Sprogformidling
Opinion
Shocking : Intel already in the new Macs
Much before my expectations, the Intel processors have made their arrival into the new generation of Macintoshes, the MacBook Pro and the iMac. Both are with Intel Core Duo processing chips, allowing for double processor workpower in the same CPU card.
The speed gain should be from 2 times and up to four times, in case you use modo. The transistors have been compressed so tightly that you can fit a hundred within a single human cell
, Apple adverts. I presume that they are talking about the egg cell which is the largest human cell and visible to a (healthy and strong) human eye. If not, the fatal year 2017 may be a bit too late in comparison to the anticipated year when the transistor size reaches the size of small molecules.
It is an impressive piece of engineership, I must admit, yet I retain some reluctance. How about vira? Will the new Intel based Macintoshes not be more susceptible to viral attacks than are the PowerPC based ones? I still have a QuickTime movied with Steven Jobs at the Expo outlining the gigahertz myth
, and having his employee explain the superiority of PowerPC architechture. Why all of a sudden this switch to Intel?
Rumours in the Mac weblogs have that this has been a grand plan for quite some time, now. I can easily see it related to the leap to Unix based Mac OS X. After all, Linux was developed on a PC that most likely had a CPU from Intel. Since we also know that Steven Jobs brought his Next OS — another Unix clone — with him when returning to Apple in 1998, it is likely that the switch to Intel was a part of his considerations even then.
However, only a part of the considerations. The PowerPC CPUs may have come to a dead end. I admit that there have been much trouble with the development of the G4 processors, and even more with the G5 that required much more power than the smaller Intel Core Duo chips. Also, adapting software to make full use of the capabilities of the G4s and G5s never really got into the full spin.
Using old application programs means a translation mechanism in the new generation Macintoshes called Rosetta. Newer programs come with a so-called Universal algorithm that takes full advantage of both CPU architures.
Pro applications from Apple — including Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Logic Pro, Logic Express, and Final Cut Express — are not supported by Rosetta. How ironic! They will be ported to the new system by March 31, 2006, Apple promises.
This looks like something we have seen before. In 1994, the PowerPC saw the light, and software manufacturers started coding for the new CPUs as well as the old Motorola 680x0 processors. When installing new software to your Performa, you had the options 680x0, PowerPC or Global install. The Global install consumed more of the precious space on your SCSI hard disk, so you would usually do your best to avoid this.
At the bottom line, I like the result. The MacBook Pro and iMac with their Intel Core Duo look much more like a normal PC on the surface. And I can even connect my PC microphone to the new models without resorting to the old Macintosh microphones that were of use only in Macintoshes — and far from all of them. The G4 Quicksilver I am writing at was deprived of a microphone inlet. The MacBook Pro has a combined optical digital input/audio line in (minijack). Cool. If I had $1,999 in the USA, I would also buy one of those MacBook Pros. Who wouldn't?
Erik Thau-Knudsen
2006-01-11
