Steve Jobs has confirmed that the Mac will transition to Intel hardware in the next year:
In a stunning move, Steve Jobs announced that Apple will begin transitioning to Intel x86 CPUs in its computer products next year. Apple has been disappointed with the performance of the PowerPC 970, especially IBM’s inability to deliver a 3.0GHz part. In addition, Apple has been hampered by heat and power issues, ruling out the possibility of a G5 PowerBook. As a result, the first Mac to ship with Intel Inside will be released by June 6, 2006, and the transition should be complete in 2007.
Apple’s press release is here.
Question: does this mean that the PowerPC platform doesn’t blow the doors off x86 processors after all, as the Mac faithful have claimed?
In any case, this opens up the possibility of home-built MacOS systems. I’ve been very impressed with Mac OS X, but Apple’s hardware has always been too expensive compared to comparable x86 boxes. If I can build my own x86-based Mac for under $1500, then Apple might just win me back as a Mac user.
Another question: what about AMD’s 64 bit Athlons? Windows is already heading towards a 64-bit architecture; I hope Mac OS X is as well.
Tags: Apple, hardware, PowerPC, Technology, x86