Mac-Intel: What Does It Mean?
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 at 3:56AM 1 Comment 
Just last week, and after much deliberation, I ordered a Macintosh computer so I could learn OS X and begin experimenting with music production on my computer using GarageBand 2 and Logic Express. I figured I may as well get a system that can handle some music and video, so I got the dual-processor G5 at 2 GHz. It arrived last Wednesday.
And now this. After years of imploring PC users to switch, Apple is pulling a switcheroo of its own and moving from IBM's PowerPC processor to Intel processors. When the rumors first started swirling on Friday, I thought that Apple would announce that they would be using Intel in a new version of the iPod, or a tablet or handheld, or maybe PowerBooks. I didn't suspect it would be across the board. From the volume and tone of the scuttlebut on the message boards, neither did most everyone else.
When I found out it was true, I was kinda pissed. It's like buying a new sports car, and finding out the next day that it's been discontinued. Sure you can still drive it tomorrow, but it may be harder to find parts for it in a couple of years. And then you'll end up wanting a new one.
General reaction to the news is mixed, and I'm not sure what this means for me and my shiny new Macintosh. I usually squeeze about six years' worth of use from a computer. I hope I can do so with this one, but Apple has been quieter than I would like about what this means. From CNET:
He [Jobs] even acknowledged that there will be rocky patches during the two-year transition from PowerPC to Intel (mostly because of software compatibility). But if the outcome is a line of new computers with ever-more powerful chips, you don't need to be the Amazing Kreskin to figure out whether the loyalists will buy Intel Inside.
"Rocky patches?" What does that mean for those of use who still have the box our new Macs came in?
Reader Comments (1)
It will no doubt take a while for the new chips to be ready and shipping. Besides, that's how technology works - as soon as you buy something, it's outmoded. We need to buy a new PC next and it will be a couple of years before we outgrow this new Mac. Why worry?