Steve Jobs confirmed today what’s been floating around for sometime: that Intel would be the supplier for Apple computers starting in 2006 and be fully integrated by 2007.
This will put a smackdown on the relationship between IBM and Apple as IBM has supplied processors for several years now. The 970 chip, better known as the G5 has presented a couple of problems for Apple. IBM has had problems meeting the demand for the chip and they’ve failed to workout power problems with the smaller laptops and other portable fare.
This coup by Intel will be a nice summer boost for them and perhaps the biggest shot in the arm for Apple who only controls about 2% of the market worldwide although some critics say this could cost them some of their market share. Switching over to Intel will cost Apple some money perhaps some market share according to some critics but the gains may outweight the losses.
“This is not going to be a transition that happens overnight. It’s going to happen over a few years,” Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said.
Jobs also said that he’s already given the go ahead for his programmers to work on transition software for users to make the shift between the IBM and Intel processors with the Developer Transition kit. It will give programmers new specs on how to begin conversions to the new hardware.
Freon Charge
One of the biggest single problems with the IBM chip has been the heat and power issue. Jobs said as much during his speech. Right now the G5 utilizes a liquid cooling system in their high end G5s which contain two 2.7 Ghz processors. Keep in mind this was the desktop model of their computer too. The PowerBook was another matter entirely. They needed something that generated less heat and consumed less power.
This very issue delayed the launch of their PowerBook line because they weren’t sure how to deal with the heat issue on a laptop model. Packing the laptop on dry ice generally isn’t an option available for most consumers. The Intel switch should solve these problems.
Consumers can only wait and see where this goes. Many challenges will face the integration of Intel’s chip with Apple’s computers but this should help Apple in the long term become more competitive.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
