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Then what? PowerPC again? Isn't that a step backwards?

They'll continue to use intel but not in all products(?) What is Apple up to now?

They MUST keep the ability, whether people use it or not, for one to dual boot. Otherwhise people will perceive it as a negative and shy away.

of course I still say Apple should just build in Windows emulation right into the OS. They have the rights to some of the API's from XP. If they wait too long MS will change it enough over time to where current Win software won't work if Apple does decide to support the API.

"Nointel"...

The CPU is Intel (Penryn), just the chipset will come from someone other than Intel, but this is all rumor.

Jul 28, 08 - 04:55 pm Comment from: smegdude

They'll still have intel chips (core 2 duo etc.) but apple made motherboards

Is Apple afraid of success? This is not a wise maneuver. The Mac Pro's and Core2Duo MacBook Pro's have been great. By dumping Intel, Apple is jumping into murky waters just when more and more folks are warming to the product lines. I recall a few years ago when Jobs rolled out the timeline of Intel products saying how much power was there and how energy efficient the line would be. This may just be rumor. It does not make much sense to switch processors in mid-stream. I believe that using a mainstream processor company such as Intel had a great deal to do with folks switching. Why mess up a good thing?

Jul 28, 08 - 04:58 pm Comment from: Andy

Finally, I get my PowerBook G6! Yeah!

Jul 28, 08 - 04:58 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

How will people use Windows on their Macs without Intel?

As a long-time Apple fan (pre-Mac), I for one was pretty excited by the move to Intel. For the first time, you could choose one hardware platform that would run practically any operating system along with Mac OS X. That level of flexibility is a HUGE advantage to buying Apple hardware if you're the sort that needs or can use that capability, and has a lot to do with the adoption of OS X by the tech community. Many people can justify the additional cost of (admittedly superior) Apple hardware on that capability alone.

Whatever Apple is up to, I hope they don't compromise in the new hardware the awesome and powerful hardware/OS flexibility that exists today.

Sounds like a weird rumor regardless.

Wonder what AMD/ATI might have up their sleeve.

I remember how Steve Jobs criticized Apple before he came back, saying that they hadn't made any strides on the internal architecture of the Mac. He said it was basically the same design. Apple has made a fair number of changes with regard to internal communication and RAM usage, but is this Steve trying to make another leap? Does he have something in mind? I can't imagine him jumping off of one platform unless he feels confident about another. Remember that he ran OSX on intel for a long time before Apple made the switch.

There is no arsh change to be done. People like the idea of having "familiar" Intel chips inside the Macs... But Apple will do better: There will be Intel - Apple designed chips and extra chips other PCs will never have!

@Bill (and everybody else)

*sigh* People are so damn careless its amazing. No geniuses, they are not dumping intel. They are doing custom chipsets (and as many other components as they can) not custom cpus. That is why they bought PA Semi.
For da luv of gawd people! *smacks forehead in disgust*

Relax! Even if this rumor is true, it could be a good thing. I'm sure that in some way, Apple thinks it will give them an edge, either due to additional feature(s) or lower costs (making some of their own chips), thereby possibly reducing Mac prices. In any case, so long as they remain 100% Windows-compatible, it will be fine.

Chances are, this would thwart future clone-makers too, if the chipsets are only available through, or to, Apple.

@Olternaut:

Yeah, what you said!

If they are doing this- one big reason would be to thwart cloning.
Protection at the chipset level.

Just a thought.

The product transition isn't for the new MacBooks at all. MacBooks will retain the Intel chipset. The new product transition has to do with the iTele Apple's soon to announce. After all, how can any other company compete with an Apple built personal Teleportation system like the iTele.

That is what others (except dell) are planning too anyway but as someone else said the cpu will be intel.

Olternaut is correct, but there is one worrisome thing.

The Operating System must communicate with these chipsets in order to work. One reason Windows works on your MacBook, for example, is that it knows how to talk to an Intel X3100 graphics processor. But I doubt Windows will know how to talk to a custom Apple graphics processor. Who's going to write the Windows driver?

Apple will not move from Intel it has been the fuel for all the growth they have been enjoying.

As for "Driver"'s comment about including Windows libraries for full compatibility. No thank you, and not going to happen ever.

No thank you because it would open up the OS X platform to a whole new host of exploits and malware that commonly plague Windows.

Not going to happen anyway because IBM tried this with OS/2 and what ended up happening was developers only built software for Windows. When Windows software could run on both OS/2 became unessential for organizations and expensive for IBM to keep licensing technology from Microsoft.

Jul 28, 08 - 05:23 pm Comment from: Andy

So when can I get my Apple Microwave Oven, and a color TV?

Folks .. this is a misleading headline.

Apple is still going to use the INTEL Processors. It is just the mother board that will be custom designed.

Peace!!

As with all Mac / Apple rumors, I'll just have to wait & see what Apple does rather than having someone 'Whisper in my ear.'

(hums Beatles' tune to self)

First, to all those morons who read this article and jumped to the completely erroneous conclusion that Apple was dropping Intel CPUs - jezus, folks, grow a brain and reread the article.

As for surrounding Intel CPUs with a custom chipset/motherboard (which, by the way, is what this article is about geniuses), I see that as a good thing. In combination with Snow Leopard, it could signal new capabilities from combining custom hardware and software.

Side note: One reason Apple was so quick to market with Intel Macs was their near total reliance on Intel's standard chipsets and motherboards. It makes sense, now that the Intel Mac has matured, to move in a more refined, custom direction.

Finally, don't worry about drivers for Windows compatibility - Apple or related vendors have written all the drivers for the various versions of Boot Camp so XP/Vista can talk to the Apple hardware. I am sure the same would happen for the new hardware configurations.

@Peter

I guess Apple will be writing it. If they are going to do this they have to make sure everything works. And if not then Steve is not going to tolerate it as he apparently has tolerated the botched mobileme launch and iphone 3g activation problems. I hope the takes a freaking hot branding iron and starts branding managers butts randomly to set an example and to keep his people in line. Not to mention motivating them NOT to mess up like that again.

Jul 28, 08 - 05:46 pm Comment from: January 24, 1984

Maybe the aliens have given Apple another dose of new tech.

They used to work with Dell, but when they took over Alien......

I'll be good to go with anything that makes AppleWorks snappier.

Jul 28, 08 - 05:56 pm Comment from: Andy

Joking aside, the fact that Apple is doing this sort of thing makes it better for the customer. Steve really strives to give his customers the best computing experience out there, and with style to boot!

Microsoft probably won't ever know what hit'em.

G5 Powerbook. Yes!

At some point Apple needs to close the easy on-ramp for Windows users, but dropping the bootcamp feature will have to wait until the tipping point where Mac is dominant has occurred, and Windows software is so dated, that emulation becomes easy.

@Peter "One reason Windows works on your MacBook, for example, is that it knows how to talk to an Intel X3100 graphics processor. But I doubt Windows will know how to talk to a custom Apple graphics processor."

Windows will take whatever driver you drop into it, just like it does for any other chipset.

@Ralph M "I see that as a good thing. In combination with Snow Leopard, it could signal new capabilities from combining custom hardware and software."

It will be good. The PPC Mac Mini had a passable video chip, but the intel Mac Mini lost this due to the chipset hogging too much space on the board.

I find it hard to believe that so many folks here have more expertise than Stevo and company. Seems that all you genius fellows would not have time for a forum like this what with you huge successful computer companies.

Jul 28, 08 - 06:33 pm Comment from: Cubert

Smart! Wery, wery smart!

Jul 28, 08 - 06:34 pm Comment from: Mac-nugget

This can have three main advantages:

1-Kill Psystar with out wining the case. Kill Open Tech with out doing anything extra, lock the Mac hardware market once again.

2-Have more control over how components work and interact inside the Mac. Better performance.

3-Distinguish it self from the competition once again, not only through software, but through hardware.

Ah....no intel but still X86. Gotcha.

MDN Word: Hope. "I hope we were not be going back to PPC"

Jul 28, 08 - 06:37 pm Comment from: Cubert

Gil,
Andy's got ya by 1.

Jul 28, 08 - 06:41 pm Comment from: HolyMackerel

The whole IT industry (except gaming) is moving to smaller motherboards that suck less power. A decade and more ago Apple combine 2-3 processors into one to reduce power, complexity, dependence on components, time to manufacture etc.

The move to >50% laptops vs desktops will increase further, but low power is the key to mobility and the current chipsets are holding that back. If Apple 'own' the long battery life market in laptops/PDAs that would give them a large part of the fastest growing market segment that no PC manufacturers could compete with since not many have chip fabrication factories.

I think the MacBook Air is the first step by Apple to make a customized laptop, something that doesn't use off-the-shelf components but is designed to be optimized for the planned use. This may include other chipmaker's products, but will almost certainly include Intel chips. Apple has reaped too many benefits to drop Intel now, plus it would have to (once again) retool OS X to work on multiple architectures.

PPC won't be coming back. Snow Leopard is supposed to drop PPC support, remember?

What Apple may be after is a two-pronged attack: make it's Macs more efficient by creating proprietary, custom motherboards, etc. using standard chipsets and processors, but also providing hardware requirements which OS X will need in order to be installed on the machine.

This may prevent another Psystar and also give Apple large efficiency benefits (power consumption, performance, etc.)

Jul 28, 08 - 07:06 pm Comment from: TheConfuzed1

Any step forward will be a welcome one, but any step in any direction will be considered as a step backward, by many of Apple's recent converts, if it means that new machines will no longer be able to run Windows, or Windows apps.

Apple knows this, and Steve wants to take market share away from Microsoft.

Intel is here to stay--You can count on that.

The chipset may change, but the heart will remain, as it is now, compatible with the rest of the PC world.

But will the screens be glossy?

Apple will continue to use Intel. Using Intel gave switchers a huge degree of confidence that they could still use Windows and Win apps, if necessary. As the article suggests, other "support"chips may not be Intel.

Jul 28, 08 - 07:33 pm Comment from: luke255

@L.A. Punk

Yes, INTEL.

EVERYONE - PLEASE LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO WORDS "PROCESSOR" AND "CHIPSET".

The definition of these words is not important. The fact that people are reading INTEL and presuming PROCESSOR baffles me.

INTEL make processors AND chipsets for said processors. This article suggests the possibility of Apple changing their CHIPSET. It says NOTHING ABOUT CHANGING PROCESSORS it actually points that little fact out in bold fscking text.

Anyone who read "CHIPSET" or "INTEL" and thought "PROCESSOR" please go and make sure you Windows Defender definitions are up to date.

If they are doing this- one big reason would be to thwart cloning.
Protection at the chipset level.

Thank you for saying it.

I'll hope for some antipiracy goodies as well. Anything to avoid the God-awful keys & activation crap of MS products.

INTEL make processors AND chipsets for said processors.

Of course. And as such, they're designed to work well together. What happens when you start sticking third-party components into key areas?

Kudos to Apple for spirit, but are they sure it's the best way forward?

The chipset is "just" the glue logic to inter connect for instance the CPU to the memory bus or the I/O bus or whatever bus. By creating their own chipset they could make it virtually impossible for "clone" makers to build compatible systems. Also OSX86 project would be left without foundation and would probably come to a standstill. Perhaps they could also tune their chipset to enhance performance of specific parts of the system. Of course they would still need to maintain compatibility so users can use Windows either by bootcamp or VM's.

Jul 28, 08 - 07:51 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

It's a great idea for Apple not to tie itself exclusively to Intel. Use the chipsets that best fill the needed cost and performance factors. All chipsets are NOT created equal.

To see how manufacturers mix and match these components, go to NewEgg and look at motherboard specs. The micro ATX boards include integrated graphics. Interesting stuff.

Jul 28, 08 - 08:06 pm Comment from: Occasional Poster

With a custom Apple only chipset change, it can prevent Psyster like clones from operating with a Mac OS - since the clones won't be able to purchase the Apple made custom sets.

Jul 28, 08 - 08:09 pm Comment from: Scott

COUNT IT! Instant on computers, saving the state with solid state memory. It'll be sweet. Everyone talked about it but never did it.

@Olternaut

Thank god someone else is awake here!!! I was shocked that NO ONE else, here or elsewhere on the net, has mentioned PA Semi. Seems like a pretty obvious answer. If Apple is going to drop Intel's chipsets for something custom, why would they turn around and go to Nvidia or anyone else? Apple is going to build their own custom chipsets with the help of their PA Semi acquisition.

This makes a lot of sense. They can keep more hardware work in-house. This will allow them to better keep new features under wraps, tweak the specs they want, and further thwart would-be cloners. And since the heart of it all will still be Intel's processors, they retain the ability to natively run ANY operating system.

Awesome stuff. The PA Semi purchase finally makes sense!

Sounds like it's turning into an Amiga.
I have no problem with that at all!

Most likely these chipsets will deal with off-setting tasks so the processor (intel) can just crunch numbers.

Similar to the Amiga, I could see specific chipsets for things like audio, quartz extreme caching, MPEG encoding/decoding, etc.

Most likely they will not get into graphics cards.