Will new Intel developments affect Apple, future Macs?
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Aug 3, 2005 at 3:59am
There have been new developments in the Intel world regarding memory and that may or may not affect Apple in the months ahead. The affect of the developments on future Mac and Apple products depends on which Intel processors Apple uses and what other Intel technologies our favorite computer maker decides to use (if any).
Crucial Technology announced the immediate availability of Crucial Ballistix high-performance memory modules, including 1GHz PC2-8000, the fastest Ballistix module to date. Crucial is also releasing PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) and PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) low-latency memory, designed specifically for computer gamers and power users “seeking maximum system performance and stability at a competitive price-point.” The new DDR2 PC2-6400 and PC2-5300 modules are optimized to provide performance in motherboards based on both the Intel 925XE and 955X Express chipsets.
Also, Transitive Corp., a provider of software that enables transportability of applications across multiple processor and operating system pairs, has announced that its QuickTransit software will support all of the Intel Itanium 2 processor-based computing platforms from Silicon Graphics. And it could, theoretically, support other Itanium systems, as well.
The QuickTransit hardware virtualization technology allows software applications that have been compiled for one processor/operating system to run on another without any source code or binary changes and at speeds comparable to native ports, according to the folks at Transitive.
What’s more, Intel and Connexion by Boeing, a business unit of The Boeing Company have announced an agreement to enhance and promote high-speed, in-flight wireless Internet service. As part of the agreement, the companies have successfully completed compatibility testing with common Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptop configurations, making Connexion by Boeing the first in-flight Internet service to be verified through Intel’s Wireless Verification Program.
Connexion by Boeing is a high-speed wireless Internet, data and entertainment connectivity service for commercial airlines and their passengers, as well as for operators of private and government executive jets. Through the Wireless Verification Program, Intel works with wireless service providers to identify and minimize issues related to quality of service, site coverage and down-time that may negatively impact the end-user experience. To date, the program has verified 103 service providers that operate more than 70,000 hotspots worldwide.
Connexion by Boeing and Intel will also work with customer airlines to increase awareness, trial and adoption of in-flight Internet access through co-branding, promotions and educational efforts targeted at both business and leisure travelers. Connexion by Boeing service is available today on 70 planes and more than 100 daily routes worldwide on Lufthansa Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA, Singapore Airlines and China Airlines. In addition, Austrian Airlines, Korean Air, El Al, Asiana and Etihad will soon begin offering the high-speed service on their long-range aircraft.
Could the Connexion connection play into Apple’s laptop plans? Who knows, but many folks speculate that one of Apple’s main reasons for moving to Intel processors was the variety of processors that would be available for iBooks and PowerBooks.
hmurchison Says:
Williams. Speed. Although you can do it there are limitations to what’s being emulated and supported by transitive. For instance Rosetta, which is Apple’s Transitive based program for bringing unchanged PPC code to Intel Macs, only emulates a G3 processor meaning no Altivec and other G4 or G5 only optimizations.
Posted on August 03, 2005
William Says:
Murchison,
I understand. My point is that they are making too much out of the Transitive technology. Why it is in this article where it seems to be presented as an unknown factor is a mystery to me. It is well known that Apple is using the technology, as you noted, and it isn’t as seamless as they make it out to be. It does seem to be quite cool, but Apple was doing something similar (at least from the end-user perspective) during the transition from 680x0 to PPC.
Posted on August 03, 2005
Bobby Says:
I think the writer is implying that there could be a connection between transitive’s Itanium 2 support and future Macs, however the cross-compiler in XCode 2.1 builds for IA-32 (x86,) not IA-64 (Itanium.)
Posted on August 03, 2005
ken2 Says:
While Inter might be working with Boeing on Connexion the fact is that it’s working right now - even on Macs. The first “demo” I saw was an Apple employee returning from Europe on Lufthansa Airlines. He was having an iSight conference with a co-worker who was at his desk at Apple. If PBs can have iSight conferences using Connexion it shouldn’t be too long before PCs will work.
As for Connexion itself, the roll out is taking too long - probably because of the cost to the airlines. Boeing needs an “Option 2” where they deliver the equipment at no cost and take a much larger slice of the revenues. Make it easier for airlines in tight financial situations to add the service.
Posted on August 03, 2005
Jason Says:
I sure as heck hope Apple does not pick the Itanium. Only a couple of vendors are electing to stay wit that chip. They are leaving in droves, despite what intel would like you to believe. The ill-fated collaboration between HP and intel has been slow coming and like the new Mac transition required custom-coded apps to run on it. Yes, it will run Windows, but in order to make use of the chip, you needed to specially code for it. It was not like Altivec though, it was far more than just a set of extra instructions.
The pipeline for the Itanium may have a few more chips in it, but HP has said they will transition from it, as have most other manufacturers. There will obviously be a few hold outs, but the Itanium is essentially and Oldsmobile.
Although, judging from how Apple sees the G5 that they once hailed as the rebirth of computing power, who the heck knows what is in Steve Jobs’s mind?
By the way, if you want an interesting take on how intel-based machines stack up to the G5, look at the QuickTime HD Gallery recommendations page.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/recommendations.html
Posted on August 03, 2005
Josh Parker Says:
I think Apple is well aware of intel’s development road map… They already know what’s coming and how they’re going to use it.
...and it is also possible that there will be future developments that happen BECAUSE of Apple and is not something Apple needs to react to.
Posted on August 04, 2005
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
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.
William Says:
If this is true:
“The QuickTransit hardware virtualization technology allows software applications that have been compiled for one processor/operating system to run on another without any source code or binary changes and at speeds comparable to native ports, according to the folks at Transitive.”
then why do Mac developers have to do anything at all for the transition to Intel? Why won’t PPC plug-ins work with the Intel Mac version of Photoshop? What about “Classic?” (No I don’t actually care about it, but will it work?)
Posted on August 03, 2005