It's now official. Apple has dumped IBM and switched allegiance to Intel. The computer-maker will start using Intel chips from 2006 and complete the transition in 2007. Rumours have been circulating prior to the announcement by Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, especially after an exclusive article was released by CNET recently. Articles ranging from the reasons for the switch to support and criticism for the Intel-inside Macs have been surfacing ever since. Among the reasons mentioned by Steve Jobs is Intel's better power performance per watt as well as the shortcomings of IBM's PowerPC chip. Power consumption and heat generation are important and critical issues in today's computing world especially for laptops, with IBM unable to meet Apple's demands. However, I'm questioning here the rationale of choosing Intel over AMD processors. With AMD delivering better chips recently and having a clearer roadmap (which Apple claims IBM doesn't have), it was surprising Intel got the nod ahead of AMD. The main issue would still be: 'Will the Apple faithful listen?'. It could eventually work out for Apple with consumers willing to pay extra for their sleek, powerful and pretty products over dull offerings from other computer-makers. By using Intel chips, Apple would be able to offer their products at a cheaper rate compared to now. I'm actually quite excited with this development. I can see myself owning a Mac soon. :)
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