Why Apple going Wintel won't happen
Tags: Apple, Marketing
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has been exploring the use of Intel chips for its Macintosh line. Blackfriars notes more what the article doesn't say rather than what it does. Yes, the two companies had talks. But note that there is no claim that Apple is investigating using Pentium chips; this deal could literally be as much about using 802.11 chips for its notebooks as about the main processors. Further, using Intel chips on Apple machines would not guarantee software compatibility with Windows and Wintel machines; there are many other architectural differences between the platforms than just the main CPU.
This is a great example of something that is technologically possible, but would be a marketing disaster for Apple. The company would have to explain to developers why they have to develop multiple versions of their software, explain to customers why their old hardware would become obsolete, and explain to Wall Street just how this would benefit its bottom line. It just doesn't make sense.
In short, an Intel CPU in a Mac is not going to happen. But you might certainly see Intel CPUs such as its Xscale processors in iPods and other Apple products where software compatibility isn't such a marketing factor, and that might make a lot of sense. And there are already Intel processors in products like Apple's disk array for its XServe servers. In short, there are many reasons why the two companies might be talking, but creating a Macintel is not one of them.
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has been exploring the use of Intel chips for its Macintosh line. Blackfriars notes more what the article doesn't say rather than what it does. Yes, the two companies had talks. But note that there is no claim that Apple is investigating using Pentium chips; this deal could literally be as much about using 802.11 chips for its notebooks as about the main processors. Further, using Intel chips on Apple machines would not guarantee software compatibility with Windows and Wintel machines; there are many other architectural differences between the platforms than just the main CPU.
This is a great example of something that is technologically possible, but would be a marketing disaster for Apple. The company would have to explain to developers why they have to develop multiple versions of their software, explain to customers why their old hardware would become obsolete, and explain to Wall Street just how this would benefit its bottom line. It just doesn't make sense.
In short, an Intel CPU in a Mac is not going to happen. But you might certainly see Intel CPUs such as its Xscale processors in iPods and other Apple products where software compatibility isn't such a marketing factor, and that might make a lot of sense. And there are already Intel processors in products like Apple's disk array for its XServe servers. In short, there are many reasons why the two companies might be talking, but creating a Macintel is not one of them.
posted by Carl Howe at
9:45 AM
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