Expect Mac mini, laptops to be the first Mactel systems
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 26, 2005 at 11:17pm
Some analysts are predicting that the first Macs to use Intel chips—the Mactels—will be iMacs and Mac minis, according to an article at Macworld UK. ”... given that Mac OS X is a 64-bit operating system and Intel hasn’t yet announced a 64-bit mobile chip, Apple will probably make desktops such as the iMac and the Mac mini the first recipients of Intel architecture, says Shane Rau, PC chip analyst for the research firm IDC,” adds Macworld UK.
That may be the case, but I think the first Mactel machine will be a Mac mini, followed shortly thereafter by iBooks and/or PowerBooks. These will then be followed—according to my crystal ball—by Intel-based iMacs, then eMacs, and finally Power Macs. There may be some snafus to work out with Intel chips for laptops and Mac OS X, but I suspect that Jobs & Company are working with Intel right now to iron out those difficulties.
I say this because I think that the heat issues and battery life with the PowerPC chip are some of the main reasons Apple went Intel. After all, Intel has seen great success with its Centrino, a low-power Pentium-based chip with built-in WiFi that’s designed for portable markets. And laptops are increasingly encroaching up desktop sales, something Apple is certainly considering in its long-term plans. (Of course, PowerPC fans will argue that the Cell processor co-developed by IBM and Sony would also offer a low-power processor for notebooks, but the point now seems to be moot.)
What’s more, an industry standards group that includes Intel, has published a document detailing the requirements a fuel-cell technology would need to power a notebook computer. The new guidelines from the Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group should help speed the development of longer lasting fuel-cell power sources for notebooks and other mobile computers, a development viewed as important for the growing popularity of WiFi and other wireless Internet technologies.
“The development of wireless power supplies has lagged mobile Internet efforts,” notes Macworld UK. “Batteries still last only a few hours in notebook computers before needing a recharge, while fuel cell systems could last for days, the [Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group] says.”
Fuel cells have long been heralded as the way to eradicate the scourge of all handheld electronics: the dead battery. They sport a greater power-to-volume ratio, last exponentially longer than batteries, and can be rejuiced with a disposable methanol cartridge, effectively zeroing downtime. But nobody had been able to miniaturize them until June of 2004, when MTI Micro powered up a prototype pocket PC with its Mobion methanol fuel cell.
Mobion cord-free rechargeable power packs are being developed to replace incumbent power packs used by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) in many rechargeable hand held electronic devices like PDAs and smartphones. Mobion power packs are based on direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology that’s been recognized as enabling technology for advanced portable power sources by the scientific community and industry analysts. I expect that Intel and other companies have something along the same line in the works.
“Fuel cells operate differently than batteries,” Macworld UK notes. “One of the troublesome aspects of using fuel cells in mobile PCs is they provide a steady supply of power, whereas power demand in notebook computers is very uneven, driven by bursts of power demand as different parts of the notebook, like the DVD drive or hard drive, are tapped for use, the group said. The stored charge of a battery matches this kind of uneven power demand, but fuel cells need careful management. Batteries also require fewer supporting components inside a mobile PC, the [Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group] said. A fuel-cell system includes the fuel cell itself, as well as supporting systems similar to a car engine, like a fuel pump, cooling system, and a starter battery.”
Whichever Mactel system comes first, I’m going out on a limb and forecasting that it won’t be a year until the first one arrives. I think we’ll see such a critter (probably an Intel-based Mac mini) demoed at January’s Macworld San Francisco and shipping in the spring.
Thoughts? Write me at dsellers@macsimum.com
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
