Apple Considering Moving Macs Away From Intel Chips

News
By Zak Islam
published

Chips from chief rival AMD supposedly the option Apple may switch to.

Apple has supposedly "deliberated" moving its series of Mac systems away from Intel processors.
However, the move apparently isn't "imminent." The details stem from a profile of Apple's CEO Tim Cook by Businessweek that cite two unnamed sources who are familiar with Apple's internal discussions.

Apple's interest of seeking new chips for its Mac lineup isn't the first time the firm has reportedly expressed it wants a new provider. Back in 2010, AppleInsider had heard that the firm held discussions with AMD, Intel's main competitor, about utilizing their chips instead for future Macs.

"Such a shift would be difficult and isn't imminent, though it would allow Apple to further distinguish its laptops and desktops from competitors that run Intel's chips and Microsoft's Windows software," said authors Brad Stone, Adam Satariano and Peter Burrows.

Although Intel powers Apple's Mac systems, the chipmaker is absent from iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

Zak Islam
93 Comments Comment from the forums
  • echondo
    And move to what? AMD? Their own man made CPUs?

    The next years iPhone is going to amazing! /sarcasm.

    And this starts the downward spiral of Apple!
    Reply
  • rooseveltdon
    Lol and move to AMD? good luck with that...unless they start making their own chips they are not going anywhere
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    Obviously would be a win for AMD. No real other option for x86 (forget about Via). I doubt they would want to go through the compatibility hassles again like when they abandoned PowerPC devices.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    or maybe theyll just sell new AMD macs at a lower price. this would grab much of the isheep that are aware of macs being too expensive. though I really do believe these macs will still be expensive as hell. just my thought.
    Reply
  • orodos
    macbook+apu=$$. higher perceived performance due to the gpu & higher profit margins
    Reply
  • cybrcatter
    rofl

    Good luck with that.
    Reply
  • Apple and AMD. 2 Companies that get tough love around here.

    I doubt they would move their entire line to AMD, but there could be some interesting applications for AMD APUs, particularly if they build in some OS specific capabilities that really harness the power of the GPUs.
    Reply
  • greghome
    rooseveltdonLol and move to AMD? good luck with that...unless they start making their own chips they are not going anywherea lot of R&D goes into designing CPUs, even Apple's "own" A6 CPUs in the iPhones are just modified Cortex A9.
    It's more likely they'll just get a Trinity APU and rename it Apple A10, rather than actually redesigning a x86 CPU.........they can't legally do it anyways, since they don't own the license and Intel is unlikely to license it so Apple can abandon them
    Reply
  • dyc4ha
    Apple will save a lot of money going with APUs, and can actually truthfully advertise a massive increase in IGPU performance. Then bam a phat profit margin
    Reply
  • crewton
    bustapror maybe theyll just sell new AMD macs at a lower price. this would grab much of the isheep that are aware of macs being too expensive. though I really do believe these macs will still be expensive as hell. just my thought.
    You don't understand apple very well. They will use AMD and then charge more for being new and innovative. Bigger profit margins and then you will here the itards explain how much better AMD cpus are than Intels. It's a brilliant move. They will really stick it to the wintel owners now!
    Reply