Is the switch to Intel Jobs' worst business decision of his life?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I am in shock. At the moment, I think this is Jobs' ego at its worst. Maybe in a few weeks I'll have calmed down and think that this is a good idea.



edit: If you think it isn't his worst decision, do you think that the switch to Intel is a bad idea, but that Jobs has made some other decision in the past which is even worse?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 124
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    What's the benefit to the consumer here?



    We won't have any more options than we have today. Powermacintel will be locked down. You can run windows I presume but OSX will stay on Apple hardware thus you will pay a premium.



    This smacks of $$$$$$$$$$$ for only Apple. My heart and gut tells me I've just been bamboozled. For 5 years Apple has told us that PowerPC demolish Pentiums and now to switch based on some vapor roadmap is supposed to appease me?



    Steve is taking you for a freakin fool.



    You are still going to pay a premium for Macs. You'll still get crappy video cards and chintzy hard drive sizes.





    I'll continue to use Macs but the luster is off right now. OS X on Intel never made sense to me unless if gave me the ability to build my own. I don't buy prebuilt PCs so now why would I want to buy a prebuilt Macintel? KNowing of course that all the parts are one website away.



    I'm saddened because the truth is this was done to benefit Apple and the sell job is getting you guys to pay a premium for the same hardware.
  • Reply 2 of 124
    I posted this on another forum, about what I worry about with this transition. Right now, I don't see a good outcome from this swith.



    One: It's going to kill sales of their computers for the next year. Would you buy a computer who's architecture will be dead in a year? Who the CEO says is so crippled it can't continue on in the future? My guess, not many people are. At a time where Apple sales were finally starting to uptick, Apple kills them dead.



    Two:No more innovative software on the Mac. It's just too easy now to recompile your windows apps to run on the Mac. And since Windows is the big money maker, that's where your development dollars will go.



    OS 10.4 has some great features, but if the Apps don't support them, then what's the point? Unless Apple makes it, Mac software has also just been killed.



    Three: Head to head comparison. Now it will be even harder for Apple to make a sale when people compare it to windows. If the hardware is the same, and the software is the same, then price becomes the only differentiator. Microsoft can afford to take a loss, Apple can't. Microsoft (and Dell, for that matter) can price Mac right out of the market.



    Four: How much money does Intel take in from Dell? How much from Microsoft? If either of those two start hurting due to Apple, how much pressure do you think they can put on Intel? Apple will never get as good of pricing, they will never have a say in the design.
  • Reply 3 of 124
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    I can see Apple trying to woo a switcher in 2007.





    Apple-"Come over to Mac OS Leopard and get all these new whizzbang features!!" .



    Switcher- "Great and I have a P4 3.8Ghz computer! How much is Leopard I want to install it today"



    Apple- "uh sorry...Leopard won't run on your computer but we have a shiny new P4 4.2Ghz for you!"



    Switcher- "but...they are the same platform. Why should I buy a new computer to run your OS on the same hardware?"



    Apple- "Hey I gotta eat man"



    Switcher- "Wow a $400 premium you must be eating filet mignon"





    This stinks folks.
  • Reply 4 of 124
    the generalthe general Posts: 649member
    I see no problems, for the end user it will be almost totally transparent.. Now, you say jobs bamboozled you.. no, I say IBM/Motorola bamboozled apple.. where are all these great new g5's from ibm, the low power ones, the dual core ones, the 3ghz ones? where is your powerbook g5? Apple/jobs basically decided, "ya know what, we keep getting screwed, we can transition for minimal pain because of the design of osx, so lets do it"



    this may cause some more work for developers, but in the end, this is what apple has to do, either that or stay with ibm and get left behind.
  • Reply 5 of 124
    Quote:

    Originally posted by The General

    I see no problems, for the end user it will be almost totally transparent.. Now, you say jobs bamboozled you.. no, I say IBM/Motorola bamboozled apple.. where are all these great new g5's from ibm, the low power ones, the dual core ones, the 3ghz ones? where is your powerbook g5? Apple/jobs basically decided, "ya know what, we keep getting screwed, we can transition for minimal pain because of the design of osx, so lets do it"



    this may cause some more work for developers, but in the end, this is what apple has to do, either that or stay with ibm and get left behind.




    Yet you seem to outline the problem right here. The switch will be unnoticeable to consumers--no real advantages except faster clock-speed on portables. And yet it's a burden on the already shrinking number of Mac developers.



    I thought Cell, for one, showed some real promised for thinking in new ways about computing. Instead, we'll be stuck with the same basic hardware as a Dell.
  • Reply 6 of 124
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by The General

    I see no problems, for the end user it will be almost totally transparent.. Now, you say jobs bamboozled you.. no, I say IBM/Motorola bamboozled apple.. where are all these great new g5's from ibm, the low power ones, the dual core ones, the 3ghz ones? where is your powerbook g5? Apple/jobs basically decided, "ya know what, we keep getting screwed, we can transition for minimal pain because of the design of osx, so lets do it"



    this may cause some more work for developers, but in the end, this is what apple has to do, either that or stay with ibm and get left behind.




    How did IBM bamboozle Apple by delivering 2.7Ghz PPC chips? Why must Apple insist on laptops that are a freakin inch thick? History repeats itself. Just as Steve Jobs became enamored with the shape of the Apple III despite the need for safe hardware operationg. Apple is becoming a company who's design is hampering their ability to deliver.



    I'm not wholly objecting to Mac on Intel. I don't perceive it as something that will benefit current users at all other than perhaps laptop users. It'll be interesting to see how Powermacintels stack up with the Dells HPs and Lenovo units when they are competing like for like in hardware.



    Apple is a chintzy company. Any cost saving will not be passed down to users. It'll go to Steve's next lear jet. How are we sales people supposed to tell someone that OS X has to run on locked down X86 hardware with a straight face and that they should pay $500 more for the benefit of running OSX? The tough sell hasn't happened yet folks but it's coming.
  • Reply 7 of 124
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Steve and Apple made quite a few little mistakes (which most of us supported just not to be like PC users) in order to get to this big one. We're at this point because of marketshare and an intolerence to adopt any practices from the wintel world to gain marketshare. There aren't enough of us for IBM or freescale to devote the amount of resources needed to give us competitive chips.
  • Reply 8 of 124
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BenRoethig

    Steve and Apple made quite a few little mistakes (which most of us supported just not to be like PC users) in order to get to this big one. We're at this point because of marketshare and an intolerence to adopt any practices from the wintel world to gain marketshare. There aren't enough of us for IBM or freescale to devote the amount of resources needed to give us competitive chips.





    That's Apple's fault not ours. Had they made themselves indispensable to more people they would have had better number. Powermacintel addresses very little. The Dual Boot features will be nice for those who take the Mac /PC plunge and want one device. However I doubt that it will bring switchers in droves because no one wants to have to trash their current hardware and it's going to be a bitter pill to swallow knowing that Leopard runs on Intel but only Apple sanctioned Intel hardware. I'd tell Apple to f*** off and go by Longhorn.



    For all intents and purposes the dream over folks. Apple has done what they can to ensure a meager survival. They've basically killed off their resellers in lie of their own stores coupled with store.apple.com and now Intel hardware. This platform isn't going to go anywhere. I wish otherwise but all signs point Apple fading into the sunset.



    Ask yourself this



    "What concessions did Apple make to Adobe and Microsoft to get them aboard?"





    Forget an Office or Photoshop competitor. Apple gave something up to gain their support whether we want to believe it or not.
  • Reply 9 of 124
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    Apple has survived a lot of really bad company decisions not least due to their rabidly loyal followers and their image of "doing things different".



    All this is in extreme jeopardy right now. Jobs may believe he can sell people the same box like Dell only 1.5 times as expensive, but I don't.



    This might well be the beginning of the demise of Apple - Apple caught in a very painful transition right when Longhorn comes down, sales dwindling due to customer insecurity - thank god I sold all my AAPL shares in time
  • Reply 10 of 124
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    And yet it's a burden on the already shrinking number of Mac developers.



    You must have not watched the keynote - the number of developers is strong and growing, transition to the x86 is easy, and emulation is fast.



    You guys are a bunch of whiners - which would you rather, that Apple stays with the PPC and dies, or switches to the x86 and lives.



    I am looking forward to the new machines. I think that they will be a big hit in business, because businesses can buy mac machines and experiment with switching, and load windows on the hardware if OS X doesn't work out - it removes a lot of risk.



    Right now, the PC and the mac are the same speed, but the PC is bound to jump ahead later if they dont switch to x86.
  • Reply 11 of 124
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    BenRoethig just hit the nail on the head. People asking why Apple doesn't switch to another niche processor with unproven capabilities (Cell, etc) make me cringe. Apple should have made this switch (x86) ten years ago. It's about time. IBM AND MOTOROLA CANNOT COMPETE* WITH INTEL AND AMD. History has proven this AGAIN AND AGAIN. Apple know what is coming out of IBM in the next couple of years, and the same is true of Freescale, and the same is true of Intel and possibly AMD too. Apple's decision is informed in the same way that the posters' opinions here are not.



    * and achieve parity, let alone win over the long term.



    Intel has dedicated notebook chipsets, with features and performance and power savings galore. They have desktop chips with performance galore (as do AMD). IBM has a desktop chip that can't reasonably be used in a portable. Freescale... well, let's just say they STILL HAVE A 166MHZ BUS IN THEIR MOST "CUTTING EDGE" CHIP IN 2005.

    Their architecture really hasn't grown in what, 5 years?



    And you would rather Apple stay with these two forever than achieve performance parity with PCs and offer state-of-the-art hardware?
  • Reply 12 of 124
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    You must have not watched the keynote - the number of developers is strong and growing, transition to the x86 is easy, and emulation is fast.



    Biggest this decade, he said. Nothing compared to what it was in the late 80's and early 90's. Trust me, its much harder to get a job as a Mac developer than it ever has been in the past.



    Quote:

    You guys are a bunch of whiners - which would you rather, that Apple stays with the PPC and dies, or switches to the x86 and lives.[/B]



    If it were that clear cut, duh. I fear Apple dies anyway.



    Quote:

    I am looking forward to the new machines. I think that they will be a big hit in business, because businesses can buy mac machines and experiment with switching, and load windows on the hardware if OS X doesn't work out - it removes a lot of risk.[/B]



    I seriously doubt it. We know windows booting wont be supported, all we know is it might be possible. I don't think that will sway many enterprise IT departments.
  • Reply 13 of 124
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    You must have not watched the keynote - the number of developers is strong and growing, transition to the x86 is easy, and emulation is fast.



    Steve? Is that you? LOL...let me pick myself up from laughing. Someone's been gulping the koolaid



    Quote:

    You guys are a bunch of whiners - which would you rather, that Apple stays with the PPC and dies, or switches to the x86 and lives



    6 billion dollars in the bank. Highest gross margins in the industry yet someone you deduce that staying with IBM equals death? That's rich.



    Quote:

    I am looking forward to the new machines. I think that they will be a big hit in business, because businesses can buy mac machines and experiment with switching, and load windows on the hardware if OS X doesn't work out - it removes a lot of risk.



    Sure if Apple decides to support Windows installations. Oh wait Phil Schiller already stated that they won't preclude the use of installing windows but they won't support it. And knowing Microsoft neither will they. Next



    Quote:

    Right now, the PC and the mac are the same speed, but the PC is bound to jump ahead later if they dont switch to x86.



    Sure if you make Steve Jobs' RDF your own which you obviously have. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony obviously disagree that Intel is the hotspot for microprocessors tight now ..but hell what do they know??



    Hell man I know when someone is pissing on my leg and telling me it's raining. If Jobs' pulls off this he will go down as they #1 marketer of all time.



    As smircle says...I doubt people are going to spend $100s of dollars more for what is the exact same computer down to the CPU. It's not going to happen. Before we could all revel in Jobsian fantasy about megahertz myths and how uber cool the PowerPC was. Today he just demolished that fantasy. Apple has a much harder road now.



    Longhorn is going to perform better on the same hardware it's going to be more secure and good enough to keep the denizens onboard. What we just heard today was Apple raising the white flag.
  • Reply 14 of 124
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by e1618978

    You must have not watched the keynote - the number of developers is strong and growing, transition to the x86 is easy, and emulation is fast.





    According to Apple, not the developers. With some applications, including games, adding intel will increase workload 30%. With almost full speed windows emulation, some programs will programs will disapear. While this move is necessary given the circumstances, Apple's own mistakes caused it. To be honest, at this point Apple might as well release of stand alone version of OSX for x86 and hope enough consumers buy it for their home PCs.
  • Reply 15 of 124
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    I voted yes . . . I don't really know that much about it . . . but what worries me is the loss of hardware/software specificity . . .



    I guess: what's gonna stop people from using Windows on Macs rather than learning the new system?



    And what's gonna compell programmers to write for Apple when they can tell people to boot up the Windows partition . . why spend all that R&D for a minor nitch?



    I hope it works out . . kinda feels like a sudden collapse of everything special about Macs!!
  • Reply 16 of 124
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    Hmurchison, are you suggesting that right now people are paying $100s more for macs because they have 1.42ghz G4s? Because the stats for the computer industry suggest the opposite.



    Quote:

    Before we could all revel in Jobsian fantasy about megahertz myths and how uber cool the PowerPC was.



    My fantasy was dashed long ago when neither Motorola nor IBM could compete with x86 for any period of time.



    And personally, I think Longhorn is going to drive users to the Mac and Linux.
  • Reply 17 of 124
    pengbampengbam Posts: 2member
    I think people are mistaking the readership of this and similar messageboards as the average Mac user. I have alot of colleagues, friends, and family who use Macs; and the manufacturer of the CPU just does not enter the equation as to why they bought a Mac in the first place. It's the OS (and associated iApps) and the look and feel (yes, I said feel) of the computer that make of the Apple experience. Look, I know many our sense of self is wrapped up in being anti-Wintel. But I don't see how the actual experience of working on you Mac two years from now is going to be any different from what it is today. And that's the important thing, isn't it?



    BAM
  • Reply 18 of 124
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Yes every apple computer model does not match up specwise with most PCs in its catagory.



    Apple moving to Intel won't change this because they will simply charge me more money for design and some fancy white casing.



    I do betrayed. I've been told that PowerPC was "Pentium Crushing" and now I'm supposed to drop that and welcome Intel with open arms?



    I'll buy an Apple X86 laptop and perhaps a desktop. However my support for the company as far was dreaming about a whole Mac home network is for the most part over. I can't support a company that is willfully deceitful. I believe Apple to have poor character and that stems from Job's "say anthing today to make the sale" attitude.



    Mamma didn't raise no fool.
  • Reply 19 of 124
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Man, with fans like this, Apple doesn't need MS out to kill it, you guys will do it before the products even hit the market.



    FUD, FUD, FUD. No better than an RDF, just more bitter.
  • Reply 20 of 124
    e1618978e1618978 Posts: 6,075member
    Quote:

    I do betrayed. I've been told that PowerPC was "Pentium Crushing" and now I'm supposed to drop that and welcome Intel with open arms?



    It was, for a little while. Now it is even, as the clock speed on the x86 has ramped faster than PowerPc has.
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