Monday, June 06, 2005
Unbelievable. This was one of the most ridiculous announcements Apple has ever made. Not in a bad way. It's just a huge transition, and it's going against what Apple has said for many years, that IBM RISC processors were the future.
I think it's the right move. Whether Intel or IBM makes faster chips, I feel a lot more confident sticking with Intel and the rest of the industry than taking a chance with IBM. Especially now that IBM is making chips for all the gaming consoles, they probably won't care about Apple as much.
Hopefully this will lead to faster desktops, and especially, faster laptops with better battery life. One total bit of speculation (that would be amazing) is if Apple can now easily make a Palm like handheld device. Most of those devices run on Intel XScale processors, and now that Mac OS X and the applications publicly run on Intel processors, it will be much easier for Apple to make such a device.
Some interesting facts about the transition:
Mac OS X (and iLife) has run on Intel machines since day 1. Apple secretly kept that going "just in case"
Most Cocoa and Carbon apps will only need a small bit of code to be changed and recompiled
Some apps will need a more significant overhaul
All old (PowerPC) apps will run on the Intel boxes using something called Rosetta which will be fast (enough)
Eventually all apps will be shipped as Universal Binaries that run on both PowerPC and Intel Macs
So while transitioning to an all new processor family will not be easy, Apple has made it as good as it gets. Developers can get an Intel Mac and dev tools within weeks.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini spoke at the keynote as well. He's an incredible speaker and gave a great presentation of Apple and Intels history, and how "The world's most innovative computer company has teamed up with the most innovative chip company."
He also played the Apple Think Different "Toasted Bunnies" ad which Apple ran a few years ago, showing Intel engineers in bunny suits set on fire.
Click here to see the toasted bunnies ad
Click here to see the Pentium snail ad
I think it's the right move. Whether Intel or IBM makes faster chips, I feel a lot more confident sticking with Intel and the rest of the industry than taking a chance with IBM. Especially now that IBM is making chips for all the gaming consoles, they probably won't care about Apple as much.
Hopefully this will lead to faster desktops, and especially, faster laptops with better battery life. One total bit of speculation (that would be amazing) is if Apple can now easily make a Palm like handheld device. Most of those devices run on Intel XScale processors, and now that Mac OS X and the applications publicly run on Intel processors, it will be much easier for Apple to make such a device.
Some interesting facts about the transition:
Mac OS X (and iLife) has run on Intel machines since day 1. Apple secretly kept that going "just in case"
Most Cocoa and Carbon apps will only need a small bit of code to be changed and recompiled
Some apps will need a more significant overhaul
All old (PowerPC) apps will run on the Intel boxes using something called Rosetta which will be fast (enough)
Eventually all apps will be shipped as Universal Binaries that run on both PowerPC and Intel Macs
So while transitioning to an all new processor family will not be easy, Apple has made it as good as it gets. Developers can get an Intel Mac and dev tools within weeks.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini spoke at the keynote as well. He's an incredible speaker and gave a great presentation of Apple and Intels history, and how "The world's most innovative computer company has teamed up with the most innovative chip company."
He also played the Apple Think Different "Toasted Bunnies" ad which Apple ran a few years ago, showing Intel engineers in bunny suits set on fire.
Click here to see the toasted bunnies ad
Click here to see the Pentium snail ad