Comments on: Apple Moving Macs from Intel to ARM Processors?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:22:18 +0000

Yes, and yes again.

I’m waiting for thar since 2005. The real Mac will be back. Apple must stop using energy hungry and poorly designed Intel processors.
ARM are faster than you think guys. And if Apple was still on PowerPC processors we would be able to use faster machine for 1/10th of the energy consommation. Apple can do the same (or even better) with in house designed ARM processors.

Go on guys, and bring us these wonderfull machines as soon as possible.

By: jp

jp — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:53:21 +0000

So if Windows is also moving to ARM, it makes a whole lotta sense the fact that Apple might be considering the move as well.

By: Quad-Core ARM CPU Support Found in Xcode, Quickly Removed by Apple

Quad-Core ARM CPU Support Found in Xcode, Quickly Removed by Apple — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:39:15 +0000

[...] quad-core chip could be coming to the MacBook Air (earlier rumors suggest a move away from Intel is [...]

By: Mauri

Mauri — Fri, 13 May 2011 06:43:14 +0000

It seems everyone here just thinks about current arm models and core counts.

It has been proven that multiplying processing power is much easier in Arm processors than in x86-processors at the moment.

Even if Arm will only make 8 times more powerfull processors in 3 years time (doubling processing power per year) it’s almost in-par with current offerings (A5 isn’t ARM A15 processor).

With this kind of chip (and still low power offering) Apple could use same chip in whole line-up 1 chip in IPhone 7(?), 2-4 chips in Mac Air…. up to 16-32 chips in MAc Pro.

Considering possible iOs and OSX merge it would be quite good pairing actually.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:42:35 +0000

Well the ARM processors were originally created for desktop computers by Acorn (a British computer company) who installed ARM processors into their line of desktop computers (Acorn Archimedes). The ARM then became very popular for mobile devices because of the low power consumption.

As they’ve been used for desktops before, I don’t think its too unlikely it’ll happen again.

We used to use Acorn Archimedes at school in the early/mid 1990s and they were pretty good machines. They were quite fast and the OS was all built into the ROM just like mobile devices.

By: Walter

Walter — Sun, 08 May 2011 16:06:44 +0000

I dont think so because windows is also introducing ARM support on windows 8.

By: Trench

Trench — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:03:37 +0000

I doubt it’s true, but if it is, I’m going back to PC. It’s easy enough to wipe windows and start fresh with Linux.

By: Stewart

Stewart — Sat, 07 May 2011 02:28:18 +0000

Actually I thought the rumor was that Apple was going to get Intel to create the A6 CPU.

By: Stewart

Stewart — Sat, 07 May 2011 02:25:46 +0000

In my opinion this is hype dream up by the Android / Google crowd that hate Apple because of iPhone and iPad.

ARM on Mac OS has a couple of problems

1. Boot camp is out the Windows.
2. Performance on ARM is not up to par with Intel cpus – maybe the Atom and that is even debatable. But surely not the i7 series
3. Microsoft Windows 8 interest for ARM is likely primary for low power tablets.
4. Compatibility issues with client code running on cpu – could be issue.

Personally I would prefer Intel to come out with a low-power x86 cpu that would compete with ARM so one day Apple could come out with iMacPad which would basically like a MacBook AIR running on iPad form factor.

By: JMH

JMH — Sat, 07 May 2011 00:03:55 +0000

Won’t happen: the investment in the partnership with Intel is far too valuable for either company to walk away from. Apple’s move to x86 processors saved the company, reinvigorated competition (vs. Microsoft), and contributing factor in the increase of Apple’s market share. If ARM is 2-3 years (minimum) of building a 64 processor capable of handling today’s computing needs, then ARM is well behind the ball. By then we should be using 128 bit operating systems and processors.

By: iMac 2011 Benchmarks Cause Speed Envy

iMac 2011 Benchmarks Cause Speed Envy — Fri, 06 May 2011 21:43:37 +0000

[...] a related note, these benchmarks are exactly why I hope the rumor of Apple moving to ARM processors for the Mac is false. stLight.options({ publisher:'fe5e0a84-1fac-40de-8014-9f89fc1cbe6a' [...]

By: smakus

smakus — Fri, 06 May 2011 20:50:16 +0000

You guys are silly. Stop speading this FUD. Intel and Apple are locked in until 2015.

By: INTC & ARM.L

INTC & ARM.L — Fri, 06 May 2011 20:20:31 +0000

You guys are all gullible as f**k, this is nothing but classic stock price manipulation. INTC dropped 1.6% on this “news” and ARM jumped 5%. The “report” is coming from a guy who used to write for a f**king tabloid known as The Inquirer. SemiAccurate should get a SemiVisit from the SEC for blatant market manipulation, what a f**king idiot.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:20:32 +0000

Oy vey. I wouldn’t put it past Apple, but Apple is also keenly aware that they serve the creative market, and there will always need to be machines for developers. They’re not going to make this move if it will hurt their power users, so maybe Intel will stay in Pro machines while the User models get ARM. On the bright side, ARM is low power and would substantially raise battery life.

By: Thank God for Linux

Thank God for Linux — Fri, 06 May 2011 19:12:25 +0000

Sounds like a very Apple move to me. In-house processor designs gives them further control plus even greater profit margins on hardware. All future Macs will be running some dumbed down Mac iOS boreware anyway which will be more than enough for the average goober user. Things will feel ‘snappy’ just like they do on the iPad 2 as long as you dont actually try to *USE* the device for *REAL WORK*, but again for average MacGoober that is more than enough power to send an email to Grandma.

Time to move back to Linux when it happens.