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Really switching to Intel!!??

I don't see the switch the Intel chips as a negative. Everyone complains of the lack of speed in the PPC chips. Apple could/should/would make an x86 box that is as closed as the PPC box is now, for the sake of system stability. They could do some sort of special chip that would not allow OS X to be bootable on anything other then an Apple box.

This may help also bridge the concerns switchers have about not being able to run Win apps. Plug-in a second drive, with Win Xp - and have a dual boot system.

A win-win if I ever heard of one.
 
dodonutter said:
Found this ARTICLE claming they have recieved information stating Apple will announce a switch to intel on monday. I thought this was a rumor that was going to blow over like they have done before...are they really switching??

:eek: :confused: :confused: :confused: :eek:
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If it was true it would have been posted by AppleInsider or Think Secret ages ago, especially considering their pretty accurate track record of late ;)
 
mklos said:
I don't see any significant proof of this anywhere. It does make any sense for Apple to make the switch. Apple has really pushed developers to make OSX PPC apps. Now that that they've done this, they have to turn around and re-make Mac apps for an X86 processor?

Now, consider this....

What if Intel made a PPC chip? Rumors if true, are usually only partially true. In other words, they were correct, but didn't quite get the rumor 100% correct. So if Intel designed a PPC processor for Apple (and possibly Sony and Microsoft down the road for their video game boxes) then this wouldn't be so much of a problem.

I'm pretty damn sure that Apple has a version Mac OS X.3 and probably Mac OS X.4 for an x86 processor. They might just need cleaning up, but I'm they're already to go and could probably even ship within the next month or two if absolutely needed.

I still think this is purely a rumor, and one that most likely isn't true. But, never underestimate Steve Jobs if you piss him off.....
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I'm betting it's true at this point. I can't believe they'd do it, but they've done stupid stuff in the past.
 
absolut_mac said:
If it was true it would have been posted by AppleInsider or Think Secret ages ago, especially considering their pretty accurate track record of late ;)
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You've got to be kidding me. Because Apple Insider doesn't have it you don't believe it?
 
Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007, sources said.

The announcement is expected Monday at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, at which Chief Executive Steve Jobs is giving the keynote speech. The conference would be an appropriate venue: Changing the chips would require programmers to rewrite their software to take full advantage of the new processor.
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You have to ask yourself when the last time Apple made an announcement this far in advance.

OK, we knew what PowerPC CPUs were in the next gen (603/604) after the 601 -- but Apple has been tight lipped since then and has avoided public announcements.

If they were really doing it, they'd dump a x86 machine on the market and make it emulate a PowerPC until the developers recompile.

They wouldn't tell us they'll be switching to x86 next year, and kill sales for the next 2 years.
 
Sun Baked said:
You have to ask yourself when the last time Apple made an announcement this far in advance.

OK, we knew what PowerPC CPUs were in the next gen (603/604) after the 601 -- but Apple has been tight lipped since then and has avoided public announcements.

If they were really doing it, they'd dump a x86 machine on the market and make it emulate a PowerPC until the developers recompile.

They wouldn't tell us they'll be switching to x86 next year, and kill sales for the next 2 years.
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I disagree. This change is too drastic to just spring on developers. They'll want to give alot of lead time for changes like they did going from 68K chips to the PPC 601 which they announced over a year in advance. I wouldn't be shocked that if they're changing they'll announce monday. This is going to take a crapload of recompiling.
 
Phatpat said:
I'd be all up for Apple going with AMD, but Intel? They're just too much of a behemoth of a company.
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If Intel will be manufacturing PowerPC chips, then why not go with the 87% share holder? Sure beats risking partnering with AMD and having it go down the drain like IBM.
 
mklos said:
What if Intel made a PPC chip?
Click to expand...

This seems more plausible than x86 and intriguing. If Apple can go from Moto to IBM (or more acurately AIM), why not from IBM/AIM to Intel?

Now imagine the debate if it truly was an x86 conversion - no more Mhz myth - wouldn't that be weird? I wouldn't mind if in the end it means faster machines over a shorter period of time with no additional cost, but I wish it was AMD winning out instead...
 
bosrs1 said:
You've got to be kidding me. Because Apple Insider doesn't have it you don't believe it?
Click to expand...

Hey, don't take the rumor sites too seriously. I don't :)

As for the switch itself, it doesn't seem to make sense to my limited knowledge of these things for two reasons.

1) IBM has some very exciting developments coming down the pike - cell processors, 45 nano wafers, Sony, MS and Nintendo all using IBM for their game boxes etc.

2) Intel seems to have hit a wall, both in terms of more gigs (read speed) and new and improved CPU architecture.

Just my 2c's worth.
 
I dont like this idea at all...

So they do go to intel, Whats going to happen to all the PPC pased macs now?? Apple and all the other devolpers are not going to write 2 verisions of code for out dating and current machines. I HOPE TO GOD INTEL IS GOT PPC IN MIND.
 
The only constant is change.
I really couldn't care less who makes the parts, as long as it is not prison or child labor, it is secure, reliable, and cost effecient.
 
Dual Core, Dual Core!!

This is why. Intel's new dual core mobiles will allow 8 hours of battery on the same hardware as today, will be wickedly fast and have WiFi built in. 2mb cache on the cores....Look IBM doesn't even have a G5 roadmap. Everything is speculation. They can't even get Apple to G5 at 3ghz in two years!!!! but can get MS Xbox to 3.2ghz. I think Jobs is both pissed and wants to move OS X to a global platform for growth and focus on software and media and NOT the hardware.....

Well see but it will be big news, and the fact that IBM hasn't denied it for stock moves purposes is the tell tale sign that they know what's up....

OS X software will be easy to port because FreeBSD runs on X86 anyways so it is very, very, easy to port and older software with the Intel Dual Cores can run an emulator program very effectively!

It will be a good move long term.
 
One thing upon skimming Cnet's article that strikes me as a little (no pun intended) odd is the reference to the Mac mini being Apple's first "Intel inside" box.

If there are insurmountable performance issues that exist for the G5 compared to an Intel variant (by and large imperceptible for most installations as of now) then why wouldn't high end Powermacs be the first to get the alleged "power?" Or for that matter, what about the G5 challenged laptop line?

And if there are insurmountable supply issues that exist, the Mac mini uses Freescale's G4, which hasn't been cited for supply issues and has more than enough power for it's intended users.

And Apple is just emerging from the "major" OS "transition" as Jobs likes to point out. A rare event in the computing world, and Apple has publicly kissed the developers for sticking by them through the the ups and downs of software development coding and updating to get OS X to where it is today. The just released Tiger throws in a few more curves (core technologies; image, video, data) for developers to digest. Now it's do it all over again soon for the new CPU's?

I smell...something fishy lol.
 
This could be true. I bet that Intel is making a mobile PPC chip for new Apple Powerbooks. This makes perfect sense to me, because Intel makes probably the best mobile chips... or the most efficient chips. But, I dunno. Thats my best guess, there is no way that Apple would move to x86. But the Eagles said that they would never get back together until "Hell freezes over", and they did get back together. Apparently, hell has frozen over before. This is going to be an interesting week to say the least.
 
I honestly didn't think anything would come out of this Intel-Apple rumor, but now it seems to be more credible. If an announcement is going to be mad eon the subject, it'll be at WWDC on Monday so we won't have long to wait to find out....
 
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