Apple to drop IBM for Intel
p2pnet.net News:- Rumours that Apple was going to Intel were discounted, last month, but the company, “plans to announce on Monday that it will switch to using Intel Corp’s microprocessors and phase out its current chip supplier, International Business Machines Corp,” says CNET, quoted by Reuters.
Apple plans to use Intel chips in lower-end Macs such as the mini in mid-2006, and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in the middle of 2007, CNET said, “citing anonymous sources,” says the Reuters piece, going on:
“Apple’s Chief Executive Steve Jobs is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech on the first day of its annual conference for software developers on Friday, a venue the report said would be appropriate for an announcement that would require significant changes to the way Apple software is written.”
Oh dear.
Jobs is already trying to use US law to hammer web publications AppleInsider, Think Secret and PowerPage, claiming they reported something he hadn’t sanctioned and should therefore be held liable and sued for revealing trade secrets.
If a switch of this magnitude isn’t a trade secret, what is?
The Wall Street Journal was the first to leak news of Apple’s move to Chipzilla and if the Reuters/CNET stories turn out to be accurate, that’ll make three major news sources Steve Jobs will surely have to sue if he’s to maintain his credibility.
“The move would be highly complicated, expensive and could cost Apple some of its less than 2 percent share of the global PC market,” Reuters has Microprocessor Report’s Kevin Krewell saying, continuing:
“It’s going to be a horrendous challenge for the software developers who just completed the transition to OS X from OS 9″ and could stall sales of the Mac PCs.”
Furthermore, “If word gets out that Apple is changing platforms, why would they buy a PowerPC?” – Krewell asks, according to Reuters, adding he expects a negative reaction from developers at Apple’s conference: “They’d wait for two to three years to get an Intel platform.”
Additionally, Jobs has for years, “touted Macs powered by PowerPC chips as faster at certain computing tasks than Intel’s Pentium microprocessors” and, “I don’t know how Steve and Apple are going to spin this,” Krewell said, adding, “Year after year, Apple has promoted the PowerPC over Pentium.”
Will Jobs now prove he’s a man of honour and integrity and sue Reuters, the WSJ and CNET?
And will the mainstream media now underscore their belief in fair and honest reporting by demanding that Apple either treats Reuters, the WSJ and CNET in the same way that it’s treating AppleInsider, Think Secret and PowerPage, or drops the lawsuits altogether?
Don’t stay tuned.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
Reuters – Apple to switch to Intel chips starting in ‘06-CNET, June 4, 2005
the first – Apple and Intel rumours abound, p2pnet, May 24, 2005
