# Apple switches to Intel chips. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072 "2005-06-06T01:43:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/1 "2005-06-06T01:43:38Z")
> **[Business News | Today's International Headlines](https://www.reuters.com/business/)** > [@](#): > > Apple to switch to Intel chips: WSJ > Sun Jun 5, 2005 06:21 PM ET > NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is expected to announce Monday that it will begin shifting its Macintosh computer line next year to Intel Corp. chips, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Sunday, citing people familiar with the situation. > The move would be a major change in strategy by Apple, a high-profile win for Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and a blow to International Business Machines Corp. (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) . and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (FSL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , suppliers of the PowerPC chips long used in its Macintosh systems. > > [snip] > > Apple’s decision, which comes after years of industry speculation and behind-the-scenes lobbying by Intel, could cause disruptions for Macintosh users, the paper said. I am confused here, since the OS of the Mac is Unix based, I thought it was not going to be difficult to port it to the Intel machines, I always wondered why they didn’t release the Mac OS for Intel and Atlon computers before, will this mean that Apple will do that in the near future? ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/2 "2005-06-06T02:09:16Z")
> **[Apple to use Intel chips](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=319662)** > > According to this news article, Apple Computers is going to switch to Intel processors. I’m a happy Windows XP user, so maybe I shouldn’t comment, but to me this seems like a really bad move. The fact that Macs are different from Windows boxes has... Porting OSX isn’t the hard part (Darwin, the \*nix core is already out there) But all the apps will have to be recompiled. One of the nice things for Apple with making both the hardware and the software is that they can be tuned for each other and testing is easier. It will be an interesting keynote. Brian ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/3 "2005-06-06T03:23:40Z")
Figures, already posted and I took a look. However, this is now not just a rumour as many on the other thread posted, this is confirmed now by the WSJ. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/4 "2005-06-06T03:41:49Z")
I find this surreal, if true: Since PowerPC launched, Apple has been dissing Intel for well-nigh 10 years as being an inferior architecture. I recall being at WWDC a decade ago, and seeing graphs proving the coming Intel/MS architecture apocalypse as clock speeds rev up. But Apple would Save The World through RISC computing! Yay! Gently skipping over such debacles as Bedrock and Copeland, we now find ourselves much later on the G5 (“a supercomputer in your pants!”) and now Apple is going to start up an Intel Inside strategy? I’m waiting to see the first post from a Mac enthusiast telling us how this move Makes Perfect Sense! Wow, Jobs is a Genius! The mind boggles. So surreal. We’ll find out tomorrow if cognitive dissonance is a new feature of OS-X. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/5 "2005-06-06T04:04:20Z")
If in fact this _is_ true, i can predict that there will be an extremely vocal chorus of booing from the audience, Jobs may well get booed off stage, sort of like what happened in the “Dark Times” when the Antichrist, errr…Satan, errr…billy-boy gates appeared on the “Jumbotron” at Macworld and announced he was investing some pocket lint ($15 million) into Apple (thank Og they were non-voting shares…) if it is true, i for one will be giving Jobs the finger from behind the comfort of my monitor, and holding onto my Mirror Door G4 as one of the last _REAL_ Macs… in all probability, the new intel processor is probably going to be an intel-made PPC chip, probably licenced from IBM/Motorola, moving to x86 would require a fundamental rebuild of the OS and apps from the ground up, and seeing as Tiger was just recently introduced, that doesn’t make sense, perhaps they may recode OS 11 (or more probably 10.5 “Cougar”) i’m still hoping for it to be a rumor, like the iWalk or the vaporware tablet Mac… ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/6 "2005-06-06T04:10:15Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I’m waiting to see the first post from a Mac enthusiast telling us how this move Makes Perfect Sense! Wow, Jobs is a Genius! The mind boggles. Actually, Squeegee, a true Mac enthusiast would tell you that jobs is nothing special, he’s just a glorified salesdrone, an empty suit, the _real_ geniuses are The Woz\*, Jonathan Ive, and the rest of the actual _hardware engineers and programmers_, not some glorified salesdrone in a black mock turtleneck… yes, _this_ Mac fanatic actually _hates_ Unca’ stevie, especially because he seems to be stuck in “Evil Steve” mode… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/7 "2005-06-06T04:58:31Z")
I don’t know whether this is true or not, but I do know that it doesn’t really make sense. The current crop of Apple chips work very well, and I can’t imagine what benefit there would be to changing. The only way this could make any sense at all would be if they’re keeping the same architecture but Intel is going to be making them now, in which case (assuming that Apple trusts Intel to make them up to spec), it’d just be a matter of who’s making them cheaper. But even that sounds fishy: With as important as these chips are to IBM/Motorola, one would think that they’d be prepared to offer Apple a better deal than Intel is. My guess is that the “expected to announce on Monday” is just a reporter who paid too much attention to unsubstantiated rumours for the sake of scooping a story. Show me a “did announce on Monday”, and I’ll pay attention. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/8 "2005-06-06T05:08:18Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Actually, Squeegee, a true Mac enthusiast would tell you that jobs is nothing special Honestly, I don’t follow the Mac enthusiast community lately (I was quite the Mac-head long ago) but I’d thought Jobs was held in a sort of tarnished sainthood by now: he’s…hrm…a dick. But a brilliant one!! He saved the company after Gil drove it into the ground!! Or something; I admit I haven’t followed Jobs beatification of late. > [@](#): > > The _real_ geniuses are The Woz\* Woz is brilliant, but hasn’t done much since 1979ish. Certainly nothing for the Mac. No? > [@](#): > > Jonathan Ive If I’m not mistaken, Jon designed the _shape_ of some Macs. And how they could be manufactured. I’m sure he’s brilliant at what he does, but it doesn’t, to me, seem instrumental to the whole Mac Experience. But, again, what do I know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/9 "2005-06-06T05:18:07Z")
CNET now: [http://news.com.com/Apple+to+ditch+IBM%2C+switch+to+Intel+chips/2100-1006\_3-5731398.html](http://news.com.com/Apple+to+ditch+IBM%2C+switch+to+Intel+chips/2100-1006_3-5731398.html) > [@](#): > > **update** Apple Computer plans to announce Monday that it’s scrapping its partnership with IBM and switching its computers to Intel’s microprocessors, CNET [News.com](http://News.com) has learned. > > Apple has used IBM’s PowerPC processors since 1994, but will begin a phased transition to Intel’s chips, sources familiar with the situation said. 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. Possible reason: Hollywood Orders, uh, recommendation: > **[Hollywood Orders: Apple Wed Intel](https://www.wired.com/2005/06/hollywood-orders-apple-wed-intel/?tw=wn_tophead_1)** > > Apple's marriage to Intel is a shotgun wedding and Tinseltown is behind it. News analysis (actually, pure guesswork) by Leander Kahney. > [@](#): > > As initially reported, there are a couple of big problems with Apple moving to Intel. The biggest is shifting all the Mac software to a new platform. Apple apparently mulled moving to Intel a few years ago, when Motorola’s chip development fell woefully behind, but Steve Jobs nixed it because of the massive disruption it would cause developers. > > What’s new this time is a fast, transparent, universal emulator from Transitive, a Silicon Valley startup. > > Transitive’s QuickTransit allows any software to run on any hardware with no performance hit, or so the company claims. The techology automatically kicks in when necessary, and supports high-end 3D graphics. It was developed by Alasdair Rawsthorne. > > [snip] > > But why would Apple do this? Because Apple wants Intel’s new Pentium D chips. > > Released just few days ago, the dual-core chips include a hardware copy protection scheme that prevents “unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted materials from the motherboard,” according to PC World. > > Apple – or rather, Hollywood – wants the Pentium D to secure an online movie store (iFlicks if you will), that will allow consumers to buy or rent new movies on demand, over the internet. > > According to [News.com](http://News.com), the Intel transition will occur first in the summer with the Mac mini, which I’ll bet will become a mini-Tivo-cum-home-server. > > Hooked to the internet, it will allow movies to be ordered and stored, and if this [News.com](http://News.com) piece is correct, loaded onto the video iPod that’s in the works. > > Intel’s DRM scheme has been kept under wraps – to prevent giving clues to crackers – but the company has said it will allow content to be moved around a home network, and onto suitably-equipped portable devices. > > And that’s why the whole Mac platform has to shift to Intel. Consumers will want to move content from one device to another – or one computer to another – and Intel’s DRM scheme will keep it all nicely locked down. ---
**Author:** ![Andros\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Andros\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andros_X)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/10 "2005-06-06T06:58:11Z")
Apple seems to be fairly competent – relatively speaking – at creating their own DRM. Why bring Intel into it? Besides, commodity hardware means that when Intel’s DRM is cracked, so is theirs. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/11 "2005-06-06T10:25:18Z")
Except that the -D platform does not have new DRM in it. [http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23708](http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=23708) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/12 "2005-06-06T13:13:48Z")
OK, I’m immensely skeptical about this: "What’s new this time is a fast, transparent, universal emulator from Transitive, a Silicon Valley startup. Transitive’s QuickTransit allows any software to run on any hardware with no performance hit, or so the company claims. The techology automatically kicks in when necessary, and supports high-end 3D graphics. It was developed by Alasdair Rawsthorne. " It could be a similar technology to the interpretor that Apple used when converting to the PowerPC chip years ago. But while that was reasonably fast, it sure wasn’t without a performance hit. And I really don’t see how you can do it without a performance hit because so much software is compiled to take advantages of features of the specific architecture it’s running on. I guess we’ll find out today, but if the motivation for the change is truly the DRM, a lot of the Apple fanbase is going to be massively upset. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/13 "2005-06-06T13:14:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Transitive’s QuickTransit allows any software to run on any hardware with no performance hit, or so the company claims. That’s impossible. There has to be some overhead in translating code from one instruction set to another. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/14 "2005-06-06T13:48:36Z")
“No performance hit” is about as believable as Nigerian spam. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/15 "2005-06-06T16:36:47Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Figures, already posted and I took a look. However, this is now not just a rumour as many on the other thread posted, this is confirmed now by the WSJ. Don’t worry about it, **GIGO**. It actually felt kinda wierd to be scooping the Mac enthusiasts like that, but that article was too interesting to ignore. I’m half-expecting to see a news article titled “Steve Jobs lynched by thousands of irate Apple users.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/16 "2005-06-06T17:32:05Z")
Well, according to the PBP of Jobs’s keynote, it’s completely true, and he confirmed what we all knew: they’ve had OSX for x86 in the lab since the beginning. They’re releasing a new version of XCode that will create a single binary for both platforms. His entire keynote has been running on a P4 3.6Ghz, in OSX, and he demoed all the standard apps. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/17 "2005-06-06T17:39:32Z")
I was skeptical, but I’m glad to be proven wrong. Hopefully someday soon I’ll have a dual-boot Windows, Linux, and OS X machine! ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/18 "2005-06-06T17:42:37Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I was skeptical, but I’m glad to be proven wrong. Hopefully someday soon I’ll have a dual-boot Windows, Linux, and OS X machine! I wonder if it’ll be possible, myself. Considering how tight Apple locks their hardware down, I wouldn’t be surprised if they figure out a way to stop people from doing it. If Engadget is to be believed, the dynamic translator they’re using, called Rosetta, doesn’t show noticeable slowdown. Jobs was demoing MS Office and Photoshop with it and everything worked, they said. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/19 "2005-06-06T18:13:35Z")
Here is the Apple press release: > **[Newsroom](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/)** > > Apple Newsroom is the source for news about Apple. Read press releases, get updates, watch video and download images. Lots of details unexplained. Will Mac OSX run on commdity hardware? I’m not sure how Apple prevents this. Custom BIOses can be cracked. Brian ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072/20 "2005-06-06T18:25:19Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Here is the Apple press release: > [http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06intel.html](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06intel.html) > > Lots of details unexplained. Will Mac OSX run on commdity hardware? > I’m not sure how Apple prevents this. Custom BIOses can be cracked. > > Brian My guess is that it won’t use a traditional BIOS, and that it’ll look for specific video hardware, etc. If OSX for Intel doesn’t find a video card that says “Hey, I’m from Apple!” it won’t run, or some such. They’ll find ways to keep us from going to Pricewatch and building an OSX box for $400. Either that, or hell really has frozen over and they’re going to allow clones again. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apple-switches-to-intel-chips/307072.md?page=2)