The Intel Macs

The Intel Macs
Mac Tip #226/18-January-2006

Last week there was the regular big Macworld Expo in San Francisco. This is traditionally a time when Apple announce new products and this year was no exception.

Except that this year was exceptional because Apple announced a new iMac and a new Powerbook (to be called the MacBook Pro) which use a whole different computer chip.

Most ordinary people will say: So what? Most of us are no more interested in the details of what chip runs our computer than we are in the minute detail of what engine runs our car or what brand of lightbulb we buy.

But in this case it’s a big deal.

The Motorola 68K

Back in 1984 Apple introduced the original Mac. The chip which worked the Mac magic was manufactured by Motorola and the design was called 68000 (also known as 68K).

The programs to run the computer had to fit in with how the chip was desgned. It’s a bit like making sure a car is either left-hand drive or right-hand drive, depending on the driving customs of the country where it is to be used. Road engineers also have to design roads differently according to which side we drive on.

The AIM PowerPC

By 1994 Apple had squeezed all the power they could out of the 68K series chip so they switched to PowerPC chip from the Apple IBM Motorola alliance.

Like switching which side of the road you drive on this move had many implications, not least of which was that the older computer programs wouldn’t work with the new chip.

Now software developers had to rewrite their programs and computer users often had to pay to upgrade their software.

Software developers release ‘fat’ software which would run on both the 68K series and the PowerPC series. Eventually they stopped including the parts which would allow their program to run on the older machines.

Intel at the core

Now a very similar thing is happening.

Apple have switched to chips manufactured by Intel, and again that changes everything.

Again software developers have to rewrite their programs to run on the new chips, although Apple are including a special technology called Rosetta to help with the translation.

Applications which can run equally well on the old chips and the new ones are called “Universal Binaries”.

Some software is known to not work at all on the new Macs. This includes Microsoft’s Virtual PC.

Here’s what Apple have to say:

Most of the applications that come on your Intel-based Mac are Universal applications, designed for screaming performance with the Intel Core Duo. That includes Mac OS X, iLife ’06, Safari and Mail. Most existing applications will continue to run, thanks to Rosetta. Pro applications from Apple — including Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Logic Pro, Logic Express, Shake and Final Cut Express — are not supported by Rosetta. For most applications, you can upgrade to the Universal version for minimal cost. Third-party applications that require precision real-time playback may perform better with a Universal version. For the expected arrival dates of Universal versions of third-party applications, check with their manufacturers.

Choose carefully

By the end of 2006 Apple plan to switch over completely to using the Intel chips in new Macs.

If you’re thinking of buying a new Mac any time from now on, you need to consider your choices carefully.

If you use software (or hardware) which is crucial to your business or life then before you buy an Intel-based Mac double check that everything will still work as you expect.