Mac transition to Intel processors: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:50, 10 April 2024

Revision as of 17:51, 13 April 2024

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The transition was the second time Apple had switched the processor [[instruction set architecture]] of its personal computers. The first was in 1994, when Apple discarded the Mac's original [[Motorola 68000 series]] architecture in favor of the then-new PowerPC platform.<ref name="CNET1">{{cite news |last1=Shankland |first1=Stephen |title=Apple gives Macs a brain transplant with new Arm chips starting this year |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-gives-macs-a-brain-transplant-with-new-arm-chips/ |access-date=23 June 2020 |work=[[CNet]] |date=22 June 2020 |archive-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217001241/https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-gives-macs-a-brain-transplant-with-new-arm-chips/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Apple's initial press release originally outlined that the move would begin by June 2006, with completion slated by early 2008 - the transition had proceeded faster than anticipated. The first-generation Intel-based MacintoshesMacs were released in January 2006 with [[Mac OS X Tiger|Mac OS X 10.4.4 Tiger]]. In August, Jobs announced the last models to switch, with the [[Mac Pro]] available immediately and the Intel [[Xserve]] available by October,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macworld.com/article/1052233/liveupdate.html|website=[[Macworld]]|title=WWDC Live Keynote Update|first=Peter|last=Cohen|date=August 6, 2006|access-date=November 20, 2019|archive-date=June 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606021417/https://www.macworld.com/article/1052233/liveupdate.html|url-status=live}}</ref> although shipments for the latter computer line did not start until December.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://images.apple.com/xserve/pdf/Xserve_TechnologyOverview12202006.pdf |title=Xserve Technology Overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223000409/https://images.apple.com/xserve/pdf/Xserve_TechnologyOverview12202006.pdf|archive-date=December 23, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The final version of [[Mac OS X]] that ran on PowerPC processors was [[Mac OS X Leopard|Leopard]], released in October 2007, with PowerPC binary translation support (using [[Rosetta (software)|Rosetta]]) persisting up through the following version, [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard|Snow Leopard]].<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2008/06/09Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Snow-Leopard-to-Developers/ | title=Apple Previews Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Developers | publisher=[[Apple Inc.]] | date=June 9, 2008 | access-date=2017-12-04 }}</ref> Support was later dropped in [[Mac OS X Lion|Lion]].