Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta 
True, but that doesn't mean that they won't be considered in the future. AMD's competitiveness has cycled back and forth for decades. Sometimes they're not very competitive. At other times, they do pretty well. I could picture them making some headway - perhaps in the iMac line, for example.
Of course, I don't see them replacing Intel across the board.
How does the MBA show that ARM is working well? The MBA uses an Intel chip and tells you nothing about whether ARM would work at all.
Even though the Air uses a low performance Intel chip (by some standards), it's still probably an order of magnitude faster than the fastest ARM chip available today.
True, but that doesn't mean that they won't be considered in the future. AMD's competitiveness has cycled back and forth for decades. Sometimes they're not very competitive. At other times, they do pretty well. I could picture them making some headway - perhaps in the iMac line, for example.
Of course, I don't see them replacing Intel across the board.
How does the MBA show that ARM is working well? The MBA uses an Intel chip and tells you nothing about whether ARM would work at all.
Even though the Air uses a low performance Intel chip (by some standards), it's still probably an order of magnitude faster than the fastest ARM chip available today.
Well maybe I wasn't clear enough. I know the Air has an Intel chip not an ARM chip. I was using the Air's normal usage (needing less powerful chips) which have shown that many user just don't need the power of a desktop Mac. I was relating the type usage in iOS devices as comparable to what people are using their Air's for. Many people have moved their personal productivity task over to iOS devices. Post PC era? I do believe the ARM or something like it or even an Intel Ultrabook chip, will replace the current chips in future revisions of Apple's laptops. My bet is on a custom ARM out of PA Semi but Apple's not dumping Intel in the near future for the reasons you mention. But it will happen IMO.
As for power and speed of ARM. I think people are judging ARM by the current state of its infrastructure and performance, and I am look in the crystal ball and seeing a really upgraded ARM and who's to say Apple couldn't use multiple ARM chips working in tandem powering an iMac. I just believe Apple eventual wants to power all their devices with their custom designed SoC chips.
