I think with Apple they always wanted to have a say in the processor design in the next little while and that's why they left IBM's PowerPC in the first place, it is that IBM isn't doing what Apple wants them to. When Apple first negotiated their contract with Intel, I think they negotiated exclusivity in return for having a say (and a hand) in the technical development of Intel's future product in addition to early access to their technologies. This is something that I do not think a lot of players in the processor industry can offer including AMD and IBM. The closest one that I can think of that comes close to Intel could be ARM but they are a different type of company altogether (Intel is a product company, but ARM is more of an IP company). The advantage to having such tight integration with another company's product development is the potential to cut cost, I remember reading an article that Intel actually helped Apple design some of their motherboards for Apple's line of Intel computers. With access to the potential pool of developers at Intel, Apple gained engineering skills while Intel gained marketing and exclusivity that only a few years ago only Dell has.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Thomas @ Jan 19th 2008 9:06PM
I think with Apple they always wanted to have a say in the processor design in the next little while and that's why they left IBM's PowerPC in the first place, it is that IBM isn't doing what Apple wants them to. When Apple first negotiated their contract with Intel, I think they negotiated exclusivity in return for having a say (and a hand) in the technical development of Intel's future product in addition to early access to their technologies. This is something that I do not think a lot of players in the processor industry can offer including AMD and IBM. The closest one that I can think of that comes close to Intel could be ARM but they are a different type of company altogether (Intel is a product company, but ARM is more of an IP company). The advantage to having such tight integration with another company's product development is the potential to cut cost, I remember reading an article that Intel actually helped Apple design some of their motherboards for Apple's line of Intel computers. With access to the potential pool of developers at Intel, Apple gained engineering skills while Intel gained marketing and exclusivity that only a few years ago only Dell has.