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Mac transition to PowerPC processors: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|AppleChange Macintoshof transitionprocessors fromin MotorolaApple 68k to PowerPC processorscomputers}}
{{Infobox event
| title = Mac transition to PowerPC processors
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| image_size = 200px
| caption = IBM [[PowerPC 601]] used in early [[Power Macintosh]] models (1994)
| date = [[1994]]–[[1996]]1994–1996
| participants = [[Apple Inc.]], [[IBM]], [[Motorola]] ([[AIM alliance]])
| outcome = All [[Macintosh]] models migrated to [[PowerPC]] CPUs
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{{Classic Mac OS sidebar}}
 
The '''Mac transition to PowerPC processors''' was athe majorprocess shiftof inswitching the [[Applecentral Inc.processing unit]]'s (CPUs) of [[MacintoshApple Inc.|Apple]]'s line, inof which theMacintosh companycomputers replacedfrom the [[Motorola 68000 series]] (68k) [[Complex instruction set computer|CISC]] processors withto [[PowerPC]] [[Reduced instruction set computer|RISC]] processors co-developed with [[IBM]] and [[Motorola]] (the [[AIM alliance]]). The transition began in March 1994 with the launch of the [[Power Macintosh]] series and was largely completed by mid-1996, though Apple continued supporting 68k systems in its software until 1998.
 
== Background ==
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== Aftermath ==
Apple continued selling some 68k-based Macs into 1996 but ended production of new 68k models by mid‑1996 with the discontinuation of the [[PowerBook 190]]. The Mac system software continued supporting 68k through [[Mac OS 8.1]], (released in January 1998); [[Mac OS 8.5]] (October 1998) dropped 68k support entirely and required a PowerPC processor.
 
The PowerPC transition restored Apple’s performance competitiveness, especially in multimedia and graphics-intensive markets.<ref name="macworld"/> The successful use of emulation and fat binaries influenced two later Apple transitions: [[Mac transition to Intel processors|to Intel x86 in 2006]] and [[Mac transition to Apple silicon|to Apple silicon (ARM) in 2020]].
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