Apple went back on a verbal agreement to source processors from Start-up manufacturer PA Semi in order to take up Intel processors, according to a report on The Register .

PA Semi makes low-power chips that are compatible with PowerPC software, fast, and use considerably less power than Intel’s. Its first chip, PA6T-1682M, which is due to launch in the third quarter of 2006, has a 2GHz clock speed on a dual-core processor with two DDR2 memory controllers, 2MB of L2 cache and PCI Express support.

These chips would have given Apple the grunt it wanted for its notebook chips and low power consumption (7 watts with PA Semi vs. 21-25 watts with Intel, apparently) without the pain of transitioning software to a new architecture. The only problem: PA Semi would not have been ready to produce the chips until 2007.

The article claims that high-level conversations between PA Semi and Apple had given PA Semi a very strong sense (maybe even an “understanding”) that Apple would take its chips:

“PA Semi was counting on that deal. They had lots of guys walking around in a daze when Apple went to Intel. They had no idea that would actually happen.”

If you are intrigued by Apple’s Dr Jekyll and My Hyde behaviour or simply follow the company’s choices for the future, you will find this article very interesting.intel, pa semi, chips, powerpc, apple, what might have been

Tags: Apple, chips, intel, pa semi, PowerPC, what might have been

So, you’re thinking about buying one of the new Intel Macs announced this week in San Francisco?

I am. There’s a shiny new MacBook Pro with my name on it out there somewhere. Or there will be.

The big question for me is not whether I’ll miss the FW800 port as much as I think I will (probably not), or whether I will kick myself for not waiting for the Rev B (probably), but whether Mail.app with all my favourite things bolted-on will run natively.

So I asked the developers of all the plugins and addons on the Top Ten things every Mail.app user should have list, how ready they were for the Intel Macs. Here’s the good news:

1. MailTags. Scott Morrison says that a universal binary will be available “hopefully” in two weeks. And as Version 1.2 with a killer new feature as well!
2. Mail Act-on. Two weeks will see a universal binary of this plug-in as well.
3. MailAppetizer. This has been a universal binary since July last year. Ready to go.
4. Mail Scripts. This has also been a universal binary since the middle of last year. Andeas Amann says that “the only potential problem might be the “Archive Messages” script since it packages some pre-complied Perl packages as well”. But if any problems exist, they’ll soon be ironed out.
5. Mail Stamps. Version 2.1 was compiled as a universal binary for Intels and PowerPCs. And it worked fine on his developer Intel Mac, Andrew Escobar says.
6. MailUnreadStatusBar. Masaru says that it’s not clear whether this utility will need a recompile or not, “because it isn’t supposed to depend on architecture”. It should work equally well on a PPC or an Intel.
7. JunkMatcher or SpamSieve. Michael Tsai says that at the moment SpamSieve runs in Rosetta with Mail.app and the SpamSieve plug-in running natively. But a recompiled version of SpamSieve is due out in two weeks and will be available as a free upgrade.

   JunkMatcher’s developer Benjamin Han wants to address some issues with his app before recompiling for Intel Macs. Due to time pressures, “it’ll probably be a while”, he says.

8. Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger. It is my understanding that this excellent ebook will be just as helpful on an Intel Mac as it is now.
9. QuickSilver. Quicksilver and all its plug-ins were recompiled earlier this week.
10. Spell Catcher X. Evan Gross says he will post a recompiled beta of Spell Catcher X next week (when he gets back from MacWorld) that will also contain some new features and few minor bugfixes. The final release will be polished up and available long before most people get their hands on one of the new Macs.

Now there is no excuse for restraint.

You can find a longer list of all recompiled applications that are ready to run natively on VersionTracker’s MacIntel Resource Center.

Tags: addons, Intel Macs, MacBook Pro, mail act-on, Mail Scripts, mail stamps, mail.app, mailappetizer, mailtags, MailUnreadStatusBar, plugins, PowerPC, PPC, quicksilver, Rosetta, SpamSieve, Spell Catcher X, universal binary