More Details on Apple's Intel Mac

[neb_greely]

NOT IN 500 LIFETIMES! That's the most stupid thing ever, running windows (also known as (*&*&%(^*&()#$#%) on a perfectly good mac.

Would be sweet! I could get rid of this crappy hp under my desk and have more room for my feet. And maybe instead of three monitors on my desk running a variety of systems, they could all be plugged into the same box.
Get a big drive for each -- os x/linux/ windows, -- If I could run them concurrently I'd be set.

I'm seeing a really high level of religious fervor here.
Personally, I use a mac because it's a kickass operating system that allows me to get my work done gracefully and quickly and makes working an enjoyable experience. I see none of that changing with any of apple's announcements, other than the possibility that the machine I use will get to be:

1) faster
2) possibly allow me to get rid of a couple of old boxes

AND
3) it sounds like laptops will be getting smaller/faster/cooler as well.

Ef yeah baby!

 

[Mac_Freak]

YES!!!!! It has too ...it's the only Dual CPU version of the P4

But P4 wont be in the new Mactels Guys, don't look at what is available today. As Steve said, they have focused on the future, far future. Haven't you seen the binoculars being projected while he was saying that.

 

[ioinc]

market share

I am agreeing with what i have read on a couple of sites.

The will reduce mac market share by half.

Only good side is that half of "very little" is very little indeed.

 

[usingautumn]

i know it sounds good and i agree ots a good move to ditch ibm in favor of a faster chip but i've got a bad feeling about it. I think it's a bad thing you will be able to run windows on a mac, won't developers simply choose to produce native windows software if it can also be run on a mac with windows, especially if emulation software is made to run windows software from inside mac os.

It seems to me apples hardware future is uncertain, but i hope they come out on top.

 

[Sun Baked]

These are disposable temporary Macs, and no conclusions should be drawn from them about what will be used in the Macs that Apple will sell.

Basically YES YES YES...

These are here for people to transition their software.

Sort of cool that OS X will run on a standard PCs if the drivers are available.

But that's not something I expect when Mac OS x86 ships along with the Apple PCs.

I have a strong hunch that these drivers on the development platform will be gone, and replaced by the drivers for the actual Apple PC shipped to customers.

 

[usingautumn]

and another thing, does this mean we won't be getting any hardware updates for a couple of years?

 

[Mac_Freak]

i know it sounds good and i agree ots a good move to ditch ibm in favor of a faster chip but i've got a bad feeling about it. I think it's a bad thing you will be able to run windows on a mac, won't developers simply choose to produce native windows software if it can also be run on a mac with windows, especially if emulation software is made to run windows software from inside mac os.

It seems to me apples hardware future is uncertain, but i hope they come out on top.

You are saying that like every Mac user has a copy of either Windows on Mac or separate PC box. People will buy Mac to run OS X not Windows. Some of them will run have dual boot, but that is only some.

 

[steeldrivingjon]

i know it sounds good and i agree ots a good move to ditch ibm in favor of a faster chip but i've got a bad feeling about it. I think it's a bad thing you will be able to run windows on a mac, won't developers simply choose to produce native windows software if it can also be run on a mac with windows, especially if emulation software is made to run windows software from inside mac os.

It seems to me apples hardware future is uncertain, but i hope they come out on top.

Well, anyone who does that will, first of all, forego the advantages of using Apple's tech.

Second, any applications marketed that way will have a huge amount of overhead: users will have to buy a VirtualPC or VMWare-type program ($300), and run TWO operating systems, just to run that one program.

That's just begging for a competitor to swoop in with a native app. Once that happens, it'd probably be too late for the lazy company to compete if they decided to put out a native version.

I would suggest that Mac ISVs should watch out for complaints that a company is doing that. If enough people are complaining, that means there's a market not being served, and ripe for the picking.

 

[steeldrivingjon]

and another thing, does this mean we won't be getting any hardware updates for a couple of years?

No. The way Jobs was talking, especially on CNBC, suggests there is PowerPC hardware in the pipeline to be released between now and the end of 2007.

 

[dicklacara]

So here is how I see it,

give me the:
intel chipset
intel graphics model
and a image of the OSX from the hard drive.

I will have OSX running on a PC in no time.

Maybe the OSX wont be upgradable but it will be good enough for my grandparents to use.

...Until the next upgrade to iTunes, iPhoto, etc...

So you will be in the business of spending hours every few weeks/months rehacking OS X, then upgrading the grandparents box...

...couldn't your valuable time and the grandparents few remaining years be better spent enjoying the computer...

Menu--->Apple-->Software Update

is pretty fast, and pretty slick... no waiting for grandchild to get his latest hack together.

 

[Mac_Freak]

No. The way Jobs was talking, especially on CNBC, suggests there is PowerPC hardware in the pipeline to be released between now and the end of 2007.

Does any one have a link to that CNBC thing. I must have miss it.

 

[tdar]

But P4 wont be in the new Mactels Guys, don't look at what is available today. As Steve said, they have focused on the future, far future. Haven't you seen the binoculars being projected while he was saying that.

They are still P4...just newer P4's!

 

[w_parietti22]

i've said it before and i'll say it again, this is the worst decision ever for apple. they will be making pc's and as said, won't be very mac like except for the box. osx isn't native to macs anymore....this all just sucks!!

Have any of you seen this artice: http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1120

It saying that OS X will require a special chip (created by apple) to boot. Therefore PCs will not be able to boot OS X.

 

[steeldrivingjon]

Basically YES YES YES...

These are here for people to transition their software.

Sort of cool that OS X will run on a standard PCs if the drivers are available.

I should note that when I ran OpenStep on a PC, back in the late 90s, I once upgraded the processor and motherboard - with significant changes - and OpenStep didn't so much as hiccup.

(I upgraded from one AMD CPU to a faster AMD K6-2, and I think went from one brand of motherboard to another. A fair amount of stuff changed.)

So that version, at least, was pretty tolerant of hardware changes. Apple might keep OS X on a tighter leash, since they're in control of the hardware this time, but it'll be on a resilient foundation.

 

[Mac_Freak]

They are still P4...just newer P4's!

On a previous posts some one has posted links to sites that list future plans of Intel. All of their future os 15 (I believe) chips will ba based on P-M thinking, design.

 

[Mpowerbook182]

Ya' know it is interesting how these pictures/specs/benchmarks have surfaced on boxes that won't be delivered for 2 weeks...

I have been thinking the exact same thing while reading these 1000's of post about the apple/intel thing.

Dave

 

[dicklacara]

I personally think the biggest concern is the timeline, this announcement will probably stall mac sales until the Intel cpu based Mac's come out, and a year just seems like way to long to wait. If converting apps is as easy as Jobs said in the presentation, and a lot of the Apple stuff is already running on the Intel systems(iLife, etc...), why not six months?

Why not, Indeed!

If things are ready!

Nothing, SJ likes better than beating his own deadlines!

Mmmmm... 12 months to showcase OS X x86...

 

[paulypants]

I hope all of the peecee weenies who claim to be godlike-hackers and will have OS X up and running on their POS homebuilt box in "no-time" spend days upon days trying to get it working only to realize that they can't do it and do it right. They can then sulk in a corner for a few more days having their hacker arrogance crushed in a feeble attempt to enjoy a better OS on an inferior box. Days wasted and confidence crushed, hopefully the will do damage to their boxes in the process as well...

 

[weezer160]

So long to the nice Macintosh startup with a chime, white screen, and Apple logo in the middle. After working on PCs, a BIOS just gives me a disconcerting feeling. Perhaps Apple just wanted something fast to throw out the door to developers and OF will come later. Perhaps we will be like Sony and just have a fancy box.

I'm ready to buy the first Mobile Mactel, but right now this just brings up all the bad connotations that make me think of a PC.

I don't think any chipset could get rid of the beloved chime. It's Apple installed ROM for the system.

 

[neonart]

um...

I'd like confirmation on the PC Bios etc... thing. If all true, then Apple's just shipping a PC.

Advantages:

R&D costs go down dramatically

Disadvantages

It's a PC. Not very "Mac"-ish perhaps except the box.
More importantly, OS X will easily run on other PCs. (same chipset)

arn

Not sure if it's been said already, but I doubt that Apple will ship "just a PC" for the final products. Just like Microsoft is not shipping G5's once the XBOX 360 arrives.

They said OSX will not run on just any X86 box. That would KILL their huge hardware profits.

Chances are by the time the first machines arrive they'll have an Apple chipset that is exclusive to them and the motherboards and other components will probably be exclusive as well just like they are now. Apple has never, ever taken the cheap fast way out for design.

I sure hope this is the case.

 

[JRM PowerPod]

ALL WILL BE ALRIGHT!!!!!

The first PowerMac will surely run the chip codenamed 'woodcrest'. It allows multiple processors and multiple cores. It is due in 07 and is essentially the successor to the Xeon.

Could you imagine the specs? Here's what I reckon

WWDC 2007
Dual Dual Core "Woodcrest' 4-5GHZ
1GB 667mhz DDR2
400GB HD
6x Blu-Ray Burner
512mb Next Gen Ati Chip

Now how cool would that be?

And the PowerBooks will once again be PowerFul
WWDC 2006

Hi-Def 17"

Dual Core 3GHZ 'Yonah'
1GB 667mhz DDR 2
160GB HD
4x Blu-Ray Burner
256mb Next Gen Mobile Ati Chip


Hi-Def 15"

Dual Core 2.7GHZ
1GB 667mhz
100GB HD
4x Blu-Ray Burner
256mb Next Gen Ati Chip

And a 13" with Dual Core 2.5

THINK PEOPLE, APPLE AREN'T GOING TO SHIFT THEIR ENTIRE ARCHITECTURE UNLESS THEY SEE BIG THINGS, AND IF THEY SEE BIG THINGS AT INTEL. WE WILL SEE WHACKED OUT COMPUTERS.


1st Transformation: Computer Company > Nearly Broke Computer Company

2nd Transformation: Nearly broke computer company > iPod Company

3rd Tranformation: iPod Company > Computer Company + iPod

 

[Stella]

Do you think they will go Xeon?

Hope not, they are Server class processors, not desktop.

 

[archer75]

These are NOT stock MB's..I've built a lot of PC's and I've never seen a fan built into the MB..Look at the CPU..there's no heat sink or fan on it.

It's called a BTX motherboard. What will someday replace ATX boards. There a few of them out there now.

 

[ruud]

Hope not, they are Server class processors, not desktop.

Fortunately, Apple makes servers too

 

[SiliconAddict]

What would have been more interesting to see is FCP or FCE running on it. Screw iApps. The iApps are already fast as it is. The people who are looking for the fastest systems are those who are in NEED of it with their pro apps. It would have been cool to see FCP/E running NOW on a 3.6Ghz Macintel (I really like that name. Please don't stone me. )