When I start out working atMacworldsix - and - a - one-half years ago , I never dreamed I ’d end up at an Intel event . They ’re the opposition — after Microsoft , that is — correct ? But that was before Steve Jobs made his historic promulgation about the switch to Intel bit at Apple ’s own Worldwide Developer Conference in June . So today I notice myself at the fallIntel Developer Forumat Moscone West in San Francisco — which is , coincidently , the same place where Apple held its developer conference .
Although both conferences are place for big troupe to link up with and serve the people who grow computer hardware and software that make these companies ’ products better , there was one big departure . While seated prior to the tonic by Intel CEO Paul Otellini ( and sitting closer and more centered to the stage than Apple provide the press at its event , I might add ) , an announcement came over the PA . Not the one about turning off cell phones and pagers ( that came slimly later ) , but one admonish that next prediction are just that — anticipation — and that there ’s inherent risk and uncertainty in such statements .
Why was that such a big mint ? Because Apple almost never talk about the future . Apple is a very secretive society — in fact , everything but the tonic at Apple ’s WWDC is off limits to press and the contents of those sessions are protected by non - disclosure agreement . Apple typically announces product and partnership only after they are ratify , sealed , and ready to redeem ( the one exception : O firing , which Apple likes to march around like the gargantuan cats whose names they hold ) .
counterpoint that plan of attack to Otellini ’s keynote . The Intel CEO talked about new chip scheduled for release in the second and third quarters of 2006 — Apple wo n’t even confirm that it plans to pay its air conditioning bill from the summertime .
What Otellini showed off were Merom , Conroe , and Woodcrest — raw central processor for mobile , screen background , and server reckoner , respectively . ( adopt a page from Steve Jobs , Otellini let on that he had been running the presentation from a laptop with a Merom processor . ) All three processor are dual - sum , use 65 - nanometre product engineering science , and are 64 - bit — the last part of that is welcome news to those who feared the switch to Intel ’s current batting order meant slither back to 32 - bit computing once Intel chips bug out render up in Macs . Otellini even observe that Intel has 10 musculus quadriceps femoris - core ( that is , four CPU core per chip ) project in the works — all of which would be great to see in future Macs .
One of the most interesting scene of the Intel passage is going to be the conflict styles of the two company . Apple is tight - lipped to the stage of paranoia , while Intel is the blabber mouth who wants to share everything with the world . What this means is that while Apple will go forward to keep the world guess about its Mac products , we ’ll already know far in advance what Intel has in its dish of trick — not necessarily which processors Apple will prefer for which Macs and when , but enough information for some civilize surmise . Intel will go along to share its roadmap , and Apple will remain to deny the existence of anything it has n’t foretell — be it animal , vegetable , or mineral . If nothing else , Intel ’s candor could increase the odds of Mac rumor sites sustain thing proper .
