A decision that was eleven years in the making became official during the opening of the Apple WorldWide Developers Conference.
Paul Thurrott and the Wall Street Journal had it right. Peter Glaskowsky and Leander Kahney were dead wrong.
At San Francisco’s Apple WWDC, Steve Jobs disclosed officially that the several hundred reports published over the weekend were true. Apple will be switching from IBM to Intel as the source for its processors.
The press release says “Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006.” Certain models of the Macintosh will use Intel processors by late 2006, with the rest of the product line moving to Intel by the end of 2007.
Mr. Jobs showed an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X Tiger during the keynote address this morning. The availability of a Developer Transition Kit for $999 was announced as well, which will allow developers to build applications for both PowerPC and Intel platform Macs.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with the best personal computers in the world, and looking ahead Intel has the strongest processor roadmap by far,” said Mr. Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
“It’s been ten years since our transition to the PowerPC, and we think Intel’s technology will help us create the best personal computers for the next ten years.”
“We are thrilled to have the world’s most innovative personal computer company as a customer,” said Paul Otellini, president and CEO of Intel. “Apple helped found the PC industry and throughout the years has been known for fresh ideas and new approaches.”
Apple and Intel have talked through the past decade, and the “Intel Inside” Mac story has persisted in so many forms that most people considered it nearly an urban legend. When Mr. Thurrott began reporting on the story on April 26, many assumed it was the same old story again.
But then the Wall Street Journal picked up the thread on May 23rd, citing two sources on the story. Many news outlets, including Murdok, reported on the story at that time as well. Apple said at the time it did not comment on rumors and speculation.
What this means for consumers is a future of faster, thinner Mac laptops with lower power consumption and less heat generated by the processor. Apple probably won’t start pricing its products like PC market leader Dell, but the switch to Intel should yield some kind of price drop.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
