Amid criticism from “loyal� Mac fans, Apple scraps Intel and switches back to the Motorola 68040 processor
Posted by Igor
In a widely expected move, Apple today announced it was halting development of its new Intel Macs, and reverting back to the Motorola 68040 processor architecture.
Apple COO Tim Cook explained the decision in a brief statement:
“In recent weeks, we have received an increasing number of communications from a large portion of our loyal fan base indicating they are less-than-enthusiastic about our planned migration from the PowerPC G5 architecture to Intel processors. Many have cited concerns over possible compatibility issues with the software they currently know and love. Others have voiced concern over the expected waiting period for current software to be re-written and optimized for the “Mactelâ€? machines. Finally, some have also expressed concern over the ‘unknown reliability’ of Intel-based Macs.”
“It is therefore my great pleasure to announce that we are dropping Intel, and going back to the Motorola 68040 processor. This is a chip that all Mac users can be comfortable with, one with a rich Mac-history.�
“This is great news for the Mac community. There will be no need to wait for a compatible ‘universal binary’ version of your favorite applications. Your copy of Photoshop 2 will run perfectly, just as it did in 1991. It is more important to us that our customers remain comfortable with our product’s processors, than that our computers remain competitive. “
The form factors and pricing of the newly announced computers will remain the same as the Intel and G5 models they replace.
Shares of The Learning Company, makers of the popular “The Oregon Trail� game, rose 0.04¢ in after hours trading on the news.
ha ha ha!
I assume this is your way of telling people to shut up and buy the damn Intel machiines?
🙂
I like how the 68040 cost the same as the Intel ones.
Makes as much sense as the G5s being priced the same.
I have died of dysentery.
🙂
We’ve come a LONG way……………
At the risk of pissing off Roland again…
https://macenstein.com/archives/199
Everyone should buy the Intel iMac.
Intel sux
I will not purchase any machine with an Intel CPU. PERIOD. Now AMD maybe but ever intel, I guess I’ll have to start building my own AMD Linux machine from here on out. You Intel lover’s enjoy your DRM. You’ll have plenty of it…
Haha, this is funny.
Seriously, you may not like Intel now, but it will be accepted in time. The same
thing was said about PowerPC in the transition from 68040s.
hamburgler, You are a moron.
Buying a computer because of the type of processor inside is lame.
Either you like running a cetain OS or you don’t.
Ren,
this is utter nonsense. If you would have a real OS you would know that you can change your OS and still run your favourit GUI. And even if it is the OS, you got the freedom to choose it. And you should have the freedom to change it. Can you change your OS on Intel-Macs?
Every OS, even windows, is worth a look.
And why can you choose your hardware? Becaus a real OS runs on every kind of hardware. Just check the foundation of MacOS X and look at BSD. The real question isn’t why hase Apple switched. The question one should ask is, why doesn’t Apple offer a choice?