Apple announces switch to Intel processing chips
By Greg Sandoval and Matthew Fordahl
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — After touting its Macintosh computers as superior alternatives for more than 20 years, Apple Computer Inc. said yesterday that it plans to switch to the very Intel microprocessors that power machines designed to run Microsoft Windows.
Paul Sakuma • Associated Press
The move is expected to help Apple compete better against Windows PCs in performance and — potentially — price, though analysts believe the headaches from the transition could further damage its slim 2.3 percent worldwide market share.
Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs says that the company will discontinue using microprocessor chips made by IBM in favor of Intel chips. Intel-based Macs won't be available until 2006.
Apple, which will continue to tightly couple its computers and its software, now must convince users and potential buyers that today's Macs will not become the technology equivalent of lame ducks. And it must get programmers to develop software that works on both versions.
In a speech to software developers yesterday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs admitted the change will not be fast or easy. The first Intel-based Macs won't appear until 2006, and the full product line won't shift to Intel until the following year, he said.
"This is not going to be a transition that happens overnight," Jobs said. "It's going to happen over a period of a few years."
He said the move was driven by the fact that its current chip suppliers — IBM Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. — could not promise the same horsepower and power efficiency as Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company.
Programmers can immediately start developing software in a format that will run on both existing and future Mac chips, he said. Apple also will have a technology in place that will translate the code so that older programs will run on the Macs with Intel inside.
Jobs revealed that Apple has been working on the move for at least five years, creating two versions of its Mac OS X operating system for both the current Mac chips and those built by Intel.
"Mac OS X has been leading a secret double life," he said.
The news was greeted by a mix of cheers and laughs at the conference and uncertainty among Mac fans who believe a switch to Intel chips is like joining forces with the dark side.
Wall Street had mixed feelings, too. Shares of Apple closed at $37.92, down 32 cents, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Intel shares lost 16 cents to close at $27.17.
Calming fears that Apple's switch would ignite a revolt among important software programmers, Jobs was joined on stage by two major developers — Adobe Systems Inc. and Microsoft. Both announced that they would support Macs running the existing and new hardware.
Apple also quickly snuffed out the possibility that computer makers other than itself might someday offer Mac OS X. But it did not say how it would prevent users from installing a pirated copy of the software on other computers.
It's also not clear whether the move might make Macs more vulnerable to attacks by viruses and other malware.
In making the move, Apple is abandoning a processor known as the PowerPC that it developed with IBM and Motorola Inc. in the 1990s to compete against Intel's x86 architecture and which it touted as more powerful.
Neither Apple nor Intel would specify the exact chips that will be used. Jobs did say that Intel's focus on power management, crucial to extending battery life on portable computers, was as important as performance in the decision.
The switch ends years of squabbling between Apple and its chip suppliers, IBM and Freescale Semiconductor Inc., which was spun off from Motorola last year.
