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Really switching to Intel!!??

artifex said:
If it's an x86 chip inside, all apps will have to be recompiled to work with it. There are little-endian vs. big-endian issues, among other things. If you're a company that has an investment in software you bought for PPC-based OSX, you will not be able to use that investment on whatever x86 based OSX machine you buy, unless you get a compatible version from the vendor, which probably means more $$$. So no, it's not absurd to reject a hardware platform change that is that major.
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Nobody is saying the change would happen overnight. Emulation is a possible short-term crutch to get along until the software vendors can rewrite their code. If the software is important enough to the company they would eventually upgrade....especially if they were able to get better performance/price. (PERHAPS) The fact this annoucement is supposed to happen at a SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE might make sense based on the above.

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gabefung said:
001_AppleSwitchIntel.jpg
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Classic.
 
dejo said:
I'd venture to say, and suspect a number of others will agree with me here, that what makes Apple is the combination of software AND hardware.
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Correctly they do both. I was saying the majority of what makes the company is software, not all.....sorry for not specifying that.

Could you give a list.....say maybe 5-7 pieces of hardware that really define and embody Apple? just curious.

Tap
 
Forgive me if this has been mentioned before but could it not be possible that Intel would make a unique chip designed to Apple requirements rather than standard pentium/centrino's?
Vanilla
 
Tap said:
Correctly they do both. I was saying the majority of what makes the company is software, not all.....sorry for not specifying that.

Could you give a list.....say maybe 5-7 pieces of hardware that really define and embody Apple? just curious.

Tap
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1. The G5 Heatsinks.
2. The apple logo on the back of my powerbook.
3. Uhhh thats all I got right now....
 
Vanilla said:
Forgive me if this has been mentioned before but could it not be possible that Intel would make a unique chip designed to Apple requirements rather than standard pentium/centrino's?
Vanilla
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yes if there was a switch you are right it would be like that. but lets face it. we all know this is totaly fake, i can feel it in my gut that it is just a load of BS. i mean come on...
 
What about things like this:

http://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/
http://www.apple.com/imac/processor.html
http://www.apple.com/g5processor/executioncore.html

Switch to Intel, assuming it it not Intel made PowerPC CPU, would make an unforgettable Jobs stage performance.

Anyway, I am pretty certain that if Apple goes with Intel it's not x86. Intel has Itanium (Itanic :D but it's very good 64bit CPU comparable in lot of things to G5) and XScale as well.
Right now, Itanium emulates x86 in harware/microcode, maybe it's possible to add PowerPC emulation as well?
 
Tap said:
This news could play out in a number of ways but I think that SOME of the IBM/PPC fanboys need to wake-up and realize that hardware isnt what makes Apple what it is, its software. Smaller/faster/cheaper/cooler/quieter is the game of the day for hardware and if PPC kit can't provide these needs to meet Apple's requirements.....face it....they CAN and WILL (?) be replaced.

Tap
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Software may be the soul of Apple, but it's a business like any other, it's survival and success based on profit.

Most of their core software comes free on new computers, some simple math for you:

OS Upgrade : Tiger $129
iLife: $79

vs.

iMac: $1300-$1800
Power Mac: $1500-3000

Hardware may not define Apple (arguably), but it certainly sustains it, and fuels creativity. This corporate reality can not be underestimated. Apple is in the business of selling systems, of which there is a hardware and software component. This is their niche and they're quite successful at it.

There is no chance OS X will end up on a Dell. Apple didn't expand into retail around the world so they could sell iPods, Tiger and Final Cut Pro.
 
iMeowbot said:
It's right there in the second paragraph, "sources familiar with the situation" said so. So we know it's at least two people, and the smart money is on John Dvorak and Rob Enderle as the sources. Rock solid!
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I bet on Dvorak on the first page, but I'm betting the second source was the Easter Bunny and/or the WSJ article.

Every time somebody posts an article it bounces for quite awhile, but at least he pinned the announcement to Monday -- at which time the Easter Bunny will throw eggs at my face (hope they are NOT hard boiled) or the author of the article (in which case I hope they are)
 
I'm not sure if anybody mentioned this yet, but remember the Mac Mini mock-up? Perhaps it is NOT a mock-up but the real thing!!
 
tutubibi said:
What about things like this:

http://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/
http://www.apple.com/imac/processor.html
http://www.apple.com/g5processor/executioncore.html

Switch to Intel, assuming it it not Intel made PowerPC CPU, would make an unforgettable Jobs stage performance.

Anyway, I am pretty certain that if Apple goes with Intel it's not x86. Intel has Itanium (Itanic :D but it's very good 64bit CPU comparable in lot of things to G5) and XScale as well.
Right now, Itanium emulates x86 in harware/microcode, maybe it's possible to add PowerPC emulation as well?
Click to expand...

i would love to see OSX on Itanium, it would be so cool to run Longhorn and OSX nativly on the same machine. especialy such a cool machine....but alas it will never happen, and probly for the best
 
Vanilla said:
Forgive me if this has been mentioned before but could it not be possible that Intel would make a unique chip designed to Apple requirements rather than standard pentium/centrino's?
Vanilla
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Sure I imagine they COULD....they have enough $$$ to finance that kinda move (fabs,r&d knowledge,etc) But I believe Intel would have to license PPC, and I can't really see that happening. Not to mention there is no point really. IBM knows how to make CPUs no doubt, so does Intel. But what could Intel provide that IBM could not??

Tap
 
poundsmack said:
yes if there was a switch you are right it would be like that. but lets face it. we all know this is totaly fake, i can feel it in my gut that it is just a load of BS. i mean come on...
Click to expand...

I guess my point is that IF this was the scenario then fears of PC proletariats installing OSX on their own machines, somehow getting into bed with the Wintel cabal etc. are way off beam. I mean, assuming the chip is optimised for Apple architecture and OSX, who cares who makes the chip in Apple machines?

Vanilla
 
Tap said:
Sure I imagine they COULD....they have enough $$$ to finance that kinda move (fabs,r&d knowledge,etc) But I believe Intel would have to license PPC, and I can't really see that happening. Not to mention there is no point really. IBM knows how to make CPUs no doubt, so does Intel. But what could Intel provide that IBM could not??

Tap
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Champagne.
 
The Proof is in the Press Cycle

This rumor is false, and the proof is in the news cycle this week:

1. Intel pre-announces, e.g. 18 months away, a dual core laptop chip. The last time they made a move like and pre-announced a product days before a "SteveNote" was right before the G5 announcement.

Yeah, Steve has something up his sleeve, but it doesn't involve Intel (unless it is a secondary chip set) On to the smoking gun...

2. Intel demo'ing the Mac mini knock-off over the past couple of weeks.

If Intel had a deal with Apple, they would never be pulling this type of PR which would anger Jobs to no end. This, for me, is the smoking gun.

I suspect Apple has some very big things up their sleeve, and they are still burned about the leak over the Mac mini, so they are doing some misdirection at the expense of Cnet. (Cnet has never been very pro-Apple.)

Jobs at D3 said they have a huge year coming with breakthrough products, and since most leaks seem to happen a few days before the "SteveNote" what better way to keep people pre-occupied than with an outrageous rumor like this to distract the media and rumor mongers.

I think this is misdirection, pure and simple.
 
I don't know if somebody mentioned this before, but the biggest hurdle to x86 Mac would be Altivec (or lack of equivalent) on x86.
Most of Apple's pro applications are extensively optimized for Altivec and simple recompile will not do good. Intel's SIMD extensions are simply not enough to make something like DVD encoding speed close to Altivec enhanced CPU even at double the clock.
 
tutubibi said:
What about things like this:

http://www.apple.com/powermac/performance/
http://www.apple.com/imac/processor.html
http://www.apple.com/g5processor/executioncore.html
Click to expand...
One word... "marketing".

Example: Remember when the Playstation 2 was about to come out and you heard something like "able to render Toy Story in real-time" ?? Yeah, that really happened. Same at this years E3 and the PS3 videos of games that were pre-rendered/CG vs in-game footage. People are eatting up the numbers again, obviously they didnt learn last time. Its all in how you say/present something.

To make my point......isnt it funny they left out game benchmarks?? say Doom 3? Apple gets HAMMERED in performance on much lesser PCs running lower quality video cards. There are other things i'm sure the PC will do "faster" than an Apple but this example just sticks out in my mind because it was such a whooping.

Marketing....gotta love it....thats why i have my degree in it :p

Tap
 
Tap said:
Nobody is saying the change would happen overnight. Emulation is a possible short-term crutch to get along until the software vendors can rewrite their code. If the software is important enough to the company they would eventually upgrade....especially if they were able to get better performance/price. (PERHAPS) The fact this annoucement is supposed to happen at a SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE might make sense based on the above.

Tap
Click to expand...

Well, maybe. I'm still hoping Intel will be making Power architecture chips :)
Anyway, if Steve announces something else new and immediately shipping, cheap enough for a college student (I wish the mini would get bumped up, maybe get an ipod dock built in, finally), I have an edu coupon that expires 3 days after the Keynote that I might use on it. I don't currently own any apps or Apple gear except for two classics held back from the junk pile at a local school and my iPod, so as long as it comes with OSX and the iLife stuff, etc., I'd be okay.

It'd be nice if the mini came in black, too. Much less obtrusive, and would match my iPod :)
 
Vanilla said:
I guess my point is that IF this was the scenario then fears of PC proletariats installing OSX on their own machines, somehow getting into bed with the Wintel cabal etc. are way off beam. I mean, assuming the chip is optimised for Apple architecture and OSX, who cares who makes the chip in Apple machines?

Vanilla
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EXACTLY Someone besides just me (j/k) gets it. Who is to say the chip is optimized for Apple's architecture and OSX?? Why not OSX being optimized to run on existing chips? :)

Tap
**being a forum whore tonight, this is pretty fun** :p
 
Tap said:
One word... "marketing".

Example: Remember when the Playstation 2 was about to come out and you heard something like "able to render Toy Story in real-time" ?? Yeah, that really happened. Same at this years E3 and the PS3 videos of games that were pre-rendered/CG vs in-game footage. People are eatting up the numbers again, obviously they didnt learn last time. Its all in how you say/present something.

To make my point......isnt it funny they left out game benchmarks?? say Doom 3? Apple gets HAMMERED in performance on much lesser PCs running lower quality video cards. There are other things i'm sure the PC will do "faster" than an Apple but this example just sticks out in my mind because it was such a whooping.

Marketing....gotta love it....thats why i have my degree in it :p

Tap
Click to expand...

Exactly, that's why I am saying it would be Jobs's ultimate performance. Imagine Soviet Union in 50s having to say "You know, we are going capitalisam now".
 
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