Filed under: Humor, Rumors, Video
Crazy Cringely Rumor: Apple to do H.264 Hardware in Every Mac
Robert X. Cringley is not the most reliable source of news, but he is almost always provocative. So take this one with a big grain of salt, but he is suggesting that Apple will soon incorporate hardware H.264 decoding and encoding chips across the Mac line. The big advantage of this would be to allow every single Mac model to offer full 1080p HDTV decoding without depending on the speed of the main processor. This would make the Mac mini, for instance, a perfect HDTV DVR. Further it would make the Mac the choice for consumer video processing a la Youtube, allowing users to process video for upload more quickly then on any other platform. Says Bob: "It's an aggressive play that fits perfectly with Apple's traditional role as the hardware platform of choice for new media development. And I am sure the company will have at least one new service or application that will uniquely support this new chip upon which Apple is placing a $500+ million bet."As I said above, take this with a big grain of salt, but it is provocative and has just enough plausibility to it to give one pause. So is what do you think, TUAW readers? Is this another one of Bob's pie-in-the-sky rumors, or is this a brilliant move by Apple's into HD video? (And what about the Apple TV and a video iPod?)
Update: corrected typo
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
autoy said 7:11AM on 3-10-2007
AFAIK the ATI x1600 in iMacs and MacBook Pros already do hardware decoding/transcoding due to AVIVO video engine:
http://ati.amd.com/products/RadeonX1600/specs.html
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gadifer said 7:27AM on 3-10-2007
Would have, not would of.
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Ondra Soukup said 7:34AM on 3-10-2007
The iTV has 1GHz Pentium-M based chip. Single core. I guess decoding 720p is already on the edge of its abilities.
So this "rumor" might be actually true. Imagine 960x720 video chats with absolutely no load...
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Dave said 9:26AM on 3-10-2007
@gadifer: you're half right... "would of" is wrong, but so is "would have" in this instance. The sentence in question should start: "This would make the Mac mini..."
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Jacob Varghese said 9:53AM on 3-10-2007
Like you said, Cringley is always provactive and that's why I love reading his columns. An encoding/decoding chip would be a great add for macs and the apple TV, but I'm not sure they would be willing to make such a leap from their current stated direction of pushing shows for purchase thru iTunes?
They can do both, but will they?
If the apple TV is there media center offering, why add this chip in the macs? seems like it would be a waste. should be offered as an option.
Also, for the apple TV or mac mini to succeed as a true media center, cablecard support would be a necessity.
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Ben said 10:25AM on 3-10-2007
Whatever you call it when a columnist jumps the shark this guy has done it.
Just a few weeks ago he was trying to figure out why Apple didn't tell anyone what the hard drive was for in the Apple TV, yeah I guess he was under a rock for the past fews months when Apple told everyone it was for syncing content with iTunes.
In this post he goes on to ask why computers don't include hardward encoders/decoders and thinks it is to sell more computers. Ignoring the fact that most of the chips in the past have had limited codec support and since as long as the Internet has been around we have had 5 different video formats, decoding in software just makes sense.
While Apple might start including decoders in their computers since they really only care to support iTunes content, it isn't because current Mac's need the help, even the slowest Mini sold today can handle 1080p H.264 movies and still have enough juice left over for email.
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Ben said 10:27AM on 3-10-2007
Great job making the world a better place by policing the grammar everywhere guys.
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Chris L said 10:32AM on 3-10-2007
Cringely is a nut... PBS digital channels are still airing his HDTV special from 1998 (!) that demonstrates interactive programming that doesn't exist a decade later and never did exist.
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Marco said 10:42AM on 3-10-2007
Well, it doesn't sound too strange, really. The current processors aren't really suitable to decode full 1080p resolution at a reasonable speed. So, yes, it might even become reality
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Travis Bell said 12:00PM on 3-10-2007
This is all fine and good for things like built in video apps (iChat for example) but lets face it guys. There is hardly any H.264 content out there so I have to ask, does it really matter?
If you look at my video library I think 2/400+ are H.264. I would rather see Apple natively support HD MPEG2 (1080i) first... but hey, that technology is only 5 years old now so I am not holding my breath.
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riccardo said 12:38PM on 3-10-2007
i think this should be necessary! considering the lack of choice on vido cards on most Mac solutions, this would be of great help!
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weldon said 12:56PM on 3-10-2007
I'm not sure why people are focusing on *de*coding. All future GPU chips (even the Intel GMA X3000) will support hardware acceleration for H.264 decoding. The real news would be hardware support for H.264 *en*coding in the Mac line. That would make a significant difference in outputting HD video targeted at Blu-ray, HD-DVD, or even iMovie HD files targeted at the AppleTV (@720p/24).
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Leonard Nimrod said 1:36PM on 3-10-2007
I agree with Ben. Cringley has jumped the shark. The "I wonder what the AppleTV HDD is for?" column was the last straw for me. I used to look forward to his theories but now I couldn't care less. Though, on the surface it's an interesting theory if you use a fair amount of tunnel vision.
Travis Bell wrote: "There is hardly any H.264 content out there so I have to ask, does it really matter?"
You're right, there is currently no H.264 content besides HD DVD, Blu-ray, DVB (Digital Video Broadcast standards of Europe), countrywide mandates in Korea, Japan, France, Brazil, Estonia & Slovenia to ustilize H.264 for broadcasts, BBC HD in London, DirecTV, Dish Network, Euro1080 Premiere, ProSieben HD, Sat1 HD, SkyHD in the United Kingdom, Ireland & Italy, 3GPP for cell communication, AVCHD (developed by Sony and Panasonic), and the iTunes Store..... but after we elimate those, you are 'dead on balls' right.
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Jon said 3:52PM on 3-10-2007
I doubt they would do this. What they're more likely to do is include encoding/decoding hardware in their Pro line, or else offer a PCI-e card with those capabilities. Avid currently offers real-time 2K support through hardware. I know that if Apple offered this, they would get a LOT of new customers.
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G said 5:52PM on 3-10-2007
Except that Cringely is very rarely correct. I'm surprised that people take his predictions seriously enough for further discussion. They are more akin to twisted British Comedy.
Intel to buy Apple? Ni!
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epobirs said 7:55PM on 3-10-2007
The GPU industry is moving to make hardware acceleration for modern codecs (H.264, VC-1, etc.) a standard feature. The decode side is mostly there and encode support to drive media center apps is not that far away.
So all Cringely can really claim is that Apple will continue to use off the shelf GPUs.
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Not On Demand said 12:52AM on 3-11-2007
Kind or ironic coming from a guy who has been promising a second season of his NerdTV interviews for over 15 months!! He can't even deliver content himself.
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Jacques Lema said 9:12AM on 3-11-2007
"Offer full 1080p HDTV decoding without depending on the speed of the main processor."
I am pretty sure that with a decent codec you can decode a 1920x1080 video on an Intel Mac Mini with only one of the two cores.
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Steve Dale said 9:24AM on 3-12-2007
I think he is onto something here. After all, if you think about it the Apple TV can only mean that Apple Inc. is now (at last) taking the most critical step in realising its iLife philospohy that it stared talkin up all those years ago. For most folk TV is still the most important way of receiving information about the world (whether its news or entertainment). Now that the web is improving with broadband and better quality video the next step has to be making HDTV as easy as possible, something Apple did with MP3, online misic downloads, making music (GarageBand is just the bees knees!) and.... need I go on?
In summary, I can't wait and I think Rob is on the right track. Who knows, Steve Jobs may have some nice Christmas gifts in store for us all!
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navstar said 12:26PM on 3-12-2007
He's been reading Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC
Fujitsu has announced a 1080i encoding/decoding IC that will be introduced in March 2007, priced at 120 USD. The chip will be produced in a 90 nm process and will support High Profile Level 4 (up to 25 Mbit/s)[15].
The DMS-02 media processor from 3DLabs promises to encode D1 video at 30 fps[16] (equivalent to High 4:2:2 Profile, Level 3).
Ambarella claims to be able to encode 1080i at below one watt of power consumption in their A1 SoC platform[17].
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