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Intel Based Power Mac?
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You are currently in Apple
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Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:54 pm Reply and quote this post
For those still shopping for a pre-Intel Mac, there isn't much to choose from over at your local Apple Store. Basically, you have three choices: Power Mac, Power Mac or Power Mac.

The three G5 models that were rolled out last October are the only PowerPC remnants remaining, and the clock is certainly ticking. All signs are pointing to Steve Jobs' keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Aug. 7 for the release of Intel Power Macs, at which time there will be nothing left at the Apple Store to indicate the G5 ever existed.

And, as Apple has built its reputation, they've saved the best for last, keeping it safely under wraps until the last possible moment.

While we pretty much knew what to expect with the MacBook, details on the upcoming Power Mac — or Mac Pro, as a few rumor sites have said the new desktop will be called — have been sketchy, largely based on Intel's roadmap and comments by its development team.

But in between puzzle piecing — reports of Core Duo and Core 2 Duo, Conroe, Woodcrest and Kentsfield — there have a few kernels that have piqued my curiosity.

A few months ago, before the first Intel Mac materialized in the flesh, AppleInsider reported that Apple "has contracted the design duties for its next-generation Power Mac motherboard over to industry heavyweight Intel Corp."

And then, just last week, Intel senior vice president Anand Chandrasekher had this to say about Apple: "They push us to think about things that we may not always think about. We were hoping for that to happen and that certainly happened."

So, maybe there's a reason Apple rushed the first Intel Macs out the door so quickly. Maybe they wanted to get them out of the way.

Maybe the Mac Pro is going to be so revolutionary and unique that Intel is fitting it with a special processor made specially for Apple. Who's to say that the Mac that started it all, that ushered in the G3, G4 and G5 chips won’t set the Intel ball rolling just a little bit faster?

The most recent rumor report posted on AppleInsider claimed that "Apple and Intel somehow plan to wedge two high-end dual-core chips into some Mac Pros," throwing a bit of a monkey wrench into the speculation game. Mac Rumors chimed in with a bit of chip crunching, deducing that "the use of multiple processors in the Mac Pro would require Intel's Woodcrest chip. Early rumors had indicated that Conroe was on tap for the Mac Pro, but Conroe can not be used in dual-processor configurations."

But what if Intel's roadmap grows a new offshoot?

Apple's partnership with IBM and Motorola yielded chips made with the Mac in mind, and Apple's team had a hand in the development each time, usually demanding higher clock speeds than the processor was capable. The Power Mac has always been held in the highest esteem, receiving the best processors and the technologies before any other machine.

But the Apple-Intel partnership has yet to yield a collaborative chip, opting instead to use Intel's Core Duo chips across the board. In fact, with the exception of the 1.5GHz Core Solor Mac mini, the entire Mac family is only separated by about 700MHz, from the entry-level MacBook to the 2GHz iMac and all the way up to the 2.16GHz Mac Book Pro.

And there's plenty of room at the top.

The stage is set for the Mac Pro to make a serious dent in the industry, but Intel's published plans may not be the best indication of what’s to come.

Perhaps Intel's taken a cue from Apple and developed a bit of secrecy of their own.

Contributed by Editorial Team, Executive Management Team
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