Rumors have been circulating that Apple and Intel are on the outs. It’s previously been reported that Apple allegedly gave Intel an ultimatum: either Intel manages to cut power consumption to their mobile chip lineup, or Apple will be going somewhere else.
When a rumor pops up with that kind of threat, we take notice, and it seems like Intel may also be wondering if Apple is planning on rolling out their own A-series chips in MacBooks sometime in the future. In an interview with CNET, Greg Welch, director of Intel’s Ultrabook group said, “We hear the same rumors and it would be remiss of us to be dismissive. We endeavor to innovate so they’ll continue to look to us as a supplier.” Clearly the fine folks at Intel are wondering what we’re all wondering: where’s Apple going with their A-series chip?
Some A-series chips already find themselves in Apple’s lineup. Obviously, the iPhone 4 and iPad 1 have A4 chips, the iPad 2 has an A5 chip, and many expect the iPad 3 to have an A6 chip. Apple has argued in the past that the current A-series chips are more efficient and require less power consumption. Given their use in Apple’s mobile devices, it’s not surprising that the company may be looking to use the chips in their MacBooks of the future.
While the comments made by Greg Welch aren’t a confirmation that Apple’s planning on making a change with their MacBooks, it certainly goes to show that Intel is hearing the rumors just like the rest of us. But, we have a hard time believing that this is going to be happening any time soon.
Does anyone remember how painful it was with Power-PC chips, and Apple’s transition from PPC to Intel? I really doubt anyone, especially developers, are willing to go through another major shift like that this soon. If Apple really is planning on merging iOS and OS X in the near future, this may not be that big of a deal for developers. But, should the transition be a ways down the pipeline still, we’re likely still a couple of years out from having an A-series chipset in a MacBook.
Source: CNET
Image Credit: Malabooboo
great cause i hate having that nasty intel pc crap in my heavenly macs..
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LikeWith Apple, the sticking point has always been performance per watt. The A series chips probably have higher performance per watt than their closest intel equivalent, which is likely the Atom, but as soon as Apple tries to match the performance of an i7, for example, I doubt the efficiency would scale.
That being said, i'm glad Apple is at least shaking intel's tree, becuase intel does tend to rest on its laurels. But getting rid of intel anytime in the next 5 years? Not going to happen.
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