Updated: June 23, 2020 at 3:58:50 pm
Apple announced the transition from PowerPC processors, developed by IBM and Motorola, to Intel processors brought back to the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference.
In his keynote speech last night at WWDC 2020, when Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company would dig Intel for ARM processors in Mac computers, it was djjàvu for some people like me. As the 2005 WWDC keynote speaker, Steve Jobs unexpectedly dropped the news of converting Mac computers from PowerPC chips to Intel processors. This was a major step by Apple to switch from IBM-built PowerPC processors to Intel-built x86 processors.
At the time, many questioned Apple’s motive behind the transition. To respond to critics, Jobs faced challenges that Apple was facing with PowerPC. “I stood before you two years ago and you promised 3.0 GHz. I think a lot of you would like the G5 in your PowerBook, and we haven’t been able to deliver it to you yet, ”said Jobs during the WWDC 2005 main event in San Francisco. “But as we look forward, and although we’ve got great products now, and great PowerPC products are still to come, we can imagine some amazing products that we want to make for you, and we can make them How to create future PowerPC roadmap, ”he said.
To illustrate his point, Jobs talked about the major changes in Mac’s life span. In the mid-1990s, Apple made a transition from the Motorola 68000 series processor to the PowerPC platform. “PowerPC set Apple up for the next decade. This was a good move.
Apple WWDC 2020: Apple cuts clutter on iOS, and kicks Intel out of Mac
“The second major transition was even bigger – the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X that we just finished a few years ago,” he continued. “It was a brain transplant. And even though these operating systems (9 and X) differ by just one name, they are worlds apart from technology. Mac OS X is the most advanced operating system on the planet and has installed Apple for the next 20 years. “
Jobs called the third transition from PowerPC to the Intel processor. “We are going to start the transition from PowerPC to Intel processors, and we are going to start it for you and our customers next year. Why? Because we want to make the best computer for our customers.
The iMac G4 is powered by a PowerPC processor (left), the iMac G5 is powered by an Intel processor (right). (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
In many ways, Job’s trust and confidence in Intel processors at the time was a logical step. Jobs not only wanted a faster processor, but he also wanted the chipset to be relatively cold. While PowerPC processors were faster, they required much more power and most importantly, those processors quickly overheated. Jobs with IBM was also not happy over the late delivery of chips.
According to Jobs, Intel processors provide more performance per watt than PowerPC processors. “When we look at the future roadmap, mid-2006 and beyond, we see that PowerPC gives us 15 units of performance per watt, but Intel’s roadmap gives us 70. And so it tells us what to do Is, ”he explained.
But just making an announcement and switching to a completely new hardware architecture in a specified time frame are two different things. But Jobs prepared well at WWDC.
“Starting next year, we’ll start rolling out Macs with Intel processors,” Jobs said. “When we meet again this time next year, we plan on shipping the Mac with an Intel processor. In two years, our plan is that the transition will be mostly complete, and we think it will be completed by the end of 2007. “
According to Johnny Surzy, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technology, Apple’s changes to its chips will boost power performance. (Image credit: apple)
Switching to Intel requires developers to run their applications on new chips. However, Jobs and his team had been working on the project internally for years. At WWDC 2005, Jobs revealed that the company Mac OS X was secretly co-compiled to run on both PowerPC and Intel chips. This was not the only surprise.
During the main event, Apple also introduced a new tool called Rosetta that originally allowed developers to change the code created for PowerPC to run on Intel-powered Macs. At the same time, a new version of Xcode was released, version Xcode 2.1, which allowed developers to create a universal binary that would run on both PowerPC and Intel platforms.
As promised by Jobs during the annual WWDC 2005, the entire Mac lineup was moved to run on the latest Intel chipsets by 2007. In January 2006, the first Intel-powered Macs – the iMac and MacBook Pro were announced. By switching to Intel. For the first time, it was possible to run Windows on a Mac computer. In 2006, Apple introduced Boot Camp, a new way to natively run Windows XP on a Mac.
Apple is now poised for a fourth transition after 15 years by dipping Intel’s x86 desktop chips for its own custom processors based on the architecture of British company ARM, owned by Japanese tech giant Softbank. Apple said the first ARM Mac will ship by the end of 2020, with a full transition to two years, giving developers enough time to prepare their apps. Apple also announced, “Rosetta 2” that would allow the program to run on both chip architectures.
Changes to Apple’s custom ARM-based chips give the company strict control over hardware and software, something that gives Apple engineers a lot of freedom to play with hardware. More than a business decision, many see this change for a long time. By switching from Intel to ARM, Apple promises powerful machines with less heat and better battery consumption. The move to use its own customized microprocessor will give future Macs better security protection which makes it more difficult to hack. More than anything, Apple always wants to build on Mac-Mac notebooks with built-in mobile broadband.
Of course, Apple’s move to transition from x86 to ARM will make Intel a bit nervous, even if Apple’s global market share in the computer segment is less than 8 percent. The switch from Intel to ARM shows that Apple no longer needs Intel. With both Apple and Microsoft switching to ARM-based chips for their future lineups, Intel has some reason to worry.
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