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Apple Hedges Its Bet on New Intel Chips

Posted by Hemos on from the the-smart-move dept.

Corrado writes "The Mercury News is reporting that Apple is still planning to use PowerPC chips well into 2008 for its low end and portable systems. Does this increase the "warm fuzzes" for the Intel move? More information from TheStreet and lots more links from Google News."

2 of 334 comments (clear)

  1. They won't change from PPC by guruevi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    PPC is one of the best platforms ever for both sound, gfx and of course heat production. It is also more efficient as it is a full RISC processor instead of the Intel's who are hybrid CISC and RISC: The core, the base level, is a fast RISC processor. On top of that is an interpreter which 'sees' the CISC instructions, and breaks them down into simpler RISC instructions. So, why should you switch to a b0rked platform which is ages old so it can still support DOS and has the power usage and heat production of a small oven (especially in datacenters)? As long as Apple provides PPC I will buy their PPC or buy other PPC machines.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  2. Watch the Mac fanatics twist and turn by Animats · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    It's amusing to watch the Apple fanatics apologize for Apple's policy changes. This has been going on since Apple was late with color displays ("The Mac doesn't need color. It has resolution"), through the day Jobs bowed down to Gates on the big screen, and through the years during which Apple couldn't get a new OS out the door.

    This isn't about spare parts for repair. For a consumer product, you handle that by running off extra boards while the product is still in production and storing them. Then you shut down the production line. This is more about keeping options open in case the Intel transition doesn't come off.

    There are a number of ways this could go bad. For example, many Mac users still run Microsoft Office on the Mac. Microsoft isn't obligated to offer that on x86 for the Mac, now that the five year deal has expired. PPC emulation on x86 may not work all that well. Many Mac developers may just drop the Mac rather than switching to x86, which is what happened at the PPC transition.