|
FINALLY! The reason for the Intel switch. |
|
Monday, 03 March 2008 |
 So many years ago we all heard Steve say that the Mac has been living a secret life as a x86 platform in a secret building on the Apple campus. Then he started switching everything to Intel processors, everyone's world was turned upside down, but we all recovered. The reason for the switch was because Apple and Intel had similar roadmaps. Some people said it was because IBM couldn't produce, some said it was so Apple could compete better with Microsoft. Finally we have the real reason, the "atom".
The Atom processor is the next generation of Intel processors. They consume only 0.6-2.5 watt of power , yet contain the Core 2 Duo instruction set (current C2Duo chips pull 35 watts). The power to watt is amazing then. These low power chips are the reason Apple switched. The roadmap for Apple was clear with the release of the iPhone and the MacBook Air, smaller is beter. Now Intel has laid out it's roadmap, smaller & faster.
Some other fun facts about Atom, sized at 25 mm2, you can fit 11 of them onto a penny. Scalable up to 1.8 GHz speed.
Intel's press release.
|
