Mansfield may lead Apple away from Intel chips in Macs
by Randy NelsonNov 5th 2012 at 8:00PM
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple's Technologies group, headed by senior
vice president Bob Mansfield, is exploring advanced versions of the chipsets
used in the iPhone and iPad lines for use in the company's future desktops
and MacBooks. The outlet cites three people familiar with Apple's research
initiative as confirming the plans.
According to Bloomberg, the switch isn't likely to happen for at least a few
years, but its sources insist that Intel getting the boot is "inevitable"
as Apple eventually wants to put its desktops, MacBooks and mobile devices
on equal footing in terms of capabilities and compatibility. This shouldn't
come as a surprise to most Mac fans who've witnessed the steady increase in
iOS features making their way into OS X in recent years.
Abandoning Intel for its own internally developed silicon makes sense in
terms of Apple's financial and patent interests. However, such a drastic
move would have far-reaching implications for developers and legacy software
, so it's not likely something the company is taking lightly.
