On Monday, June 06, 2005, at 12:52PM, Matt Emson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Yeah, it would be very interesting to see if the "Apple dropping IBM POWER" >(aka PowerPC) rumours are true. Supposedly, INTEL will be producing whatever >processor they will use. Whether this is going to be ARM (XScale), a PowerPC >licence or (cringe) an INTEL IA32/IA64 variant (i.e. Pentium, Itanium etc) >is still speculation. I suspect INTEL will produce PPC though. This would >get them an awful lot of revenue in the embeded market, as they'd then be >producing chips for both popular embeded platforms (PPC and ARM.) IBM and Motorola between them own all the rights to PowerPC architecture, and IBM own rights to the PPC970 and POWER architectures. I can't see IBM handing a PowerPC license to one of it's biggest competing chip makers. If they did license PPCs to Intel it would cost Intel a fortune, and thus Apple, pushing the price of the chips out through the roof. Personally if they do go I'd suspect they'll use IA64 chips or XScale. XScale I'd give thumbs up to cause I have always been a fan of ARM since I used an Acorn back in the late 80s - they have a lot of pitential power as both a small scale CPU and a full-size one. However if they turn to use of x86 derivative CPUs I would put some consideration into the fasability of abandoning the platform. I don't see there being a bright future in Intels IA64 chips, or indeed in AMDs '64's. There have lately been a lot of rumors bubbling under on connection to this about some sort of 'Transitive Technologies' that allow supposedly seamless and fast PowerPC operation on X86 platforms. That said there may be something I don't know about (wouldn't be the first time!!) and Apple are not so short sighted as to dig themselves into something that's going to cripple them 2 years down the line... are they? Guess we'll find out just after 6pm UK time... -- Mark Benson http://homepage.mac.com/markbenson -- Mac UK is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Mac UK list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/mac-uk.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-uk%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
