Apple passa a Intel, conferma entro oggi?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Rumours fly over Apple-Intel deal: "Apple is about to announce that it is dropping IBM chips in favour of those made by Intel, reports suggest. The first Apple computers with the Intel chips onboard could appear by mid-2006, technology site CNet reported over the weekend.

...Motorola subsidiary Freescale produces chips, known as PowerPC processors, for Apple's notebooks and the Mac Mini. IBM produces PowerPC chips for Apple's G5 machines.

The Mac Mini could be the first Apple machines to move to Intel chips with the more powerful machines following in 2007.

...IBM has the contract to PowerPC chips for Microsoft's imminent Xbox 360 console, Sony's forthcoming PlayStation 3 game machine and Nintendo's future game-playing machine. As a result the cash it gets from making chips for Apple has become a very small slice of its revenue.

...the core software, the operating system, for Apple computers will have to be re-written. This will be easier for the latest version of the operating system, known as OS X, as it is based on software that already runs in Intel chips... Apple has licensed technology from a company called Transitive which makes software that makes it easier to port programs on to different chip architectures. Apple's WorldWide Developers Conference opens on 6 June and in his keynote speech Apple boss Steve Jobs is expected to make the announcement about the tie-up with Intel."