At its Worldwide Developer Conference today, Apple announced plans to deliver models of its Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors by this time next year, and to transition all of its Macs to using Intel microprocessors by the end of 2007.
Apple previewed a version of its critically acclaimed operating system, Mac OS X Tiger, running on an Intel-based Mac to the over 3,800 developers attending CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote address. Apple also announced the availability of a Developer Transition Kit, consisting of an Intel-based Mac development system (3.6GHz Pentium 4-based) along with preview versions of Apple’s software, which will allow developers to prepare versions of their applications which will run on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with the best personal computers in the world, and looking ahead Intel has the strongest processor roadmap by far,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO in the press release. “It’s been ten years since our transition to the PowerPC, and we think Intel’s technology will help us create the best personal computers for the next ten years.”
“We are thrilled to have the world’s most innovative personal computer company as a customer,” said Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel in the press release. “Apple helped found the PC industry and throughout the years has been known for fresh ideas and new approaches. We look forward to providing advanced chip technologies, and to collaborating on new initiatives, to help Apple continue to deliver innovative products for years to come.”
“We plan to create future versions of Microsoft Office for the Mac that support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” said Roz Ho, general manager of Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit in the press release. “We have a strong relationship with Apple and will work closely with them to continue our long tradition of making great applications for a great platform.”
“We think this is a really smart move on Apple’s part and plan to create future versions of our Creative Suite for Macintosh that support both PowerPC and Intel processors,” said Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe.
The Developer Transition Kit is available starting today for $999 to all Apple Developer Connection Select and Premier members. Further information for Apple Developer Connection members is available at developer.apple.com
Intel plans to provide industry leading development tools support for Apple later this year, including the Intel C/C++ Compiler for Apple, Intel Fortran Compiler for Apple, Intel Math Kernel Libraries for Apple and Intel Integrated Performance Primitives for Apple.
Exactly what Majikthize said above!
Put me in the column of people who were going to buy a new Mac, but is not now.
Sigh….another 2-3 year wait…
I guess that the Amiga (PowerPC Inside) will become my computing future. Maybe I’ll start programming again and help Amiga go forward.
Come on, anybody with me???
Why, if the final architecture is NOT Pentium 4 32-bit, would Apple be handing out OS X development kits for Pentium 4 x86 with the marching orders to “make it all work on a Pentium 4.”??
If next year’s Macs used a different, BETTER x64/PPC architecture, wouldn’t it be pointless in handing out P4, 32bit development kits?
The silence of a better alternative leaves me to believe that they’re going to slap in some crappy P4’s.
This is Apple’s worst day.
OK…
I understand that Jobs is angry at IBM and is moving to Intel.
I understand that OS X rus on Intel already (not suprising since OS X is NeXT Step which ran on Intel)
What I don’t understand is that this is unlike Jobs. He is very secretive. He does not make hardware announcement this far in advance.
I was surprised that he just kept everything in limbo, announced some new Airport Express 2 and mentioned nothing about Intel until next year when it was ready to be shipped.
I agree – the Intel Macs won’t be able to run windows and windows machines won’t be able to run OS X.
The biggest issue as far as I see is how this news will affect current sales. Apple needs to make it clear that macs bought in the last few years will be support by both the OS and third party apps.
Majikthize – its not that Intel´s roadmap looks so good, it is that IBMs looks so bad.
About a year or so ago Jobs saw the sh*t hit the fan as far as the future of IBM making chips for Apple.
It was broke and would not be fixed.
Where else could Jobs go???
If the IBM thin would have worked out we would have been seeing 4Ghz processors in Macs today. But it totally flopped.
Jobs had no choice but to go INtel.
He is now spinning it like it was a match made in heaven waiting to happen.
B.S.
Jon: this is not the issue. Intel has 64-bit chips, evolving on the PentiumD 64-bit ones. The issue is the loyal Mac user base that will most probably betrayed and indeed the fact that next year Macs will most probably be superior to todays G5s, hence the risk of seeing Mac sales drop considerably.
We have at the lab our sw run on the G5, on Pentium and AMD with Linux.
The G5 rocks today but if IBM roadmap tells Apple that in 2 years this will not be the case and that IBM will not be able to keep up (unfortunately everyone here have been screaming for the promised never realized 3.0 GHz G5) with evolving into the G6 – especially not able to deliver a laptop with those – Apple must have been between a rock and a hard place.
If what SJ says is true (at best 15 vs 70 in computational units per Watt in two years) he might have saved Apple from death a second time. They have been quite good at keeping secret the quagmire IBM must have been in the last year.
Anyway, do not expect to be able to get OS X on a Dell, even if they have the same chip: the open firmware will be different and you will still HAVE TO buy an Apple computer if you want to run Leopard.
I got mine on order.
http://www.cafepress.com/compapple
Send one to an Apple employee of your choice.
What a lousy keynote.
Other than the Intel bad news. What else have they announced that’s new or improved in hardware or software?
iTunes podcasting. Big freaking deal.
Linux is looking better & better.
I have a 3.4Ghz Pentium 4 inside my computer.
Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, etc, etc, works great!
Come join the fun! We always new Intel was better!
All these people screaming the sky is falling, please take a look at all the comments people where making when Apple switched to the PowerPC.
“What Apple is teaming up with IBM?!?”
Get a grip. It’s a good thing, your crazy if you think otherwise.
Phil Shiller has already come out and said you “WILL NOT” be able to put OSX on any intel box. They will come only from Apple. You can however, be able to run windows natively and they will not try to stop that. That is great new.
of course hackers will find a way to make this run on your homegrown pc box I’m sure. Hell, they kinda have the ppc version of OSX working.
I’m yet to read where Steve re-engineers his “Power PC is best for reason X Y Z” into “I made that up”.
We gonna see OSX on traditional windows boxes? With their endless lists of 3rd party add on hardware to make the OS belch and grind to a halt?
Not professing to know the ins and outs of this, but it Just Feels Wrong.
I think its premature to dump on Apple for this, it seems like Apple’s usual well thought out transistions, and I think it should be relatively obvious even to the blind that the PPC has gone almost no-where for two years and the gaming versions of the PPC probably would not work in a Mac.
However it does have various effects, some mentioned here, it makes PPC a legacy technology, which makes every PPC Mac when its bought instantly worth less to resell it, irregardless of whether its better or not.
Since its not clear which Intel Processor will appear in a future Mac, one cannot say whether it will merely be a 32-bit chip or a P4 etc. But if its a Dual core, with a 1ghz or better bus speed, hyper-threaded, with Dual-channel memory, it could easily start to give a G5 a run for its money… time will tell
We just switched to a PowerMac G5 and a PowerBook 15″. We switched to get away from Wintel machines. Now I have two pieces of equipment that are immediately obsolete. Apple pulled this stunt in the late 80’s/early 90’s — introducing machines that would not be supported in 1-2 years. And who can believe that developers, including Apple, will continue software work for two different processors? This is a disaster for us and now I simply do not know what to do. Maybe a quill pen? Sheesh.
I think Apple has positioned itself to re-establish a joint hardware market. Now with manufacturing under a common header (Intel), the possibility of introducing OS-X computers under joint parterships comes back to light.
I think the companies who have wooed SJ for OS-X licensing may have hardware announcement tied into this deal.
More to follow…
I just bought a new Powerbook two days ago!
I see no problem with keeping my new PowerBook. It will be at least a couple of years before an Intel-based PowerBook is available along with enough titles in universal binary mode, and until then everything will run better on my G4 anyways. When I do upgrade in a couple of years, it will be a really smooth transition by then.
A new Mac is the best way to weather the coming transition.
I think the Amiga is the future for those opposed to Mac with Intel Inside. I would feel dirty to use a Mac powered by a Pentium.
So developers will be able to make intel/ppc fat programs for the future transitions period… but what about the software I already own? I will be forced to pay to upgrade stuff I shouldn’t have to. And what about peripherals? How many of us had external drives, scanners, printers, gamepads/joysticks, tablets, ixTV cards, etc that we can’t use on OSX because the drivers were never upgraded? I know I had quite a few peripherals and programs that I had to leave behind. The same thing is gonna happen again.
MW: “Away”, as in “I’m blown away.”
Is this the same place where people praise Jobs and thank him for making Apple what is it? Steve has got a plan and I’m willing to bet that in 2-3 years all of you nay sayers will be praising him all over again. For the past 2-3 years I’ve heard nothing but complaints about lack of chip supply and lack of speed. I would hope that this move will solve those issues and more.
Have a little faith!
To Thomas > (exept in gamming)>
You do know, I hope, that GAMMING, in some parts of the world, is what is now called a Lewinski!
You probably meant GAMING.
MW-into, as in m–th.
I posed a question yesterday that many scoffed at. Some guy who thought developing apps for Apple gave him some mystical insight into Apple’s business plans and a few others. We even had a nice guy by the name of Newmanstein who claimed the pants were coming off and he was running around his building.
But more importantly I was looking for the “armchair CEO’s”. Where are you guys, the group that is so sure they know Apple’s next move. Like no Video Pods, no Intel inside, no Flash based MP3 player. All because……say it with me “Jobs said that would never happen”. And yet of the things I mentioned only 1 hasn’t happened……..yet. The VideoPod. Now I want to see who the first sucker is who is going to step up to the plate and claim there is no Video Pod coming down the pipe. Come on, where are my people with their bold predictions. Are you busy choking on all that crow? Not feeling so secure in your Apple predictions now? Doubts? Shadows in your path?
Come on, is ANY MAC ZEALOT going to now be able to say anything will or won’t happen at Apple with ANY SHRED OF CERTAINTY AGAIN? This includes MDN themselves who scoffed and at the initial Intel reports. Calling us basically idiots for even believing it.
Come on people, who will be the first to step forward and admit their mouths are writing checks that Apple is not cashing. Don’t be shy, we are all here for you. Oh and Newmanstein put your pants back on. No one needs to see that.
However it does have various effects, some mentioned here, it makes PPC a legacy technology, which makes every PPC Mac when its bought instantly worth less to resell it, irregardless of whether its better or not.
Trust me, I’ll be buying my last Mac (IBM PowerPC Inside) on the eve of the June 2006 transition to Intel. I am assuming Apple will have some great discounts to offer.
After that, I’ll more than likely transition to a PowerPC-based Amiga running OS4 and yes, it will be better than anything Mac or Windows on Intel!