Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

HecubusPro

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 22, 2006
640
2
Los Angeles
I posted this elsewhere, but I thought it would be important to include here.

From Appleinsider...

Appleinsider said:
AMD chief says Apple to use AMD chips

By AppleInsider Staff
Published: 03:00 PM EST

Advanced Micro Devices chief executive Hector Ruiz said Wednesday that Apple Computer will eventually use its microprocessors alongside those from Intel.

Ruiz made the comments during a dinner speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, according to Bloomberg.

"Everybody wants choice,'' he said, adding that rival Intel Corp's practices have stifled the PC industry's growth. "Knowing Apple, why would they want to be held hostage like everyone else has been?"

Adding AMD as a supplier would be simple for Apple because the company has already adapted its Mac OS X system software to work on Intel chips, which use the same instruction set as AMD, Ruiz said.

The Sunnyvale, California-based AMD is the world's second-largest chipmaker, behind only Intel.

The two companies have been intertwined in a fierce battle for market share with AMD recently pushing Intel's share of the market to less than 80 percent for the first time in four years.

Apple has declined to comment on the report.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,496
2,992
It's not based on anything real...he just says it's obvious that they will because people want choice. The head of AMD optimistic about prospects for his company in competing against Intel? I would hope so.
 

HecubusPro

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 22, 2006
640
2
Los Angeles
WildCowboy said:
It's not based on anything real...he just says it's obvious that they will because people want choice. The head of AMD optimistic about prospects for his company in competing against Intel? I would hope so.

I've just never heard AMD actually come out and say "we want to work with Apple." I could be wrong (and usually am:) )
 

Dont Hurt Me

macrumors 603
Dec 21, 2002
6,055
6
Yahooville S.C.
At the moment Intel is just hammering AMD, 2 yrs ago was a different story but today Intel has squashed Freescale,IBM & AMD. Not any of those guys have anything today that can battle the Duo's.
 

Sdashiki

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2005
3,529
11
Behind the lens
This could get interesting.

So, there is gonna be AMD and Intel versions of the same configs?

Which will be cheaper?

My guess is this is BS, but hell, I said that when we heard whispers of Intel.
 

Bibulous

macrumors 6502a
Jan 19, 2005
716
0
More options would be good for Apple, but I can hardly keep Intel's product names straight :eek:
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
perhaps when/if Intel starts sucking then yes. but there is nothing to back up his statement. its just a hypothetical conclusion that he hopes to be true.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,496
2,992
HecubusPro said:
I've just never heard AMD actually come out and say "we want to work with Apple." I could be wrong (and usually am:) )

They sort of said they were working with Apple three years ago.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple ultimately offers AMD chips if they continue to make headway in the chip wars (although I think they might have too much invested in the Intel partnership to risk it for quite a while), but I think it's easy to read too much into his comments. Sounds like cheerleading and wishful thinking to me.
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
the K8L will still not compare to the core2duo, amd is pretty much dead in the water seeing as intel has lost their MHz madness.
 

Aaon

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2004
287
19
I would say there is definitely no claim in that passage that Apple WILL be using them, more of a hope that Apple will. And I disagree. I think Apple is committed to teh Intel product line at the moment. The Core 2 Duo and Xeon processors are simply fantastic, and outdistance AMD's offerings at the present, and for the foreseeable future (which, admittedly, in the semiconductor world is no more than a year or two).

But even putting aside the technical reasons for Apple to stay with Intel, I don't think they would want to complicate the product line by having a processor brand choice. Apple produces a good, solid product with power and speed, and there is no overwhelming reason for them to offer a choice and point of confusion that most consumers frankly don't care about!
 

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
At this point Apple can use any x86 or PPC processor in the future it wants, which is a huge advantage.
 

dmw007

macrumors G4
May 26, 2005
10,635
0
Working for MI-6
Dont Hurt Me said:
At the moment Intel is just hammering AMD, 2 yrs ago was a different story but today Intel has squashed Freescale,IBM & AMD. Not any of those guys have anything today that can battle the Duo's.


Vivè Intel! :D
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,401
471
Boston, MA
kainjow said:
At this point Apple can use any x86 or PPC processor in the future it wants, which is a huge advantage.

no they can't. they can of course in theory but they would have to redesign the logic boards, come up with a GPU to replace the intel integrated GPU., BIOS and all that. Maybe change Bootcamp a bit.

in the end they will have to make extra investments for maybe 10% cheaper chips or 10% better performance (if AMD gets their act together). that simply will not be worth the hassle.
 

kainjow

Moderator emeritus
Jun 15, 2000
7,958
7
andiwm2003 said:
no they can't. they can of course in theory but they would have to redesign the logic boards, come up with a GPU to replace the intel integrated GPU., BIOS and all that. Maybe change Bootcamp a bit.

in the end they will have to make extra investments for maybe 10% cheaper chips or 10% better performance (if AMD gets their act together). that simply will not be worth the hassle.
Yes they can :) I'm not talking about a quick swap of a CPU. I'm just talking in general. From the software end, it's cake since the OS has already been ported to x86 from PPC. And I'm not talking about now, I'm talking about the relatively-far future when/if Intel starts sucking like IBM did...
 

rockthecasbah

macrumors 68020
Apr 12, 2005
2,395
2
Moorestown, NJ
I don't see it happening, at least not for a few years. AMD still has a long way to go last time i checked (which wasn't that recently or in depthly so don't attack :rolleyes: ) in their chip development, particularly portable which is a big market for Apple.
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
Not likely after the investment Apple has made in transitioning to the Intel platform. A switch to AMD would cuase all sorts of complications and confusion. If it happens, it won't be for a long time, I'm thinking. That being said, it probably wouldn't be as major of a move as going from PowerPC to Intel was...

In the end though, it doesn't matter! We all know that after Intel chips, Steve won't be moving to AMD chips, he'll be moving to Sun chips! :cool:

 

jhu

macrumors 6502a
Apr 4, 2004
854
1
andiwm2003 said:
no they can't. they can of course in theory but they would have to redesign the logic boards, come up with a GPU to replace the intel integrated GPU., BIOS and all that. Maybe change Bootcamp a bit.

in the end they will have to make extra investments for maybe 10% cheaper chips or 10% better performance (if AMD gets their act together). that simply will not be worth the hassle.

exactly. kind of like there being no way in hell that they'd use chips from intel.
 

4God

macrumors 68020
Apr 5, 2005
2,133
267
My Mac
~Shard~ said:
We all know that after Intel chips, Steve won't be moving to AMD chips, he'll be moving to Sun chips! :cool:



WOO-Hooo...... attachment.php.gif
 

SpaceMagic

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2003
1,744
9
Cardiff, Wales
Apple like to keep things simple, I can't imagine them using both intel and amd - it would just be so confusing!! I personally really like Intel's lineup and can see it taking Apple for quite some years.
 

WildPalms

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2006
995
2
Honolulu, HI
I want the drugs that Hector Ruiz is on! Then I'll believe in rainbows and unicorns and magic rabbits and .......Apple using AMD chips...
.....sorry, went a bit too far with that last one.
 

Warbrain

macrumors 603
Jun 28, 2004
5,702
293
Chicago, IL
~Shard~ said:
Not likely after the investment Apple has made in transitioning to the Intel platform. A switch to AMD would cuase all sorts of complications and confusion. If it happens, it won't be for a long time, I'm thinking. That being said, it probably wouldn't be as major of a move as going from PowerPC to Intel was...

In the end though, it doesn't matter! We all know that after Intel chips, Steve won't be moving to AMD chips, he'll be moving to Sun chips! :cool:



Only if they're Harvest Cheddar.
 

Silencio

macrumors 68040
Jul 18, 2002
3,533
1,665
NYC
This is the same Hector Ruiz who was running Motorola's semiconductor division when Steve Jobs returns to Apple, pulled the plug on Macintosh clones, and left Motorola with no choice but to write off millions of dollars in StarMax inventory.

I wouldn't think he would be in any great hurry to do business with Steve Jobs again, but I think it's just a case of "wishful thinking out loud" on his part. If something really is in the works, then you think Ruiz would have learned something from that video chip manufacturer that AMD just bought about what happens when you pre-announce something Apple's going to do. :D
 

hagjohn

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2006
1,869
3,722
Pennsylvania
As said above, there's really no reason why they can't use AMD or even VIA chips.

If Intel can't give them enough chips to keep up with demand they just might look to others to supplement.

Don't count out AMD because it was just a couple of months ago where people were counting out Intel. Things change in the chip industry very quickly.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.