There is a curious unanimity about the idea that Apple is finally going to adopt Intel processors, with the usually-reliable Wall Street Journal in the lead.
Sure, we don't know, officially, but put it this way: there is nobody in the media world who would not talk to Apple boss Steve Jobs if he could be bothered to pick up the phone, and Jobs has now had a month to say the story was rubbish. He has failed to do so.
According to today's WSJ (online version, paid subscribers only):
Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., has begun briefing some partners about plans to begin shifting its Macintosh computer line next year to Intel chips, according to industry executives and people familiar with the briefings. Apple has said it expects to announce the move today, these people said.
Further, says the Journal:
Apple recently briefed IBM and other major software partners on its plans, according to people familiar with those briefings. On the other hand, some Apple watchers said that, given Mr Jobs's mercurial reputation, they won't be sure a change will happen until a formal announcement.
All the companies involved are saying the same thing, No comment, while the staff who might be expected to know are not going public because they'd expect to lose their jobs. So again, what's interesting is not the lack of confirmation, but the complete lack of any sort of denial.
Even the Think Secret site, which is being sued by Apple for publishing this sort of information, remains strangely silent.
We should know in a couple of hours, when Jobs takes the stage to keynote (sic) Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference 2005, which opens today in San Francisco.
What's rather odd is the timing. Microsoft is putting 3.2GHz triple-core PowerPC chips -- faster than the most expensive Mac -- into its cheap Xbox 360 games console, and you'd have thought this would reduce production costs for the Apple versions. There's also the overhyped Sony/IBM Cell processor, which is claimed to be dramatically faster than anything available in the PC world. Meanwhile, Intel has given up on the megahertz speed race, having signally failed to push the Pentium 4 above 4GHz.
In the past, Apple has suffered from selling machines with slow chips at high prices, but the IBM v Intel story looks better for IBM now than it has for a decade. If you are going to switch, why switch now, Steve? We want to know.
