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Really switching to Intel!!??
- Thread starter dodonutter
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MacIke said:
I found this from a reliable source. Why would you want such a slow processor?
It's going to take some time before Intel macs are as fast as macs are currently. I doubt that Intel can double their speeds in the near future.
Intel already manufacture Dual Core chips. Two of these in a Powermac would kick the current model's ass!
Maxiseller said:
Finally Intel will get a real OS so the hardware isn't wasted. Lots of asses to kick including hardware from IBM and Motorola. And then kick some Operating System asses from Microsoft and even poor Linux on the same hardware.
MontyZ said:
Chances are Steve has though long and hard on this very problem. This may be a case where the iPod and iTMS might just be the saving grace for Apple over the next two years. Also consumers that aren't geeks like us aren't going to even know about the upcoming change.
wdlove said:
This is a good point. Yes, there are "geeks like us" who know every facet of Mac architecture and keep up to date on all this kind of news, however there is still a large share of Mac owners out there who couldn't even tell you right now what type of chip is in their Mac, let alone what is happening in the future.
I hope Steve and Co. has thought this through and how to deal with the potential slowdown of sales. And I agree that it's geeks like us that know and care about this kind of news. But, all my family and friends know I'm a Mac geek and come to me whenever they want to buy a new computer. So, this might happen a lot and eventually the word will get out.wdlove said:
Or, even worse, the press will spin this in a negative way and that will hurt Apple in the longrun. Let's hope not.
Vihta said:
You belive that?!?!
*sigh* In case you haven't noticed Apple likes to, well "help" its so called "benchmarks". Head over to Anandtech and you will see some real benchmarks. Keep in mind that those scores are with an opteron 250 system, had they used 252s it would have been even worse for Apple.
As a server Apple... well STINKS so I won't even get into that area.
The move over to Intel is a good one IMO. The Pentium Ms are VERY powerful per clock (maybe even more so than the PPC inside the G5) and will have no trouble taking over.
Vihta said:
Actually, those benchmarks are pure software benchmarks...
There has been a huge push for SMP on the Mac before OS X ever hit the scene. Realize that SMP software that utilizes dualies versus a single proc system is gonna win by a huge margin. The PC dualies didn't fare very well because Adobe's SMP support wasn't nearly as complete on the PC as it is on the Mac. Also realize that the processors used in the Macintel are gonna be the generation after the PC chips used in the benchmark.
To top it off, they were comparing different software... Final Cut does a lot of things better than Premiere does, so of course the PC is gonna get kicked in that benchmark.
While Apple doesn't 'lie' about the benchmarks, they do leave out important information.
Sea Shadow said:
They also tend to pick applications to play to the strengths of The PPC970, SMP, and Altivec. In most consumer apps both the G4 and G5 have their butts handed to them. I don't know if this is just deficiencies due to their origins or just nobody wanted to take the time to program for them. We can debate theoretical performance until the cows come home, but in all but the really high end applications the x86 processors will be faster. Plus the all important reality: we have a roadmap from intel. With IBM and Freescale we don't know if we're going to have anything more advanced in two years than they have now. If Apple is still using notebook processors with a SDR bus, single core PPC970FX processors, and the same AGP cards we have now, the company would probably be finished. I also have a sneaking suspicion that something similar is going to end up in the processor that ends up in the intel PowerMacs.
BenRoethig said:
That really is the key. I'm sure Apple knows a lot more about where IBM and Freescale are going than we do and they made this drastic move with that knowledge.
Most likely Freescale is telling them that they have an upcoming low power G4 targeted at fridges and toasters. IBM is telling them that they have a nextgen 970 that will be great in machines with liquid cooling and the same size radiator as a 72 Cadillac. Neither one of those options is what Apple wants to build.