Apple's Switch to Intel Could Be a Smart Move
Apple and Macintosh | Reads from WWW
Wed 22 Jun 2005
Digitimes -- Apple Computers decision to switch its PC and server
product lines from IBMs PowerPC to Intels x86 microprocessor
family is a smart decision that will allow the company to improve
the competitiveness of its mobile computing products, iSuppli
believes.
The company said it will begin introducing Intel x86-based
Macintosh PCs and servers in 2006, and will migrate its entire line
to Intel microprocessors by 2007. Apple did not divulge whether it
will continue to design its own PC core-logic chipsets or if it
will employ Intel chipsets along with Intel processors.
On the positive side, using Intel chipsets makes sense, because it
would reduce costs. On the negative side depending on your
computer brand persuasion the use of Intel chipsets could make
the Macintosh less of a Mac and more of a PC.
This brings us to one of the most fundamental issues regarding the
Apple platform: What is it that makes a Mac a Mac? The opinions we
have heard for many years, and continue to hear, are: its the
PowerPC, or its a platform completely designed by, and
controlled by Apple, or its the Mac Operating System
(OS).
iSuppli believes the last opinion is the correct one. Could a user
really tell the difference between two Macintosh OS PCs, one Power
PC G5-based, and one Intel x86-based? We very much doubt it.
In the PC market, Apples strength, its unique selling proposition,
its x-factor, is the Mac OS. Regardless of whether Apple uses Intel
chipsets or not, Apple will retain this strength.
So why did Apple go to Intel, or rather, why did it decide to ditch
IBMs PowerPC chips? The answer resides in Apples line of mobile
products: the mainstream iBook, or the very desirable PowerBook.
Neither is available with a PowerPC G5 microprocessor, but instead
uses the previous-generation G4.
Industry speculation has it that Apple was unhappy with IBM for not
yet delivering a mobile G5 microprocessor. As Intel has pushed its
Centrino brand very strongly into the mobile PC market, Apple has
been stuck promoting a microprocessor that technically is far
behind that of the competition.
iSuppli suspects that Apple had finally lost patience with IBM, and
decided a more competitive mobile microprocessor was needed, and
needed fast.
Over the past five years, the mobile PC market has undergone
tremendous unit growth, and Apple clearly wants a bigger slice of
that growth. While more competitive microprocessors will help,
Apples pricing which is generally higher than that of its
competitors and its Mac OS effectively will limit its capability
to significantly penetrate the Microsoft Windows-based PC market,
iSuppli believes.
As Intel x86 microprocessors like the Pentium are manufactured in
larger volumes than the PowerPC chips are, Apple almost certainly
will be getting a better price per unit from Intel than it now does
from IBM. However, those expecting to see sudden price reductions
for Apple Macintosh PCs are in for some disappointment, iSuppli
believes.
Apple will not slash Mac prices immediately for two reasons. First,
the product phasing that Apple must use, i.e. the time-staggered
introduction of x86-based PCs replacing PowerPC-based systems, will
negate the appearance of a price differential between the x86- and
PowerPC-based products. Second, Apple will avoid suddenly offering
more powerful computers at a lower cost because it could be seen as
an admission that its previous products were overpriced and
underpowered.
With an operating system that can run on x86 microprocessors, will
Apple be able to mount a more sustained challenge to Microsoft PC
OS dominance? In theory, the answer is yes, but driver support will
be a key issue.
All PC peripherals will need to have drivers written for Apple Mac
OSX OS and must be certified on the platform. Mac OSX is based on
the open-source FreeBSD Unix, so again in theory, Apple could
release a version of OSX to the open-source community.
The will help Apple build the ecosystem for its OS, something that
Intel talked about at length when launching its x86-64 processors.
An ecosystem consists of tools, drivers, utilities and just about
any piece of software that a user or developer for an operating
system may want or need.
iSuppli believes Apple has made the right decision, but one it
should have made many years ago. The company now has some very
important decisions to consider, regarding how much control it
wants to have over the hardware platform.
Matthew Wilkins is a senior analyst with iSuppli and covers the
computer systems platforms market for iSuppli Compute Platforms
service.