Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 5th Nov 2012 23:40 UTC
Another Apple-to-switch-Macs-to-ARM post. "Apple engineers have grown confident that the chip designs used for its mobile devices will one day be powerful enough to run its desktops and laptops, said three people with knowledge of the work, who asked to remain anonymous because the plans are confidential. Apple began using Intel chips for Macs in 2005." No idea when Apple will make the switch, but they will do it. I'm thinking 5-10 year timeframe.
Thread beginning with comment 541087
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-06-12
Would not make much sense. Apple invested tons of money into building one of the world top silicon design team. They have the opportunity, or at least, they think they have, to out compete rivals on raw power. All third party that's left on the A6 is the GPU. I don't think this is going to be the case for long.
They are aiming for a complete, bottom up Apple product that they can design in the direction they want. This is a very expensive dream, but is Apple dream since day 1. I am not so sure it is the most profitable road to world domination, but it is doable given you have the budget and will to do it. They definitively have both, at least for now.
Member since:2007-05-05
Meanwhile, x86 is catching up to ARM in terms of performance/watt in small forms, and doing so at a much quicker pace.
I think I would go so far as to say that it is more likely Apple would switch to x86 in the iPad and iPhones than switching to ARM on the desktop.
Except ARM releases new CPUs and pushes further ahead and they're ahead of Intel for performance/watt by a massive margin.
Apple switched away from x86 with the Apple TV to ARM and there is literally ZERO incentive to switch from ARM to x86 for the iPad or iPhone. You're bat shit crazy.
RE[2]: Comment by Drumhellar
by Drumhellar on Tue 6th Nov 2012 07:30
in reply to "RE: Comment by Drumhellar"
Member since:2005-07-12
Except ARM releases new CPUs and pushes further ahead and they're ahead of Intel for performance/watt by a massive margin.
Intel is also releasing new processors, and are targeting the low-power areas aggressively.
And, yes, ARM currently beats Atom at performance/watt, but note that there aren't any existing ARM chips where such a comparison would make sense, if you want to compare to i5/i7. There aren't any ARM chips that would be a suitable replacement for the i7 in my laptop. None.
Intel is way closer to having a chip compete with ARM designs in phones than any ARM maker has to competing with Intel on the high end.
Apple switched away from x86 with the Apple TV to ARM and there is literally ZERO incentive to switch from ARM to x86 for the iPad or iPhone.
Apple's switch from x86 to ARM probably had more to do with software than hardware, keeping development of iOS simpler.
Also, I didn't say they would switch to x86 for phones and tablets, only that it was more likely, which I also said wasn't going to happen.
Member since:2007-09-22
Well the ARM-servers are coming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njmQBqUuYqU
Even from AMD/SeaMicro:
http://www.eweek.com/servers/amd-arm-set-stage-for-competition-with...
So maybe even desktop/laptop ?
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2005-07-12
I just don't see it happening.
When Apple did the PPC->x86 switch, it was because PPC performance had been severely behind x86 for years, with only a brief glimmer of hope to the contrary when Apple switched to IBM for the Mac Pro line. There are no ARM designs even close to Intel at the higher end.
Meanwhile, x86 is catching up to ARM in terms of performance/watt in small forms, and doing so at a much quicker pace.
I think I would go so far as to say that it is more likely Apple would switch to x86 in the iPad and iPhones than switching to ARM on the desktop.
EDIT: I don't think that last part is likely, either.
Edited 2012-11-06 01:45 UTC