled my own little freeware to support
Intel and PPC ! Hoo Foo !

But how can I test that :confused:
 
Fraize said:
I'm sure I'm just feeding a troll, but come on, guy! What difference does it bloody make if it's PowerPC or x86? You should see the power of Macs going up while the price of them goes down! How could this be in any way a bad thing?
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imagine mercedes benz using volkswagen engines starting next year.
 
Iroganai said:
Now I've downloaded the Xcode 2.1 and
recompiled my own little freeware to support
Intel and PPC ! Hoo Foo !

But how can I test that :confused:
Click to expand...
On your x86 PowerMac development kit. :p
 
elmimmo said:
photoshop20050427.jpg
renderingsd20050427.jpg
lightwave20050427.jpg
aftereffects20050427.jpg
audio20050427.jpg
bbs20050427.jpg


I guess how Steve Jobs is going to explain all that ******** now. Oh, yeah, I know: he will not.

(Benchmarks kindly provided by Apple at http://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/)
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As I said before, all the people bragging about those numbers seem to be gone... I am just confused right now. I guess I am still in denial
 
Mr Maui said:
Reports over the weekend have said that Apple will leave open the possibility to using AMD chips in the future, and I believe (though could be in error not being a PC guy) that the chips are interchangeable to some degree. No?!?! :confused:
Click to expand...

Whoah whoah WHOAH! No, the chips ARE NOT interchangeable to ANY degree! COMPLETELY different. AMD is actually much closer to the PPC than Intel is. I wish they would go AMD. -JB
 
What do I do now?

I can't believe my luck. I bought a Dual 2.3 G5 PowerMac on Thursday. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Send it back and wait another year? Anyone in a similar situation? :confused:
 
ccool2ax said:
Apple has betrayed all of it's fans ever. My PPC out-benchmarks most P4s. I would rather have a 150 degree PBG5 then switch to Intel. :mad: :mad: :mad: Apple should just make the PPC on it's own!
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Notice that you mentioned out-benchmarking "most" and not "all" there. Apple have always put the fastest parts they could buy into the Power Macs. They're not going to stop doing that.
 
mwpeters8182 said:
As marketshare goes up, so does the number of developers making quality software quickly for the mac. This means less waiting around for stuff like games to be ported. It's been written that OS X is inherently harder to write malware for as well. It's a ridiculous/stupid argument to say that Apple shouldn't try to grow their user base, because there might be an increase in malware. If that was true, why not shut out Microsoft from making Office for Mac? Or maybe tell Adobe not to make Photoshop? Then no one will use Macs, and there will be no chance of malware.

MP
Click to expand...
I know my point wasn't that Apple should purposely keep it's marketshare low just because of viruses.....I really don't know what my main point is I'm still trying to digest the news(I was in class all afternoon). Beyond that just because it's harder doesn't make it impossible in fact isn't that why people hack is because of the challenge? Last Time I checked Winbloze isn't that much of a challeneg anymore. My endpoint being that everyone should accept the fact that viruses will exist for OSX esp. when Leopord debuts and then Apple will be a mirror or Microsoft.
 
200paul said:
I'm a producer - I walk into any studio and use what they have or take what they have and use it at my place. I have Cubase, Logic, DP, Pro Tools Waves, NI, Peak etc etc... It will take years for those Dual Binarys and apps to become stable and they won't be free ..... trust me.

For the record - I'm not a fan of Pro Tools but TDM is a standard. Like gas - I'd rather use Hydrogen but I can't find much of it around.

Just for another record. Dr. Lengling and I have talked several times and I've expressed to him how freaking hard it is to use logic - its so polarizing the two; Pro Tools and Logic - Bring Vision back!!! Damn you Gibson Guitars for buy and then killing Opcode just for fun.
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Paul..

You are right, the new software wont be free, but what is keeping you, or me for that matter, from running the software we have today?? People like us (i am a composer, working a lot in max/msp) will still have our old systems, and studios will still have their old systems, at least for the next few years...so i dont see the real problem..

:confused:You want opcode and OMS back!!!!!1111ONE111!!!!!!:confused:

opcode and oms are in hell, where they belong. My software actually works now. See i started using Pro Tools in os 9, hated it, but used it as it was the only thing i owned, however in os x i learned Cubase first, then Logic, then DP, and then used Pro Tools. Logic is just a matter of working in a different way. When i program in max/msp i think much differently than when i do audio editing in Peak. Its just a different mindset. Cubase, Pro Tools, Logic, DP all have their advantages and some do things much easier than the other.

The main thing i am looking foward to is my new, intel based laptop to scream like the dual g5's now, b/c my 1Ghz P4 isnt really cutting it all the time anymore when doing realtime audio manipulations.

ps...im not flaming ya paul, its just good to get another musicans idea on the intel switch thing... :)
 
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