Apple threatened Intel with 'wake-up call' over chip power consumption
Officials at Apple were at at one point so unsatisfied with power consumption levels of Intel's processors that they threatened to end their partnership with the chipmaker, if the problems were not addressed.
The revelation was shared by Greg Welch, director of Intel's Ultrabook group, with The Wall Street Journal. He said that Apple gave Intel a "real wake-up call" when the Mac maker threatened to end their business relationship.
Apple officials told Intel that the chipmaker needed to "drastically slash its power consumption," or else Apple would turn elsewhere for chips. The threats were said to have helped spur Intel's interest in creating its new Ultrabook specification.
As announced earlier this week, Intel Capital, the strategic investment arm of the world's largest chipmaker, will invest $300 million in a new "Ultrabook fund" to invest in new technologies. Intel is pushing manufacturers to build thin-and-light notebooks that aim to challenge Apple's MacBook Air.
As Intel has pushed to get its Ultrabook specification off the ground, the chipmaker's partners are said to have struggled keeping their ultraportable notebooks under a price of $1,000. Apple's entry-level 11.6-inch MacBook Air sells for $999, and is one of the company's most popular notebooks.
For years, rumors suggested that Apple would transition the iPhone to the Atom architecture, but the change failed to materialize as Intel struggled with managing power consumption. The Atom processor was also said to be utilized in early prototypes of the iPad as far back as 2008.
Unsatisfied with the power consumption levels of Intel's Atom platform, Apple instead turned to ARM for its iPhone and iPad processors. The company also bought ARM design companies PA Semi and Intrinsity, both key acquisitions that allowed Apple to create the custom A4 processor found in the iPhone 4 and first-generation iPad, as well as the dual-core A5 processor found in the iPad 2.
As for its Mac lineup, as recently as 2010 there were indications that Apple and Intel's rival AMD were engaged in initial discussions about the possibility of Apple adopting AMD chips. More recently, there has even been speculation that Apple could merge iOS with Mac OS X with Macs based on an anticipated A6 processor starting in 2012.
The revelation was shared by Greg Welch, director of Intel's Ultrabook group, with The Wall Street Journal. He said that Apple gave Intel a "real wake-up call" when the Mac maker threatened to end their business relationship.
Apple officials told Intel that the chipmaker needed to "drastically slash its power consumption," or else Apple would turn elsewhere for chips. The threats were said to have helped spur Intel's interest in creating its new Ultrabook specification.
As announced earlier this week, Intel Capital, the strategic investment arm of the world's largest chipmaker, will invest $300 million in a new "Ultrabook fund" to invest in new technologies. Intel is pushing manufacturers to build thin-and-light notebooks that aim to challenge Apple's MacBook Air.
As Intel has pushed to get its Ultrabook specification off the ground, the chipmaker's partners are said to have struggled keeping their ultraportable notebooks under a price of $1,000. Apple's entry-level 11.6-inch MacBook Air sells for $999, and is one of the company's most popular notebooks.
For years, rumors suggested that Apple would transition the iPhone to the Atom architecture, but the change failed to materialize as Intel struggled with managing power consumption. The Atom processor was also said to be utilized in early prototypes of the iPad as far back as 2008.
Unsatisfied with the power consumption levels of Intel's Atom platform, Apple instead turned to ARM for its iPhone and iPad processors. The company also bought ARM design companies PA Semi and Intrinsity, both key acquisitions that allowed Apple to create the custom A4 processor found in the iPhone 4 and first-generation iPad, as well as the dual-core A5 processor found in the iPad 2.
As for its Mac lineup, as recently as 2010 there were indications that Apple and Intel's rival AMD were engaged in initial discussions about the possibility of Apple adopting AMD chips. More recently, there has even been speculation that Apple could merge iOS with Mac OS X with Macs based on an anticipated A6 processor starting in 2012.
Comments
UPDATE: You fixed it. Quick!
There should be more gratitude from the whiners and iHaters towards Apple for shaking up the industry and getting things done!
About time Intel!
20+ years of this and it took a company that didn't even use Intel chips for most of its existence to tell Intel to get its act together.
There should be more gratitude from the whiners and iHaters towards Apple for shaking up the industry and getting thing done!
About time Intel!
It does beg the question of what HP and Dell and such like had been doing over the years. They were buying the sort of quantities Apple do - what did they use their leverage for, or did they just blindly use whatever Intel told them to?
But it is more insane that intel needed Apple to tell them that power consumption (and heat) are big concerns for laptops. Even the newly improved chips like the one in my laptop run far too hot. And they needed to be told this?
...and that one of the lead tech companies. Pathetic.
It does beg the question of what HP and Dell and such like had been doing over the years. They were buying the sort of quantities Apple do - what did they use their leverage for, or did they just blindly use whatever Intel told them to?
Reading between the lines, it appears you know the answer already, you crafty fellow.
Everyone always wants to just think "one chip, multi-core" but what about "multiple chips, with multiple cores."
I honestly don't see how the A6 could ever produce enough raw horsepower for even the MBA let alone the real workhorses, so that rumor still seems insane...
But it is more insane that intel needed Apple to tell them that power consumption (and heat) are big concerns for laptops. Even the newly improved chips like the one in my laptop run far too hot. And they needed to be told this?
...and that one of the lead tech companies. Pathetic.
I agree, but I wonder if that's a marketing problem. Decreasing power consumption increases cost, decreases speed, or both. People don't want to think they bought a pokey computer, but they don't realize that there are consequences for that.
Everyone always wants to just think "one chip, multi-core" but what about "multiple chips, with multiple cores."
There's only so many cores you can use (you can only thread stuff so much), after that you need speed and not cores!
There's only so many cores you can use (you can only thread stuff so much), after that you need speed and not cores!
Grand Central Dispatch. Solves that problem. At least in my head...I'm not sure in paper or practice. So take that with a big grain of salt.
LOL, if I was Intel I'd tell whoever complains about my chips to write more efficient software.
no matter how efficient your software, if the chip runs hot and draws power at low idles, it won't work in a laptop. Intel has built more than a few chips that meet that description.
I agree, but I wonder if that's a marketing problem. Decreasing power consumption increases cost, decreases speed, or both. People don't want to think they bought a pokey computer, but they don't realize that there are consequences for that.
The other solution is to do more with less, cut out the unused OS parts and making multitasking work for the typical user rather than the guy who watches two videos while IMing and playing a video game. Optimize the system to do what real people do in the way they really do it rather than letting it run as if Moore's law will always bail them out.
If you make an OS like that and built hardware to suit it, what would you get?
Oh yeah, it is called an iPad, and it doesn't need an intel workhorse. I guess Apple was planning ahead all along.
Grand Central Dispatch. Solves that problem. At least in my head...I'm not sure in paper or practice. So take that with a big grain of salt.
More like an entire tub of sea-salt
P.S. I really love the new Air; I don’t how much is the new Intel chips, and how much is simply having an SSD, but this tiny thing is shockingly fast! I can’t use any other computer without being annoyed. There just isn’t any waiting... it really does feel like the best of iPad plus the best of Mac.
I'm at at my computer amazed that the proof reading isn't a little better. C'mon guys!
UPDATE: You fixed it. Quick!
"I'm at at my computer..."?
Grand Central Dispatch. Solves that problem. At least in my head...I'm not sure in paper or practice. So take that with a big grain of salt.
No, it doesn't. GCD is just a convenient method to parallelize a computing task. It doesn't make a non-parellizable task suddenly parallelizable. If the task isn't capable of being parallelized, then it can't be done in GCD.
There's also the overhead in managing the different processes too. This is what GCD does, and it isn't free - it does take CPU time.