Apple announced plans to deliver models of its Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors by this time next year. This is going to be great. Please post your opinions.

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Well this news has been around for a bit and its really very exciting. Apple is taking a bold step into its future as far as the marketability of it's computers is concerned. The thing about having an Intel chip included in the computer is that Intel ususlly requires the maker of a computer utilizing any of thei chips to carry their logo in a visible place on the box of the machine.

A lot of Intel's goodwillbuilt over time will also rub off on to Apple on the medium and long term. The effect of this that users who have ideally bought systems having Intel chips (usually identifying these systems vrom visual displays at shops and retail establishments) will also recognize the novelty of owning an Apple system with the security they feel with having an "Intel inside" (this catch line has now changed with Intel's brand makeover. All together a good deal I think.

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Apple's making a good move, at least as far as Intel lovers are concerned. I personally prefer AMD, and PCs, so ... I guess you can see how the new Macs wouldn't turn my head at all. But for people who really like Intel, this is a great move to draw them toward the more expensive side of computing.

But what would *really* help would be more widespread distribution. In other words, if you could walk into any of the major computer retailers and buy a Mac off the shelf, they'd probably be a little more popular. Or a lot more popular.

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well, MacBook Pro is already out. My friend got 2

xboxrulz

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It's a good move and all that Apple is releasing these computers with Intel Processors and etc, but will it last long? I have a feeling something bad will go wrong in the near future and would seperate Apple with Intel and maybe even have some law suits flying around. Gosh, I'd be one to like to see them stay together for a long time...

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I am not a fan of AMD. I've had some major problems with AMD chips and heat in the past and won't even bother to give them a second look. (Also, having to be careful to get an AMD motherboard without a VIA chipset is a pain too) I am a much bigger fan of the concentration Intel is putting into the Performance/watt side of the house. That doesn't sound like a big deal until you see our company's power bill last month was USD 98,000 and a large chunk of that thanks to the over 180 computers and servers not to mention the costs to cool the server room.

There are a couple major problems though: none of the major applications are released yet. None of the Pro Tool, Office, or Adobe line are being shipped yet. I was at the Apple store yesterday picking up a couple laptops that needed some repairs and was talking to our sales rep there. It will be March until those applications are even out. Hell I remember we still booted OS 9 until 2002 so we could use QuarkXpress. They took a really long time to port from OS 9 to OS X. (One reason why Pagemaker/InDesign made a come back) We won't even consider getting the laptops until the Protools are released and the second generation of MacBooks are out. We are a 100% Apple shop...we know better than to buy the first generation anything Apple.

Also, we're in the video production and limited 3D animation business so we actually can take advantage of the 64-bit extentions the G5 Processors offer. How much of a performance boost will we actually see, if any, on the desktop side is yet to be seen, but I will say this much: Lightwave's rendering engine has been tweaked for the x86 architecture so when Lightwave 9 for OSX-Intel is released it should be interesting to see...

However, the Macbook Pro, is where we are going to see the big improvement. Laptops are now out selling desktops and dare I say 40% of our editing is now done in the field by our production crews on PowerMacs. They usually have a rough edit complete by the time they get back to the studio and into one of the Editing bays where they can mix sound and render much faster on Quad-Core Powermacs and Xserve Raid units. Again, I think this is where Intel is going to hit the mark as well because as a laptop user I am willing to sacrifce some performance for battery life. If you can increase the performance per watt of your chips, that is going to make one heck of a difference.

With Freescale/IBM unable to create a G5-like processor for the notebook and the production problems getting any more speed out of the PPC 870 series (moblie "G4"), Apple had to do something and they made the right move.

I would not have gone with AMD either. The big reason why AMD doesn't enjoy more than 15% of the market share is that they don't have the production capacity Intel does. Even if 20% of users wanted AMD chips right now, they couldn't deliver that number of chips. Plus when Apple made the announcement, AMD was experiencing the same manufacturing problems as IBM/Freescale in the 90nm faberication process. If I were Apple, I would have said, "Wait are these the same basic problems as we are having with IBM at the moment minus the 'IBM wants to be a consulting company not a hardware company' bit?"

In the long term, I think this is a good move for Apple. It gets rid of the "PPC Vs. X86" debates.

 

 

 

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I personally find their comercial obnoxious and insulting. I admit that I don't like their operating system and most of what I dont like about windows is due to microsoft's attempt to imitate macintosh. Regardless of whether competetors of intel produce chips which are 100% reliable (and this is debatable) as intel it is certainly no reason for the hype or the outrageous implication of their stupid comercial.

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Well what kinda of processors do they have in them now?

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Apple is really pushing it this time. Their Macs are just getting cooler and more functionable. Of course, most people who don't exactly follow the rules of their operating systems wouldn't like Macs at all. But the Mac looks very unique to me as it is simple and everything just seems like a dream with Macs. Using a Mac, it seems like nothing will go wrong when using it unlike Windows systems where you're always waiting for a virus to come along. Now with intel "inside", people like me would consider getting a Mac in replacement of the much hoping Windows Longhorn as Windows is really not living up to their name anymore. You tell me who made the first practical, visual computer - Apple 1?

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I was robbed the other day by an artisan from a town close to Recife who was supposed to go buy marihuana for us and come back. He asked me several times to give him the cash upfront claiming that without this money he would be unable to procure the desired product. He left us with two necklaces promising to return within the next 20 minutes leaving us two necklaces as proof that he would return.
He left us sitting like morons at some table in a crappy restaurant sans fulfilling his obligation. He robbed us and I think it is important to try and devise why. I have thought about this for some time and decided that there are two main possibilities. He either decided, consciously or unconsciously, that for ideological

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