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Are PowerPC Macs Obsolete? The comfortable Mac ecosystem seemed completely turned upside down when Apple announced the Intel transition. All of a sudden, it was not obvious how long the newest models would remain useful. |
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The usual panic mongering press didn't help by suggesting that the PowerPC was now trash, and its performance had actually had been a lie all along, and that suddenly Apple woke up and realized they should have jumped on the x86 bandwagon long ago. Of course, none of those things are true. Simply stated, there is nothing obsolete about the PowerPC. The best way to gain an informed outlook on the real fate of today's PowerMacs is to take a look at history. There are interesting answers to: why Apple hasn't used Intel processors before; how well Apple can perform a platform transition; and how Apple's Intel move differs from the shift to PowerPC a decade ago. But first, look at what being obsolete actually means: old, worn out and fallen into disuse. In technology, being obsolete often refers to something that is technically functional but impractical to use because of the availability of new products that are much cheaper, more efficient, or otherwise significantly improved. It's a quandary as old as the personal computer: everyone is afraid of buying obsolete computer technology, and yet everything in the computer world becomes obsolete nearly as fast as you can buy it. Making the best buying decision is simply a balance between current needs, available spending budget, and the future outlook for new products. |
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This is easier to do when you feel comfortable with knowing what the future holds. Prior to Apple's announcement of Intel Macs, Mac buyers could basically count on a gradual progression of speed bumps and new features every few months. Mac owners felt comfortable knowing that Apple continues to support hardware that would be considered quite dead in the PC world. After all, the recently released Mac OS X Tiger is officially supported even on the 1999 PowerMac G3! What "obsolete" means is also relative to the intended use. The supportive Mac community allows older Macs to remain in active use longer. At the same time, there are users who need to stay on the cutting edge to remain competitive in their field. In between is a grey area; even though there are people who run Tiger on the 2000 PowerBook G3, certain market realities (batteries wear out and are expensive to replace, RAM upgrades are more expensive on older machines) might consider it effectively obsolete, particularly since the newer PowerBook G4s are not only faster, but include faster drives, DVD-burners and other compelling features. |
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It is important to note that Apple's announcement positioned the transition as an effort to take advantage of Intel's compelling future road map, not a desperate bid to replace a sagging hardware architecture. Since the G5's CPU performance is already very competitive, and the PowerBook lineup is popular even among Linux users simply for its market leading hardware features and quality, it stands to reason that the transition is not going to suddenly make Apple's current hardware functionally impractical to use. There is one key advantage for Apple that Intel processors offer over PowerPC. Read: The Intel Advantage | Contact RoughlyDrafted | More Tech Articles |
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More Journal Entries | More Tech Articles | Get Tech Support | My Resume | Links | Contact RoughlyDrafted Articles Copyright © 2006 Daniel Eran. All rights reserved. Suggestions and comments welcome. Contact RoughlyDrafted. |
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