Cringely and dedicated video-chips in future macs....

zenarcadezenarcade
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
This one from I, Cringely



"As for giving Macs enough grunt to play 1080p video, I explained more than a year ago that Apple has privately committed to putting an H.264 encoder/decoder chip in its entire range of machines. That specific chip began sampling last July so Apple should be able to start shipping the new Macs any time soon, certainly long before Christmas."



Source:



Have anyone in here heard about this, or more info ?



Zon

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    guarthoguartho Posts: 1,208member
    I think I heard about it here about a year ago. I was really excited about the prospect of hardware H.264 encoding for web & Blu-ray.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Cringely has a power PC brain.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    zenarcadezenarcade Posts: 126member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Cringely has a power PC brain.



    Hmm . . . I don´t really know how to take that one. But you are a smart person and I always enjoys your posting !



    best regards !



    Zon
  • Reply 4 of 7
    futurepastnowfuturepastnow Posts: 1,772member
    Intel's GMA X4500 will support hardware 1080p decoding.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Cringely's got an excellent brain, but sometimes he thinks things will happen far faster than they do.



    He's been predicting the "extra QuickTime/DSP chip" in Macs for a long time, and it hasn't come to pass.



    That's not to say he's wrong, just that things change over the life of his sometime-too-early predictions. Since he predicted that years ago, Apple has introduced a dedicated 1080p device (AppleTV) so any plans Apple has for selling or renting HD content is now tied to that device.



    It makes far more sense to put that chip into AppleTVs than into the entire Mac range.

    Apple no longer really cares if Macs can play 1080p, since they expect every Mac owner to buy an AppleTV.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    This has indeed been discussed here about a year ago. As an idea it sounds cool but I don't think it is credible. As I said then in the other thread, and this still holds, there is no evidence from anywhere, except Cringely's sources , that such a technology is coming soon in the Macintosh.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post


    He's been predicting the "extra QuickTime/DSP chip" in Macs for a long time, and it hasn't come to pass.



    That's interesting, do you remember since when he has this theory?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post


    It makes far more sense to put that chip into AppleTVs than into the entire Mac range.

    Apple no longer really cares if Macs can play 1080p, since they expect every Mac owner to buy an AppleTV.



    I agree with the second part but not with the first. Apple most certainly wants every one to buy an AppleTV but this does not means it makes less sense to put such a chip on the computers. Many people will want just that, an appliance for movies and not a full-fledged computer just for movies. But for the occasional spectator and especially the mobile one (too many of them today to ignore), such a technology would be precious. By next year, watching HD video on Macs should be the same effortless as playing a slideshow in the G3 days. After all Macs are about iLife and movies is a big part of this.
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