Apple drops IBM PowerPC line for Intel chips

seraph

At its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) today, Apple announced plans to begin delivering models of its Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors by June 2006, and to transition all of its Macs to using Intel microprocessors by the end of 2007.

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Kassen · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 4:37 am Post subject:

Rober Henke of ableton comments;
'Bout Friggin' Time!

(Live benchmarks had budget pc laptops outperform expensive mac workstations, much to the displeasure of the Live comunity.)

mosc · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:08 am Post subject:

How long before Apple stops making hardware entirely?

The funny thing about this is that the big winner isn't Intel, it's IBM. They are making the new PlayStation chips. That market is much larger than Apple's. Before long, the gaming stations will be the most powerful computers available, and because of large volumes, the cheapest way to go. Then, Intel will be in trouble. I'm sure Intel would gladly trade places with IBM on this news story. But who cares anyway? We follow the software, not the hardware.

seraph · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:53 pm Post subject:

Macs on Intel: Special Report

http://www.macintouch.com/macintel.html#commjun09

seraph · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:58 pm Post subject:

How Apple's Intel switch will affect users:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/worktech/cst-fin-andy09.html

v-un-v

seraph

v-un-v · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject:

I dunno. I just watched the WWDC quicktime video and apart from the usual wooden Steve Jobs performance and the rather sugary act of people clapping at anything he announced, I quite warmed to the Intel CEO.

I think at the end of the day it's about giving 2 fingers to Bill Gates and microsoft's backward operating systems that matters the most Smile

Will we have the option of peeling the 'intel inside' sticker off our new products, or will those logo's be redesigned entitrely? Nope dosen't quite look right......

Apple intel.jpg

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Jason · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:44 pm Post subject:

HAHAHA
lol .....
poor mac users , they too are now PC users....

Razz

paul e. · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject:

Jason · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2005 7:06 pm Post subject:

indeed true, I just couldnt resist making some sort of joke...
hehehehe...
Apple's OS is for sure different.

v-un-v · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:19 am Post subject:

Hmm now I've had a chance to sleep on it.... I quite like this logo now Smile

I think we've got a very exciting future as an Apple community now. I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

More tea and toast me thinks Smile

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:57 am Post subject:

I don´t see this as a problem or a shocking revelation. When Apple first issued the G5 line of PowerMacs, IBM did announce that there would soon be even better CPUs on their way "really soon". from Apple´s point of view, IBM never delivered what was promised. If we take into consideration that the laptop market is really big these days and that PowerBooks are/were popular, it is a disaster that Apple has not been able to bring G5 class laptops to the market. The titanium Powerbooks were once powerful and great performers. They are still great products, but they are no longer truly great if we simply consider CPU performance. The Mac Mini is basically a Powerbook.

Apple has done similar changes before. It is hardly problematic that they do this again. The OS is basically the same. The change to will be pretty transparent to the end users anyway. The new computers will to a certain degree be compatible with ordinary PCs, but will also probaly pack some special Apple tweaks that makes OS X happy. You can probably run other x86 nixes on the boxes or even MS Windows. the main loss is the Altivec, but we might see something similar show up in the new Mac x86 boxes.
Apple is trying to convince developers to switch to their XCODE tool. This is probably the single most problematic issue in the developer community. It isn´t really a big problem though. I think I should add that according what I have understood of the XCODE documentation and the various info I have found on the web, Apple is really making XCODE able to build truly CPU independent code ( within reason ). This might mean that we might even see a return to IBM CPUs later on or whatever. In theory Apple might consider building extremely high end workstations based on the true high end PPC monsters from IBM. I am not talking the G5 line here at all.

So, now we have both the wintel and the macintel boxes. It must be stressed that Freescale ( Motorola ) and IBM both in essence are leaving the personal computer chips business. They are both really investing in embedded computing and game oriented CPUs.

In the long run this is a great move for Apple.

However, the current G5 line is far from bad and these will still be great computers for many years to come. Try to look inside of a G5 Powermac. I wouldn´t expect the insides to suddenly change to Dell ugliness with the new Intel powered macs. Apple will still stick to their tradition of making stunning gear.

I expect Steve Jobs to come up with "something" in the meantime. We just might see macintel laptops sooner rather than later, or even more Mac Mini style devices but with more features.

Jason · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:25 am Post subject:

Good info elektro80.
I am primarily a pc user, though in most pro-audio studios Apple surely dominates, though this slowly is changing. From my experience so many people can be so anti mac or anti pc etc. I think they are both great platforms. One day I would like to get an Apple.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:46 am Post subject:

I will add that I think the IBM PPC line is an excellent line of CPUs. These are great achiements and very solid performers. IBM still has some extremely high end PPC chips that never were scaled for use by Apple.
The main problem was that IBM never managed to improve the "G5" line of CPUs according to the G series roadmap as announced when the G5 line was released.

I have seen some crazy claims re x86 security vulnerabilities, but all of these are based on a serious misunderstanding. OS X won´t be less secure when running on the Intel chips. We might still see that OS X becomes a more interesting platform for virus creators, but this is another issue altogether.
The claim that OS X is extremely secure is however open for debate. This is a nix and when it comes preinstalled on a mac or when freshly installed it defaults to pretty secure settings. I would consider a mint OS X installation to be very secure, but I can promise you guys it can be made as open as Iowa within seconds if you open all the network accessible services. The Linux crowd knows all about this. Windows users have never been exposed to these issues.

Kassen · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:56 am Post subject:

I´ve been keeping a eye on the discussions about this in various places.

I think it´s time to admit that many of the points that were made in the past years between windows users and mac-ists weren´t all that relevant at all. I think people pick their first computer based on things like what the local shop has, what marketing apeals to them or what´s compattible with their friends or employer, then stick to that out of habbit. When people switch I think it´s often because of disapointment with their current platform, not because of the strong points of the other; the grass is greener and so on.

Then they start getting insecure; other people made a different choice so they may have been "wrong". The best solution to this seems to be imagining ways why others are even more wrong, if you can just "proove" that they get their feeling of security back (how´s that for one block of psychology classes six years ago? :¬) ). It logically follows that there was a urgent need to send all sorts of accusations to and from in fields where you should probably not meddle in if you´re not a pro; O.S. design and processor architecture are realy very complex and what´s a good idea depends greatly on what you want to use it for. People on audio boards will debate security of O.S.´s like it relevant to them; that´s a good topic for your browse computer which should probably be a different box from your DAW, is affected by different demands and may well run a different O.S., etc.

I for one hope that this move will show that many of those points are realy quite irrelevant to the people that make them and that the only thing that realyt matters is what you enjoy using, what you are comfortable with and what you can afford finantially. Mac´s will still look pritty if you like that style, pc´s will still be cheap if that matters and how quickly you could run 50 Photoshop filters still won´t matter to your spreadsheets or browsing. Cashe-sharing between cpu´s isn´t magically going to make the emails you get any more readable or your pr0n more exciting (sure your friends are realy intelligent and you such a stud you were unaware of pr0n up till Kas mentioned it, I asure you reading badly written emails and watching pr0n are the prime uses for computers for the average person, together with p2p programs). The mac users will still curse like a sailor minutes after claiming Mac´s "just work", PC fans will still claim how important it is to be able to build your own box and pick your own O.S. while running the same system for ages and never touching anything else then Windows.
Sadly the arguments go on for ever because the playingfield is kept level since the people who realy do care how cashe affects clusters of servers in weather emulations that would cost thousands per hour of downtime tend not to brag about their computer´s superiority, nor will they lie awake over doom3 framerates.....

B.T.W. Security *is* a very important subject but if you just install a dedicated firewall (available at the price of that old PII and giving your local linux nerd a crate of beer), don´t run I.E. and make sure there´s a virus scanner on your mail-server you are rid of almost all of it.

Now, gimme back my OS/2.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:40 am Post subject:

http://www.shapeofdays.com/2005/06/mac_os_x_on_int.html

Some great thoughts here.. and yes.. it seems like he is right.

mosc · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:37 pm Post subject:

Kassen · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 1:38 pm Post subject:

v-un-v · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:35 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:51 pm Post subject:

Well, I think Jobs is very aware that software alone is damned hard business to survive in. What they have "always" done is to mix the software with the hardware and coming up with a decent product. In some cases one might call this a metaproduct. Look at how they are getting the iTunes app out on several platforms. The Linux version will soon be released.
Quite probably they are adding some hardware surprises to the macintel.
A very strong selling point has been the Final Cut application, the DVD Studio Pro and Logic 7. It is not unlikely that Final Cut and Logic will see some cute helpers on the motherboards.

Kassen · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:17 pm Post subject:

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:23 pm Post subject:

I am getting a huge lot of intel by email. Some of this is extremely interesting and if a few of the most interesting and trustworthy tips are correct, Apple will really be building a macintel that is not a plain vanilla PC. I won´t share this latest intelwith you guys. I have no need to be sued by Apple in case some of these intel is actually 100% correct.

elektro80 · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:33 pm Post subject:

That said, it seems that Apple will issue 10.4.2 within 9-15 days. Apple has seeded build 8C29 already.

Screenshots from the leopard ( 10.5 ) concept mockup seems to be pretty amazing.
I guess Steve Jobs should consider entering the car business. I am sure he would save the US car industry.

Jason · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:51 pm Post subject:

Yes in regards to how this affects media-
Avid editing systems are primarily run on the PC platform already.
However Final Cut has taken hold with many directors and editors diving right in. You will not see this happen any time soon with Adobe Premiere etc on the PC. Not to mention the grasp of Logic audio not being supported on the PC any longer, and my final point being Pro-Tools.
Regardless of the PC support digidesign has opened up to, the majority of all pro studios still currently and I am sure will continue to be using Apple platforms. Apple has done some serious development with Final Cut to make it a very popular app. And this like audio can come with many hardware options. In terms of other things I have heard a great deal of speculation though no actual proof, is the possible integration of Logic's audio engine within Final Cut, though who knows.
Yes good info.