Rumor- Apple planning to end intel processor in Imac and macbook

[jevans64]

If Windows 8 RT can run on an Arm v7 + nVidia GPU ( Tegra 3 ) then OS-X can run on an ARM v7 + PowerVR GPU ( A6 / A6x ). The ARM processors are very efficient and can be scaled up to use more power available in desktop or laptop configuration. Processing-wise, the 4-core @ 1.6 GHz plus one light-duty core configuration in Tegra 3 can process a lot of data. It is only the GPU that will hold these systems back compared to desktop systems. Even the Tegra 2 is capable of pushing HD video to an HDTV through HDMI. Apple can still use an ARM processor as a platform and have the ability to add a video card like traditional systems.

 

[John Kotches]

jevans64:

Your base assumption is flawed.

You have assumed:
Windows RT == Windows 8
iOS == Mac OS X

I can tell you from experience iOS != Mac OS X

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[John Kotches]

Foxbat:

I didn't mean to dismiss your post in its entirety -- I think for many if not most users a (pick one of Android / Windows RT / iOS device) could handle their computing needs. I've been saying so for a while.

But if one looks at the processor capabilities, it is obvious that:
ARM quad != Core i dual.

Then there's the raw I/O capability, where again
ARM quad != Core i dual.

The question is, is that relevant for most users? Very much so for multi-tasking. Right now on my work desktop I have the following running visibly across multiple monitors:
Outlook
Firefox
SecureCRT
Internet
Explorer
Visio

My tablet is fairly decent, a Transformer Inifnity with quad core 1.6 GHz Tegra 3 -- it can't do that much.

There are moves underway to bring ARM into the server space, and there's one big mountain for them to climb. A lot of data centers are virtualized, with fewer behemoth machines running virtualization platforms (VM Ware ESX, MS Hyper-V, etc). Can they bring the I/O necessary to handle this and will virtualization be possible. If not, I don't see much traction there.




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[Ramy]

If you are going to do any HD video encoding then there is no way you can use a tablet processor. It would take days if not weeks and you would not be able to use it.

 

[John Kotches]

Ramy,

I think we can both agree that's not an issue for the vast majority of users.

I'm talking about the typical users, not power users.

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[Ramy]

Ramy,

I think we can both agree that's not an issue for the vast majority of users.

I'm talking about the typical users, not power users.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

Ok, true.

 

[Neutron]

I doubt most modern games can run correctly on ARM processors.

 

[jevans64]

jevans64:

Your base assumption is flawed.

You have assumed:
Windows RT == Windows 8
iOS == Mac OS X

I can tell you from experience iOS != Mac OS X

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

I understand the differences between iOS and OS-X and Windows RT and Windows 8. I've been using Windows 8 for about a year now since the Dev Beta. RT is basically just the Metro front-end of Win 8. It cannot be done today but might be possible in a couple of years. It just depends on what TI does with the next iteration of ARM. I can do quite a bit with my Infinity, but I still process a lot of stuff I'll use on the Infinity with a traditional PC. The Infinity has essentially replaced what I did with a laptop except for PC gaming.

Laptops are getting thinner and lighter and it won't be long before they will go away entirely in favor of a slightly larger tablet.

It is no secret that Apple's bread and butter are its devices rather than its laptops and desktop systems. They might concede that segment to Intel/AMD. I bet it is less than 4% of the market anyway.

 

[mike123abc]

I do not see Apple moving away from Intel for the Mac lines yet. Intel just has too much of a manufacturing process advantage right now. I see it as a ploy for contract negotiations more than I see it as a serious effort to ditch Intel.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I do not see Apple moving away from Intel for the Mac lines yet. Intel just has too much of a manufacturing process advantage right now. I see it as a ploy for contract negotiations more than I see it as a serious effort to ditch Intel.

Agreed.

 

[Foxbat]

Foxbat:

So you can emulate an 18 year old computer in software? Color me completely unimpressed.

18 years is 10 doublings of Moores law or about 1000x the CPU power.

That must be quite a specialized application.


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Oh, I grant you that a VAX 7000-720 from 1994 isn't going to blow anybody doors off 18 years later, but we depend(ed) on it to keep our business running. The application is custom-tailered for our company and isn't something you're going to find at your local Staples. We investigated the number of programmer-years to develop a replacement that would run on a modern platform and came to the conclusion the emulation was more cost-effective. Since we were designed in the 1980s to be a lean organization (remember New Work Systems and Green Field developments?) we barely have enough people to support the current operations, let alone make a concerted effort to make massive changes.

There was a commercial a few years back that seemed apt. We're trying to upgrade our Boeing Stratocruiser to a Dreamliner while in flight. Because OpenVMS/VAX applications can be scaled from the desktop to the datacenter, we didn't need to worry that the emulated VAX environment was an exact duplicate of the physical hardware. We were able to migrate both VAX systems from the physical to the virtual environments in the same twelve hour window we were given. Now, we can concentrate on moving pieces of the production system to web-based user interfaces and leave the back end on a system that could run continuously for years if needed.

I'm sure to people who deal with VMware and Hyper-V this is nothing new.

 

[Foxbat]

My point got lost in a poor example of virtualization. I'm just saying that given the increasing power of ARM CPUs (I wasn't aware of the 64-bit ARM cores just announced) that the hit taken to emulation the x86 code will be acceptable to a large enough portion of Apple's customer base. As Apple has shown in the past few years, the are becoming more and more consumer and less professional/pro-sumer.

Where's the MacPro with Thunderbolt? (or even Ivy Bridge with USB 3.0?) The MacBook Pro w/Retina line can't be upgraded to increase or replace RAM. I wouldn't be surprised if the new iMacs are next to impossible to get into to upgrade/replace a drive. And Final Cut was redesigned to appeal to consumers, not the Video Professionals who depended on it for their jobs. Apple back-peddled a bit on that in the recent updates, but Apple appears to be moving from "The best modern computing devices known to man" to "lighter, thinner, cooler devices that are good enough for 90% of users".

I may be a little snarky because I am fighting with iPhoto and iTunes on my Lion-based MacPro. I have lost the ability to synch my iPhoto library to my iPhone 5. I get nada except my iCloud PhotoStream. I would gladly upgrade to Mountain Lion on my MacPro, but wait! I'm not running the 64-bit EFI, so no Mountain Lion for me. I could go to the Apple refurbished outlet and pick up a 2.66 GHz quad-core MacPro from 2010, but it wouldn't have Thunderbolt or Sandybridge or USB 3.0 or 6Gb SATA, etc. Even the "refresh" from 2012 just amounted to faster processors with no real improvement in the architecture. So I'm looking at the new 27" iMac that was announced but won't be here until next month. Maybe.

I'm sorry, where was I? Oh, yeah. Macintoshes running ARM. I can see it, especially if the heavy math is offloaded to the GPU since OS X has all those neat Core services to offload the CPU when they can.

 

[TheForce]

An another note, I see latest report that AMD is losing 15 cents on every dollar of sales. The stock has dropped from $8 to $2 a share, the lowest in 4 years since April when it traded at $8+ and peaked at $40 in 2006. Soon the company will be insolvent. AMD may be history. Don't look to AMD as a savior to the PC industry. It may be gone by the first half of 2013.

 

[Foxbat]

Soon the company will be insolvent. AMD may be history. Don't look to AMD as a savior to the PC industry. It may be gone by the first half of 2013.

Unless Apple picks it up in bankruptcy for pennies on the dollar and would then have control over the source of its CPUs and GPUs?

 

[navychop]

An another note, I see latest report that AMD is losing 15 cents on every dollar of sales. The stock has dropped from $8 to $2 a share, the lowest in 4 years since April when it traded at $8+ and peaked at $40 in 2006. Soon the company will be insolvent. AMD may be history. Don't look to AMD as a savior to the PC industry. It may be gone by the first half of 2013.

So sad. Remember when "Intel Inside" was a warning label?

Unless Apple picks it up in bankruptcy for pennies on the dollar and would then have control over the source of its CPUs and GPUs?

Might be a good move. A little unusual, perhaps, for Apple, but I can see a business case.

 

[Hall]

MacOS has a fair number of computer geeks on their platform and I've not yet found a desktop version on any of the various Linux distros that I like.

In the Android developer world, I see more and more of them moving to OS X, either with true Mac machines or Hackintosh machines. Why? Because "desktop" Linux still sucks. It's sad that the question "is linux ready for the desktop?" has been asked year after year for 10+ years now and the answer is still "no". Does a tiny % of people use it as their desktop OS? Yes, they do, but they probably have "biased" reasons for doing so...

 

[John Kotches]

Might be a good move. A little unusual, perhaps, for Apple, but I can see a business case.

Unless they can magically make the CPU lineup outperform Intel on a per core basis, it's not a good move.



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[John Kotches]

In the Android developer world, I see more and more of them moving to OS X, either with true Mac machines or Hackintosh machines. Why? Because "desktop" Linux still sucks. It's sad that the question "is linux ready for the desktop?" has been asked year after year for 10+ years now and the answer is still "no". Does a tiny % of people use it as their desktop OS? Yes, they do, but they probably have "biased" reasons for doing so...

I work with someone like that. He thinks everything out there sucks, but that Linux sucks less.




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[TheForce]

Might be a good move. A little unusual, perhaps, for Apple, but I can see a business case.

Would be really unusual since Apple has a hard time parting with its cash for even sensible acquisitions. Apple buying Arm Holdings makes lots of sense $20-25B maybe ? I've been watching that one. They work on a 22% margin which fits with a Tim Cook mind set to pull inside Apple. Plus ARM is up 35% since the release of the iphone 5

Haven't looked at the number$ but as far as technology goes, Dell or HP buying the company makes more sense to me than Apple.

 

[JohnL]

IMHO The reason Apple is considering terminating the use of INTEL icore processor is because average computer buyers realize the hardware is basically the same for PC's. Once you compare hardware between PC's and Apple systems the only difference is the OS and the 2-3 times premium you pay to get a comparable Apple Computer.

I'm not nor are many many more willing to pay that huge premium to get the same Computer hardware, but that it has the name Apple on it.

Apple is only looking to eliminate the Intel Microprocessor to say, "See our computers hardware is radically different, that is why you need to pay more"

John