unhappy with Intel’s performance when it comes to CPUs. Which should surprise no body, because really, Intel is going nowhere when it comes to performance. The risks of a lack of competition, as they say. AMD is all too happy to focus on graphics numbers, while the chip giant itself is mostly concentrating on power optimizations. And for a company like Apple that must be infuriating. Apple has gained significant knowledge by producing ARM based chips that are used in devices like the iPhone and iPad, and there are reports that the company is now actively developing these solutions for its desktop and laptop line up. Which, if true, could potentially allow Apple to make oversized leaps in performance from generation to generate, instead of the mild 10 percent increases that Intel Core processors bring about. Sources say that Apple is testing an ARM based iMac with 4 to 8 64-bit processors running on four cores. A Mac Mini with 4 64-bit processors across four cores is also under testing, and the same holds true for a 13-inch laptop similar in specifications to the iMac. These devices, although still in development stages, come with keyboards that include a large trackpad. No word yet on when (or if, really) these devices will make their way to the market. Changing processor architectures is not exactly something one just sees out, without big revisions in how software is written and compiled. Still, Apple have the necessary resources to do so. Resources and will. And if they can achieve the desired performance levels, with potential for future enhancements, they could try their hands at such a bold move. And it just might provide the industry with the necessary jolts. Jolts that it surely needs. Thoughts, people, on this interesting new rumor? Send them in using the comment box below, including what you think this could mean for the PC industry overall in the future.]]>
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That’s very interesting. Apple could have more control over the processors like the iPhone and iPad. with that may installed the products could have decent performance gains if they could optimize 8 arm processors like that.
Makes you think if Apple has a plan to merge iOS and Mac OS X or install one over the other.
A big risk, but could be a brilliant move in the end. If they pull this out, they may end up hurting Windows’ sales.
If Apple truly needs this, I wouldn’t call it reckless. I would call it risky for sure, but not reckless. Certainly bold though. Big move that will affect Apple and Microsoft both.
An interesting idea, but very risky. A lot of their developers also use virtualization software to run Windows. Moving from Intel to ARM would kill that segment and force them to have multiple computers unless Apple somehow incorporated a way to virtualize x86 on ARM.
I find this funny, the Apple sheep are going to eat this up, but this will end up being the same people who say Windows should not be on ARM. The more things change the more they stay the same.
Think I’d have more faith with Intel to be honest. But if it caused Intel to start making some decent performance increases each generation I’m keen. Seems like a bit of a backwards move to the old Power PC days though.