Apple has no choice but to switch to Intel.
In June 04 I reported that Apple notebook technology was being stymied
by IBM's inability or unwillingness to create a mobile PowerPC chip
with better thermal requirements. The current chips just run too hot.
With the simple confirmation from Apple last year that the 2.5GHz, G5
processor runs too hot for use in a notebook, Apple opened itself up to
a raft of speculation over its long-term future. I spoke with Nathan
Brookwood, principal analyst with Insight 64, and one of the best
microprocessor analysts in the country and he bluntly said, “Apple
couldn't pay IBM enough” to design a better chip for Apple PowerBooks.
The Intel notebook market is at 21 percent [30 to 40 million units]
of the overall market and growing at a rate of about 22 percent. Mac is
3 percent of the market.
And so Apple had no choice but to go with Intel which is considered the premier developer of low wattage mobile chip technology.
While Apple users may grumble at first, Jobs had no way out. [InfoWorld TechWatch]