Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Hardware, Rumors
Apple to use stock Intel chipsets
MacfixIt is reporting that Intel sources have confirmed Apple will use stock CPUs and chipsets in x86 Macs. According to an unnamed representative, Intel will not have to retool its production lines to fill an Apple orders. This certainly bolsters the case for x86 Macs being able to dual boot Windows and stock Linux kernels. The followup question, of course, is "then how do they keep people from running the OS on other hardware?" vnunet has some disturbing speculation on that front, and it involves TCM. Nothing new there, and we don't know anything yet, but there are limited options when it comes to breaking hardware for your competitors without ruining it for yourself and it looks the obvious choice, custom core components, just got ruled out. Pardon me if my spidey sense is tingling. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's bad enough when my software spies on my, I don't need my hardware getting in on the action.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
unknown said 1:15PM on 6-24-2005
Does this mean macs are going to be able to get viruses?
Reply
Porchland said 1:28PM on 6-24-2005
"Intel will not have to retool its production lines to fill an Apple orders."
Add that statement to the fact that Steve Jobs said during the announcement that his guys have been running OSX on Intel machines for five years, and I've got to wonder whether Apple will bring the first Mactel device sooner rather than later.
The best way to beat expectations is to not be too ambitious with them. (Ask George Bush about that one!)
Reply
Sk8rCai said 1:30PM on 6-24-2005
*thud thud thud*
Reply
ezkiel said 1:37PM on 6-24-2005
why do people think x86 = virus...]
linux is relativly low on viruses and as long as there isnt a huge demand for mac and they stay with a relatively low market share they should be safe. x86 and ppc have nothing to do with virus vulnerbility.
Reply
jordan Merrick said 6:54AM on 6-25-2005
well the first batch of mactel machines will be shipping by the end of june...as long as you are either a 'select' or 'premier' developer. you have to stump up around 599/$800 for a machine though. apparently, apple will simply be adding an extra chip onto the actual motherboard that will communicate with os x to determine if it's running on a mac(which leads me to believe that their motherboards will be specifically built for apple rather than off-the-shelf).
incidentally, does anyone remember the hubbub caused when intel launched the Pentium 3, which was one of the first chips to allow the gathering of info such as machine IDs? there was so much trouble, that intel provided a switch in the BIOS to allow you to turn it off
Reply
nezromatron said 2:14PM on 6-24-2005
People seem to think that loading up OSX on a Dell will magically make it work. Who is going to write the OSX drivers for the hardware inside the Dell machine? I'm pretty sure that Apple will not be wasting resources creating drivers for hardware they have no intention of supporting. People have issues with windows and drivers, and it's >supposed< to run on Dell, et. al.
Reply
Harsh said 2:25PM on 6-24-2005
Correct me if i'm wrong, but I think that I remember Steve Jobs saying that Apple will be releasing 5 version of the next OS X release? If so, I wonder if one of those versions is for the puspose of running it on non-mac x86 machines?
Reply
Penginkun said 3:09PM on 6-24-2005
Want to know how I think it will work? No? Well, who asked you anyway? ;) Here goes: The CPU has an ID code in it (every CPU Intel makes has one). Intel makes sure Apple gets CPUs from a certain ID code block and Apple tells the OS to check the ID code during boot. Easy peasey, and Apple doesn't have to do anything sneaky or underhanded. There's no 'spying' involved and nobody knows that you visit transsexual monkey S&M porn sites at 2 a.m.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Reply
Mike said 4:23PM on 6-24-2005
Remember that Darwin, the underlying UNIX OS, has run on x86 from day one. So by default, OS X x86 should be able to run on generic Intel hardware; Apple has to actually make an affirmative effort to make that not the case.
Reply
Maxim Blinder said 5:35PM on 6-24-2005
so according to your theory, a simple CPU swap from a Mactel to a Dell would allow it to run OSX? hmm...
Reply
Tony said 9:31PM on 6-24-2005
I'm kind of surprised to see an ATX motherboard in there. You would think that it would have a BTX, since that is what Intel is pushing these days. The latest dell has a BTX (http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_9100?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs)
Reply
Penginkun said 7:29PM on 6-25-2005
Maxim:
If that's how Apple does it, I doubt very much that they will make it easy to remove the CPUs from their systems!
Another possibility is a custom BIOS.
Their options really are limited if they're not using any custom hardware.
Reply