Apple Officially Gets Intel Inside

The Useless Debate will spark yet again.

omg AMD > INTEL LOL. INTELFANBOIS. IBM IS A NAZI ORGANIZATION.

So how long until that DRM shit gets into Apple's product line?

Guess the niche market that some Mac users wish Apple would have kept catering to just wasn't enough for the botom line...

What a waste...

Who cares?

That's what I was thinking. I thought they should of stayed with IBM

I would guess not long...how else are they gonna keep apple people locked into apple software without a hardware level check for certified software. Does Intel make any other chips suitable for a PC or is it pretty much a set deal that if they go Intel it's gonna be some sort of x86 chip.

I think this is a very bad move on Apples part. If they actually go x86, I foresee a world where PC people can use software made for Apple (with hacks) but Apple people not able to use software for PC.

About time they get rid of that sorry excuse for a cpu they have

This might lower the cost of macs. I hope.

... "intel Inside" doesn't necessarily mean "x86" inside.

- Dan

So does this mean that the current RISC processor will now be CISC? If so I guess they can't use the graphic/video selling point for the MACs now. Because all the same Adobe stuff if available for x86 & Windows.

Apple has now simply turned into Dell. Just another PC vendor. I can see it now, Apple will sell PC's with Windows or MAC OS. People will be able to buy a Dell and then go to Best Buy and buy MAC OS and put it on there or they will be able to download a hacked copy that will work on other computers.

Now it will be simple, before it was almost impossibe to port MAC OS cause you had to touch every file to make it compatible with x86, now it will be fully x86 compatible they just might have a lock in it that it will not install on any hardware except for Apple stuff. So that would be easy for someone to fix that, especially since MAC OS is based on FreeBSD and there are so many FreeBSD gods out there.

That "sorry" excuse for a cpu that Apple is using right now is PowerPC based, which fyi is going to be powering the next gen gaming consoles. Hope you don't play Xbox 360!

Is anyone even considering the possibility that the story isn't true, or was misheard?

I don't want to discount the possibility of its being legit, but so far News.com is the only site claiming this... and of course, from "sources." Everyone else is simply linking to that root story and treating it as fact because it's from a larger organization.

Can't speak for other people, but I'm voicing my opinion in the hopes that Apple will take a look at it's current customer base and how we feel about this kind of thing. If enough people are against even the THOUGHT of switching to an Intel chip, maybe that would make Apple think twice.

Then again, the deal COULD already be done. I hope not.

Intel != x86. I would not mind an x86 OSX, however...

Would Apple use the same Pentium class processors in the Mac? I doubt they would have Intel design something proprietary at this point; they adopted USB a few years ago with barely a wimper.

If so, I can see the end of Apple making any more computers within three years as they won't dream to be able to compete on price with every other Windows PC manufacturer; Dell would eat them for breakfast (unless they outsource big time, after which quality control would suffer).

Say it ain't so, Mr. Jobs.

I agree the debate will begin anew.This time it includes the
shady deal between Apple and Intel.Post's on BBR.From Mac user's here
would have one believieng,it already is a more "secure" computing envirement "virus" wise. Now we get the chance to view firsthand.How secure(Trusted)
it's going to become.Why would Apple allow the biggest virus (DRM) maker and spreader(Intel)onto a clean system? PLEASE Apple don't get in bed with a dirty bird.You will regret it sales wise,you stood the chance of gaining a large market share of ex-Windows users.As a Windows user.I may need to switch someday soon.I'll wait till this reaches full steam,comes to a head.If it proves itself to be anti-consumer,as is the case with much of customer goods These days.It undeniebly is going in that direction.Then I will simply
unplug the damn PC .Say that's it an that's that,cancel dsl service.Where in the great outdoors,one will not have to worry about BSOD,spyware,hackers,worms,trojans.Unless one leaves home without one
If enough people do the same.This will also hurt
ISP's wallet as well.

apple could just be using intel to make its PPC chips FYI. from what i hear Intel has some of the best IC fab plants in the world. the chip making machines are neutral, if intel tells it to use apples PPC design it will make it.

I would buy Mac OSX the day it becomes available for x86 architecture! While I am sure loyal, long-time Mac users are concerned about this potential move I think it could be great for Apple. Suddenly a vast segment of the market would open up to them (those with Win-based PCs) and it would help them to compete against lower cost competitors like Dell. Heck, the main reason I've yet to purchase a Mac is because they are so damn expensive. I imagine other people probably feel the same way.

It is great news. But most people are thinking that they will some how make it so you can't run anything but Mac stuff still be some means. Makes sense for Apple if they want to sell the software and hardware still.

If this is true then I will really have to laugh. After years and years and years of Apple zealots saying Intel sucks they could now be relying on that same company to produce the core of their computers.

Oh, the hypocrisy...

But again, Intel does not necessarily mean x86. Intel could gear up to produce a chip, under whatever name, that is functionally the same as what they have now. Think of all the software for those systems that suddenly becomes non-transportable to a new system if the CPU does not support the command set.

Apple is one of the few companies that can make solid margins on its hardware because their hardware is unique among competitors as is OSX for the most part and of course they can set the price to whatever they want. Keep in mind though that software has shown itself to be a far more profitable business than hardware and convincing someone to pay $3000 for a G5 when they can spend $2000 for a comparable x86 system is only going to become more difficult as people are starting to regard the pc as a disposable appliance.

Apple has proven they can build an extremely nice operating system that is basically user-friendly FreeBSD. I am not saying I would absolutely go spend $200 to buy OSX for my x86 system but a lot of people probably would consider it an option especially the large number of people who admire the Apple systems but don't want to spend that kind of money on the hardware.

I really don't think Apple is going to switch to using an x86 chip. If they did every piece of software out for the Mac would not work. They are just going to have Intel make THEIR chip. My guess is Intel under bid IBM. If anything The one thing I see happening is Macs might become cheaper.

Just my thoughts.

Those have nothing to do with the CPU. They're the OS's fault.

I don't think Apple is going to announce they're ditching OSX for Windows. So except for the Apple employees and a few others who have to port over some low-level code, who cares.

true lol. Not like those fanboys even know anything about computers anyways.

Are you referring to the 'DRM Shit' that already exists in their iTunes Music Store? Because that DRM Shit is already there. It's not like it doesn't already exist in their product line

Yep.

Lets see...

1) The head of Intel mention somthing about Apple when he spoke about 1 hour a week spent to clean up his daughters computer.

2) Intel been banging on there Fithdoms to build a mini clone. And did this week. It runs a Petium M cpu and is actually smaller than a mini.

3) Apple wants a faster cpu. Esp for its laptops.

4) Intel would like to step a bit away from Microsoft trying to implode.

5) Give apple a place to build glue combo chips which would cut cost.

Would expect to see a CPU thats microcode could run fully PPC native. This is not the 70/80/ or 90's. There are smaller code sets running under the normal instructions. With some twickes its not hard fellows! Its rather simple. Esp since Apple is 1/3 member of the Power PC chip group.

This would give Intel a hot 64 bit scheme. Cross it with their M tech. And the dual M tech next year and it get Intel running again! By helping Apple they are actualy helping themselves.

Not sure if AMD has there own fab plantes but Intel does.

Windows is a security risk. Linus is not and OS X is not.

The only person scared this weekend is Gates since Intel and Apple could litterly rip the market out from under him real quick. Esp since MS keeps eating ther own foot!

Apple saw what can ocure when you offer a quality box this year and the explosiong it caused in switchers from Windows.

Are people forgetting that emulation can be done for existing OS X software. People should also remember that it is not the x86 architecture itself that software companies don't like (in fact many of them probably prefer it) it is the current dominating operating system (insert Windows here) that is the root of the problem. I, as a consumer, would love to see another truly viable OS (OS X), that many software companies already do and will probably continue to support, on the x86 architecture.

There's no way Intel is going to be producing a new chip for a product line that's going to be out in a year or less. Those things take years to design and test. Even if Apple was asking them to produce PPC chips, that's not an overnight switch.

Of course, this *could* be something that they've been partnering on for some time now, but I really think we would've heard about it before now. My guess is Intel will be using one of the new 64-bit CPU's with an added instruction set (or something) to only run with Apple software and hardware.

The other side is that there's no way Apple will just release OS X for x86 - They don't support *nearly* as many devices, chipsets and peripherals that "Wintel" does - They support, what, a dozen systems with fairly similar configurations? OS X for x86 still won't happen.

Neither Intel or Apple have commented, nobody has announced any product, and CNet can only attribute the story to "sources familiar with the situation". This isn't anything even close to "official" or "confirmed", as the BBR story says.