What Apple Switch to Intel Chips Means for US - Mossberg/WSJ PT

[Timothy C. O'Grady]

June 9, 2005

What the Apple Plan To Switch to Intel Chips Means for Consumers

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG - Personal Technology

The war in Iraq rages on, the European Union is fraying and North Korea
may have nuclear weapons. But if you read the business and technology
news this past week, all of that seemed to pale before an event
variously described as seismic, epic and stunning: Apple Computer has
decided to adopt processors made by Intel for its future Macintosh
computers.

There's a reason this was big news in the computer world. For decades,
Intel's chips have been tightly linked to the software of Apple's
archrival, Microsoft, and Apple has touted as superior the IBM PowerPC
chips that powered the Mac. Plus, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, probably the
most charismatic business leader in America, attracts attention for
anything he does, even though his Macintosh has a tiny share of the PC
market.

But what does Apple's move mean for the average consumer, who just
wants the best computer for the job?

In the long term, the change will strengthen Apple and the Mac, which
is good news for anyone devoted to that platform or considering
switching to it. That's because Intel's processors and other chips will
give Apple more options than IBM's products could for building Macs
that run faster and cooler, and have longer battery life. The first
Intel-based Mac is due in spring 2006.

Even consumers who use Microsoft Windows, which runs on the vast
majority of computers, will benefit, because the Mac's impact on the
industry is vastly greater than its market share. Apple is the most
innovative major computer maker, and the only one largely dedicated to
serving consumers instead of large corporate customers. Almost
everything it does is later copied by the Windows PC makers, so keeping
Apple strong and innovating is good for Windows users, too.

In the short run, however, the chip changeover should make little
difference to average consumers. For all but the techiest techies,
changing the processor in these machines will be a nonevent, sort of
like changing the engine in next year's Lexus cars. As long as the new
engine is at least as fast and smooth as its predecessor, few drivers
would notice or care.

What makes a Mac a Mac isn't the processor under the hood. It's Apple's
elegant operating system, OS X, which won't see major changes for 18
months, and the company's stylish hardware designs, which it will
continue to produce. When you peer at the screen of the first
Intel-based Mac, it will look just like today's PowerPC Macs, only it
should run faster.

Of course, if Apple fails to execute the switch well or the Intel
processors don't meet expectations, the Mac could be in trouble. And
users would lose if too many third-party software developers decline to
spend the money and time to convert their products so they run on the
Intel chips.

Here are answers to a few common questions I've received about the
switch.

Should people hold off buying a Mac that uses the IBM PowerPC
processor, which Apple will soon abandon, and wait for the new Intel
Macs?

No. If you need a new computer and the Mac was the right choice for you
last week, it's still the right choice. Today's PowerPC Macs are, in my
view, the best consumer computers on the market, and Apple plans to
roll out additional PowerPC models this year.

Plus, all new software for the Mac will continue to run on PowerPC
models for at least a few more years, the likely life of any Mac you
buy now. That's because Apple has created a tool for software
developers that easily creates "universal" programs capable of being
run on either the PowerPC or Intel models.

Now that Apple will be using the same processor as Dell, H-P and other
competitors, will people be able to run the Mac operating system on
these non-Apple machines?

Unless some hacker does a masterful job, the answer is no. Apple
intends to keep its operating system and hardware tied tightly
together. The new Intel-based versions of the Mac's OS X operating
system will be designed so that they cannot run on non-Apple hardware,
and Apple has no plans to license OS X to other PC makers.

Will users be able to install and run Microsoft Windows on the new
Intel-based Macs?

Apple's official position is that it won't block the use of Windows on
its new machines. Unofficially, however, the company says people won't
be able to just buy a copy of Windows XP and install it on an
Intel-based Mac. That's because Apple is unlikely to build in all the
standard under-the-hood hardware pieces that Windows is designed to
mate with. And it won't supply any special software called "drivers" to
help Windows use the unique under-the-hood hardware Apple will use.

However, I expect some third-party company to supply the missing
drivers and otherwise make it possible to run Windows on an Intel-based
Mac. Microsoft itself might even do this. That would allow Mac users to
run Windows programs that lack Mac equivalents at speeds comparable to
a Windows computer's.

Will Mac prices fall due to the switch to Intel?

There's no way to tell now, but I doubt it. Apple's lower volumes,
higher quality and unusual designs will likely keep it out of the very
basement of the market.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.m...@wsj.com