A look at the G5 and an analyst who thinks Apple does not offer servers

“For most of its first 20 years of existence, Apple relied on Motorola for all of its processor development. Then, in 1995, Apple gave birth to the Power Mac family of computers powered by the PowerPC chip, a next-generation processor the company co-developed with IBM and Motorola. The PowerPC processor put the Macintosh machines on a better-than-even footing with the speed of Intel’s newer processors,” Jack M. Germain writes for MacNewsWorld.

“Motorola dominated development and production of the G4 chip, which proved a problem for Apple. The chips’ clock speed lagged behind that of their Intel and AMD counterparts, and too often chip production lagged behind demand,” Germain writes. “When Apple introduced the G5 chip at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, blinding speed and 64-bit computing were not its only newsworthy qualities. With the exception of Motorola’s AltiVec technology in the new chip, the G5 was and is a wholly IBM production.”

“‘Apple’s partnership with IBM makes a lot of sense from a strategic development point of view,’ Michael Gartenberg, research director for the Client Access and Technologies Group at Jupiter Research, told MacNewsWorld. ‘Letting IBM do it is a very smart move.’ Gartenberg said Apple’s genius is in knowing what to do with the G5. ‘Certainly, Apple will have a lot of say in the direction of the new chip’s development.’ Although some industry watchers say Apple’s decision to vest total development of the G5 processor with IBM instead of Motorola shows a tear in the computer maker’s fabric, Gartenberg said that simply isn’t the case. ‘It makes perfectly good sense. This will allow Apple to focus on its core development of the Macintosh line. It’s a good move and certainly not a sign that anything is wrong,’ he said,’ Germain writes.

“To James Turley, principal analyst at Silicon Insider, this is just another chapter in Apple’s gradual transition to a single vendor,” Germain writes.

[MacDailyNews Note: However, Turley is also quite confused, so take his comments with more than a few grains of salt. Read on, we’re not making this up.]

Germain writes, “Turley said that, if Apple were to offer servers, it would have to run Linux or some derivative of the Mac OS because Windows is not an option. ‘That cuts the potential market significantly, since a lot of customers prefer Windows on their servers, just as many customers prefer Windows on their desktop,’ he concluded. ‘Within the Linux realm, however, G5-based systems should be quite competitive.'”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Um, Apple does indeed offer servers. The Apple 64-bit Xserve G5 line along with Mac OS X Server operating system. Apple’s server solutions have garnered rave reviews, awards, and industry-wide praise. Sheesh, some “analysis” by Turley, huh? Silicon Insider ought to offer him a pink slip.