What If Apple Made Processors For Its Computers?

[testcss]

Just imagine along with me, Apple introduces A6 processors that will be used in Macs as well as iPads, etc. Would you buy a MBA with an A6? Here is what I believe it would look like:

11" MBA $999

A6 1.6 ghz variable dual-core ( variable meaning it can boost to like 2 ghz, but also down clock to 1ghz to conserve electricity.)
3 gb ram (1 gb integrated plus 2 gb external)
128 gb ssd
Integrated A6 Graphics 256 mb (about as powerful as 9400m)
15 hour battery life ( this is quite feasible considering the lower-power parts.)

13" MBA $1299
A6 1.8 ghz boosts to 2.4 ghz, down clocks to 1.2 ghz
256 gb ssd
Integrated A6 Graphics 256 mb
12 hour battery life

Would you buy these MBA's running Lion or a Sandy Bridge variant such as:

11" MBA $999
i3 1.2 ghz
intel 3000 graphics

etc.

I would personally choose the A6 even though they lack performance. The energy-efficiency and thinness that could be achieved would be amazing! Apple would have to start manufacturing their processors though, as I doubt Samsung will do anything for them after the sue job

 

[Oppressed]

Apple use to make processors. Power PC G4 and previous series. Long story short the Intel chips were an upgrade.

 

[Legion93]

15 hour battery life is over ridiculous, even the pro's did not manage to gain over 10 hours, even with SB processors, it won't manage that much

 

[Nermal]

Apple use to make processors. Power PC G4 and previous series.

PowerPC chips were from IBM and Motorola.

 

[Cerano]

clock for clock the A4-A6 SOC cant even compete with a C2D or possibly Atom. How can they fight with SB?

 

[Slix]

If Apple did it, it'd be amazingly awesome and fast. Maybe someday...

 

[Demosthenes X]

So they would have a slower processor than a SB-based Air, and have worse graphics than a SB-based Air. What are the benefits, here?

 

[HelloPanda]

15 hour battery life is over ridiculous, even the pro's did not manage to gain over 10 hours, even with SB processors, it won't manage that much

Let me introduce you to a little company called Lenovo. See, they make this laptop called Thinkpad X220, that gets an estimated 8 hours with a 6-cell, 15 hours with a 9-cell, and 23 hours with a 6+Slice Battery Combination.

 

[alust2013]

I'll pass. It's nice to be able to compare specs across the line of Macs and PCs. Macs have become a lot more popular and user-friendly since Apple switch to intel from PPC, and they're making more money now, so I don't think they'll go back to proprietary stuff.

 

[bloodycape]

15 hour battery life is over ridiculous, even the pro's did not manage to gain over 10 hours, even with SB processors, it won't manage that much

The Lenovo X220(12.5in) with the full voltage SB cpu, and IPS screen option(can affect battery life from what I read) can do a little over 8 hours with the 6-cell and 14-16.5 hour range with the 6-cell and battery slice option in real world usage according to the reviews. I would think with just the 9-cell it can do 10+ hours and 9-cell + battery slice 20+ hours. I guess we could get similar battery life if Apple offered some slick slice option for the whole Macbook line and didn't care about thinness.

Edit: I guess I missed the post above me.

 

[mrsir2009]

Let me introduce you to a little company called Lenovo. See, they make this laptop called Thinkpad X220, that gets an estimated 8 hours with a 6-cell, 15 hours with a 9-cell, and 23 hours with a 6+Slice Battery Combination.

We use those netbooks at school, and while the battery life is great, the laptop is very crappy: Cramped as keyboard, cramped as trackpad, crappy underpowered atom processor... I'd rather have a MBA with not as good battery life any-day.

Bottom line: Lenovo has sacrificed everything to make those netbooks have a long battery life. Its the only thing they've got going for them...

 

[HelloPanda]

We use those netbooks at school, and while the battery life is great, the laptop is very crappy: Cramped as keyboard, cramped as trackpad, crappy underpowered atom processor... I'd rather have a MBA with not as good battery life any-day.

Bottom line: Lenovo has sacrificed everything to make those netbooks have a long battery life. Its the only thing they've got going for them...

The Thinkpad X220 is not a netbook, since it has a fully powered i3-i7 SandyBridge Processor and can take up to 8 GB of 1333MHZ RAM. It has bluetooth, 720p Webcam, FingerPrint Reader and IPS Display

It's a powerful NOTEBOOK. A business NOTEBOOK.

 

[solaris7]

Let companies continue to do what they do best. Apply should not interfere.

 

[mrsir2009]

The Thinkpad X220 is not a netbook, since it has a fully powered i3-i7 SandyBridge Processor and can take up to 8 GB of 1333MHZ RAM. It has bluetooth, 720p Webcam, FingerPrint Reader and IPS Display

It's a powerful NOTEBOOK. A business NOTEBOOK.

Oh the ones at my school are idea-pads (small and ******).

 

[TheMacBookPro]

So you want:

Slower processor (clock speed doesn't matter as much these days)
Less RAM
Worse graphics by far
Incompatible with most Mac software
Incompatible with Boot Camp
Same price

Apple would have to reprogram OS X to run on the Ax SOC and 3rd party devs would have to do the same. Unless you want to emulate...

Come again?

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

We use those netbooks at school, and while the battery life is great, the laptop is very crappy: Cramped as keyboard, cramped as trackpad, crappy underpowered atom processor... I'd rather have a MBA with not as good battery life any-day.

Bottom line: Lenovo has sacrificed everything to make those netbooks have a long battery life. Its the only thing they've got going for them...

Really? I think Lenovo made the best netbooks. The design wasn't fugly as Dell or HP and the build quality wasn't as cheap as Acer or Asus.

The Lenovo X220(12.5in) with the full voltage SB cpu, and IPS screen option(can affect battery life from what I read) can do a little over 8 hours with the 6-cell and 14-16.5 hour range with the 6-cell and battery slice option in real world usage according to the reviews. I would think with just the 9-cell it can do 10+ hours and 9-cell + battery slice 20+ hours. I guess we could get similar battery life if Apple offered some slick slice option for the whole Macbook line and didn't care about thinness.

Edit: I guess I missed the post above me.

Exactly. If you make the battery bigger (which is what the "slice" battery is), you'll get more juice out of it. That's nothing new.

 

[GadgetAddict]

So you want:

Slower processor (clock speed doesn't matter as much these days)
Less RAM
Worse graphics by far
Incompatible with most Mac software
Incompatible with Boot Camp
Same price

Apple would have to reprogram OS X to run on the Ax SOC and 3rd party devs would have to do the same. Unless you want to emulate...

Come again?

...and this ends the discussion...

 

[SidBala]

Apple use to make processors. Power PC G4 and previous series. Long story short the Intel chips were an upgrade.

No. IBM used to make the PowerPC chips that powered older macs. Some years before that, Motorolla used to make the chips.


I would gladly take a 1.2GHz Sandy Bridge than any A6 or whatever at 2.4GHz.

 

[Satori]

No. IBM used to make the PowerPC chips that powered older macs. Some years before that, Motorolla used to make the chips.

Correct but PowerPC was created by the Apple–IBM–Motorola (AIM) alliance in 1991. (Sorry off topic, I know!)

Anyhoo, ARM processors (such as the A6 or whatever) won't be replacing Intel ones in PCs anytime soon. They are designed for different types of device.

 

[Hastings101]

Eek, not another architecture change. I'd rather they just stick with x86 in the Macs, ARM is for the istuff

 

[mrsir2009]

Really? I think Lenovo made the best netbooks. The design wasn't fugly as Dell or HP and the build quality wasn't as cheap as Acer or Asus.



Exactly. If you make the battery bigger (which is what the "slice" battery is), you'll get more juice out of it. That's nothing new.

Hey, I'm talking about the budget Lenovo ones we have at school that I guess cost about $300. Thats what I was describing. However I'm sure Lenovo's higher end netbooks are a lot more powerful, advanced and expensive...

 

[patashnik]

This thread brings back memories about all those "I want my G5 PowerBook now!!!" threads. I don't ever want to go down that road again.

Knowing that Apple is working with Intel, and looking at Intel's roadmap - I say we're all better off.

 

[bloodycape]

Hey, I'm talking about the budget Lenovo ones we have at school that I guess cost about $300. Thats what I was describing. However I'm sure Lenovo's higher end netbooks are a lot more powerful, advanced and expensive...

You probably used the S10, or the 12in S12. Unless they are using the new Thinkpad X120e uses the AMD fusion cpu for about $400, which blows away the Atom cpu away.

 

[0007776]

Apple would have to reprogram OS X to run on the Ax SOC and 3rd party devs would have to do the same. Unless you want to emulate...

Well considering Apple had OS X programed for x86 since the beginning, I'm sure they have it compiled and working to some extent at least just as an option incase they were to need to switch. That said at this point in time I agree with you that Apple has nothing to gain and it would result in worse computers.

 

[mrsir2009]

You probably used the S10, or the 12in S12. Unless they are using the new Thinkpad X120e uses the AMD fusion cpu for about $400, which blows away the Atom cpu away.

Yeah it is this one except black: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4620

Ugggghh!