The Hardest Decision Apple Ever Made (PPC to Intel)

[@SweetSweetCandyBoyz]

Apple wanted thinner laptops with the power of an i9, but it was so thermally crippled by that super thin design - you could never fully utilize the CPU+GPU. Apple gave Intel every opportunity to 'fix' their x86 processors, designed entire systems around efficiency promises that never bore fruit and the best anyone got was the 12in MacBook and it was a giant disappointment. I don't think it would be bold to claim that custom silicon iPads at the time (looking beyond iPadOS's uselessness as a computer) squeezed out more raw performance (and certainly more performance per watt) than the best macbooks at the time could muster because x86 machines would immediately have to throttle just opening a web tab. (also, x86 laptops intentionally curtail their performance on batter power)

[@schvabek]

Hey, all good points! I personally never really had a use for an iPad, but it was around 2017 I believe, when I had some first hand experience with one, that I first thought to myself: “Yeah, they’re going to put this in a MacBook at some point”.

[@rorywalters1614]

Macs using Intel chips was the main reason kept me from using a Mac until 2017. If all I’m getting is the same standard hardware to the PCs, then it could not justify the high prices, I wanted Macs to be special, just like the iPhones and iPads. But I switched to Mac in 2017 because fxxking Microsoft kept pissing me off with Windows 8 and 10. Windows 7, the best Windows ever, was getting old and becoming less and less useful. Now I’m on an M1 Mac mini and I’m very happy with it, it’s the Macs I wanted.

[@schvabek]

I don’t think too many “regular” customers even knew or cared about the actual processor architecture (like me, when I was a kid), but I do get your point. Anyway, hope your Mac serves you for years to come 🤟

[@danh5637]

There is a slight difference however. Macs even intel ones were hardware and software coupled which is always going to provide a superior end user experience. Windows machines whilst you can get better speeds sometime because windows is designed to work on as many different hardware configs as possible. You lose in many other areas like stability and fatally security. Arm was always the better option. And I really still have no clue why they could have just developed their own arm chips around the G4/5 days. I think the bottleneck may have been they had no OsX that could run on arm then and it took maturity with the iPhone to get there. But it’s something that still annoys me. Intel Macs were a historical error.

[@AttilaSVK]

I bought a PowerMac G4 with dual 1.25 GHz CPUs in 2006 for a great price. In 2008, when the writing was really on the wall for PPC systems, I still managed to sell it for the price of a used, 2006 Mac Mini with a 1.83 GHz Core Duo, which I bought straight after selling the G4. Then in 2011 my Mini died and I got an Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro, which was thermal throttling during sustained workloads, such as video rendering. I took it back to the Apple shop where I bought it, they did replace the heatsink, fan and thermal compound, but it was still the same. Somehow I ended up using that same laptop until February of 2021 (5 months short of 10 years) when I replaced it with a MacBook Air M1, which I still use and love. It's just unbelievable how power efficient it is: at most it got warm on the bottom, even with just passive cooling.

[@TechGameDev]

the move from power pc to tel was really a good idea the machines were really behind but for apple silicon the desktop macs have become bad especially imac/mac por

[@schvabek]

@@TechGameDev Yep. We’ll see why exactly in the video 🤟

[@BremeMETRO]

mac mini isn't bad but imac is ridiculous

[@UbuntuPersonNoMint]

What do you mean they've become bad? You mean bad ass?

[@ElliottDay-ok6ti]

lol from something that sounded like it was taking of to dead silent, you think intel desktops was better haha yeah sure

[@TechGameDev]

*Mac Pro

[@UbuntuPersonNoMint]

Apparently apple had an x86 build of osx before the official switch and before the official consumer release of osx. I came across someone installing rhapsody which was Apparently for devs way back.

[@schvabek]

@@UbuntuPersonNoMint When they were doing the reveal at the 2005 WWDC, they were actually running their main computer on an Pentium IV

[@cjmillsnun]

OS X dates back to NeXTStep, then OpenStep. Originally developed for the 68k based NeXT cube it was then ported to various platforms. Apple bought NeXT not for Jobs or it's hardware, but for the OS as the original MacOS had gone pretty much as far as it could go.

[@UbuntuPersonNoMint]

@cjmillsnun yes I've been told about that but I'm taking about apple rhapsody before the osx unveiling. I saw about it on some channel called retrospace or something they were installing it.

[@UbuntuPersonNoMint]

@@schvabek probably because the x86 version of mac os I'm talking about was apparently available by 98 before a complete overhaul it looks slightly different from the public offering and was still using platinum not aqua

[@OverDriveOnline7921]

The first gen Intel iMacs were dual core as they were a core duo chip, what they weren’t was 64bit, which the core 2 duo chips onward were. This was the reason the early 2006 core duo models cannot be made to run Lion and stopped at Snow Leopard. This seemed a silly move as the G5 was advertised as being the first true 64 bit system for consumer use on release, so goi g 64 bit, back to 32 bit then 64 bit again seems odd when you look at the overall roadmap, but there you have it. Apple have always had their oddball moments, this was another of them

[@schvabek]

Yeah, I misspoke about that, I got Core Solo/Duo mixed up. As far as the bits go, like I’ve said, Core Duo weren’t really sold for a long time, they switched to Core 2 Duo quite quickly, so I don’t know 😂

[@OverDriveOnline7921]

@@schvabek true, I got one and it’s ok as a machine, I also have the 2006 Mac Pro, upgraded to silly specs with dual 4 core xeons, 26GB ram and more storage than I can remember, had it not been for the 32bit EFI, it would run the current OS with room to spare (it keeps up with my 2018 i7 MacBook Pro in video rendering). Not got an M chip Mac yet, but for my current projects I don’t really need one yet

[@kFY514]

I always assumed that keeping the external design basically identical during their architecture transitions (and that's true in all cases: Intel to ARM, PowerPC to Intel, and even 68k to PowerPC) was an intentional choice: I assumed that perhaps they wanted to show people that "it's very different inside, but it's still the same product", so as not to alienate the die-hard fans who would fear Macs turning into just another PC brand. I don't know if that's true, but it always felt like that to me. It also really fascinates me how the Mac managed to stay a consistent, continuous line of products through so many hardware and software transitions. 68k to PPC, Old World to New World, Classic Mac OS to OS X, PPC to Intel, Intel to ARM... modern Macs have exactly *nothing* in common with the original Mac 68k, backwards compatibility was broken many times, almost intentionally - and yet, it's still the Mac. It's almost surreal. However, I wouldn't say that the move to Intel was "unexpected". Even before the official Intel transition, there were signs. Rhapsody, the early developer version of what was to become OS X, had x86 builds as early as 1998, which made people wonder. In 2002, there were reports about an x86 version of OS X being "secretly" maintained, with various rumors circulating ever since. I remember there being a bit of a "will they or won't they" aura about the impending transition, but nobody was truly surprised when it happened. Just like when they announced the more recent transition to ARM.

[@comradeuro4255]

10:40 the Core Duo model was also dual core, all Intel Macs got dual core processors except the mac mini, which got the Core SOLO. main difference is that core duo is 32bit and core 2 duo 64bit

[@underratedradio-u5t]

i will complain to Ms.Schvabek that you were saying "love you" to random guys on the internet

[@schvabek]

Poor Ms. Schvabek 😂

[@jansix4287]

The significance of the Intel transition is that it gave Apple the confidence to transition to ARM with Rosetta 2. They knew how to do it and that they are capable to bring the entire ecosystem along.

[@BremeMETRO]

apple made the best laptop on the market after switching to their own chips, second is asus

[@schvabek]

Yeah, we’ll compare Intel to M series in a future episode! 🤟

[@xblade8937]

In terms of proprietary equipment for the average consumer, absolutely. However, the older Lenovo ThinkPad is incredibly durable and easily repairable, and companies like MNT and Framework create awesome Open-Source self repairable laptops too!

[@jkr9594]

I get the M-series argument for "efficiency" from apple's perspective, but I can simply not understand how Users actually follow it. At the prices M-series have brought, you can get an even slimmer notebook and even more powerful server (or off-site PC), even if you rent the server.

[@sewanlel8322]

Loved the video. I can tell that the production is getting better with the new camera and better mac you really deserve it. Keep up the work 🙂

[@schvabek]

@@sewanlel8322 Glad you liked the quality of the video man 🤟❤️

[@WillThePlank]

Loved watching you compare the G5 and intel polycarbonate macs! I recently revived a core 2 duo machine myself that I forgot I owned, installed an SSD and 3GB of ram and it currently has Windows Vista of all things on it. If you fancy I’m happy to 3D print a few of the SSD brackets for the iMacs and send them over to you, shouldn’t be too expensive for me to send them from the UK to you :)

[@schvabek]

Hey, man, so glad you enjoyed it! I also sometimes forget what machines I own lol. That’s so generous of you! Tell you what, after I move, I’ll set up an address for people to send me stuff, and if you’d like to print a couple of those brackets and send them in, I’ll be delighted to have them. Happy holidays! 🤟❤️

[@WillThePlank]

@@schvabeksounds like a plan, if you want to see what they look like they’re in my latest video/ in the description of it has the thingiverse link. Have a great rest of the year and a happy new year!

[@thethriftyfawn]

@@schvabek Like a P.O. where we could send you stuff? That's a GREAT idea!

[@iSamYTBackup]

10:39 core duo is 32 bit core 2 duo is 64 bit core solo is the single core cpu

[@schvabek]

Yep, I got Core Solo/Duo mixed up.

[@thd-computer1780]

Great video. About those core 2 and core processors: the intel core duo is also a dual core cpu it’s just 32 bit. The core 2 duo is a 64 bit dual core. There was an intel core solo. But these are rather rare. :)

[@crestofhonor2349]

I wonder if many of these apps were limited by them being single threaded. It was an issue where many things from that era were not multi threaded meaning you wouldn’t always notice the difference if you had a single core system vs a dual core system. It’s like how some games from the 2010s were often limited to 4 cores despite there being more cores available on some processors. With the last of the Intel Macs Apple did do some pretty awful thermal management with their laptops with them often thermal throttling hard and being unable to boost unlike similarly equipped PC laptops with more robust cooling. Apple wanted everything to be as sleek and quiet, thermals didn’t matter

[@StanleytheCat-v8z]

2:02 The "AIM" alliance.

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

The Apple CPU lesson I didn't know I needed. Thanks.

[@schvabek]

Hey, glad you found the video informative! Cheers! 🤟

[@TechGameDev]

Competition is making PCs more and more efficient using x64 architecture

[@schvabek]

Absolutely, moving ever forward, like they should.

[@lopwidth7343]

UT2004 you can do TAB and then "stat fps"

[@schvabek]

@@lopwidth7343 oh yeah? Didn’t know that, thanks! I’ll try that next time!

[@ilpoheikkila4773]

Great video!

[@schvabek]

Thanks so much man 🤟❤️

[@danh5637]

Oh the dark times of Intel Macs. It wasn’t hard for Apple though as they had already got working versions of intel Nextstep. And essentially they just had to switch out the lower level code and stick the high level XNU stuff on top. No big deal.

[@BrainDamageIV]

I remember when my elementary school both used PPC and Intel Macs back in the day of the 2010’s (Despite the fact the Intel Ones were more powerful). I never used them due to them only being used by staff and a few gifted students and only remembered using the Dell Dimension XP Machines

[@schvabek]

@@BrainDamageIV Hey, that’s very cool. Doesn’t surprise me, I mean in they were probably 5-10 years old at that point, I’m using a 5 year old computer still. It’s funny that the Apple computers were “reserved” for the gifted students, while the rest of the plebeians got Dells 😂

[@BrainDamageIV]

@ Yea it was quite weird, But I would later find out they would stop using macs in favor of Windows 10 (Which was ahead of its time for us elementary students)

[@sir_whocampsalot2876]

i wonder if you had changed the thermal paste on these machines, what kind of a difference would it have made to the temps? maybe you did it and didn't mention OR you did mention and i just didn't notice which is also highly likely haha great video tho!

[@schvabek]

@@sir_whocampsalot2876 Hey, thanks! Thermal paste has been changed when I first got these systems. These temps (especially on the G5 model) are actually quite “normal”, they are really quite inefficient

[@sir_whocampsalot2876]

@@schvabek ah alright thats good to know, cheers!

[@pureblackbishop]

documentary level production 🤟

[@schvabek]

@@pureblackbishop thanks Black 🤟

[@thethriftyfawn]

@@pureblackbishop Agreed, one hundred percent!

[@pureblackbishop]

@thethriftyfawn 💪

[@billgates3699]

‼️ 10:40 please clarify. Both Core Duo and Core 2 Duo are dual core. Secondly, the first series was Core then Core 2 followed. Finally, EVERY Intel Mac ever made had no fewer than 2 cores EXCEPT the 1.5ghz Core Solo Mac mini. That is the ONLY single core Intel Mac ever.

[@schvabek]

Yep, I got Coro Solo/Core Duo mixed up

[@LeonTichy]

Been there for the switch, early Intel era was crazy

[@LeonTichy]

Actually that craze makes me buy early Mac Intel machines to this day

[@thethriftyfawn]

I'll TRY to get here for the premiere today, but if I miss it I will watch the video as soon as possible after! If there's an upload on Monday, I will likely miss the premiere due to an appointment, and will likely be [very] late seeing the video as well- just a heads up! 🙂

[@schvabek]

@@thethriftyfawn Hey Thrifty, no biggie, I have absolutely no doubt you’ll watch it several times, and hopefully enjoy it ❤️🤟

[@thethriftyfawn]

@@schvabek LMAO!!! Too funny how you KNOW I always re-watch several times 😄

[@manishgautam2424]

Any new giveaway in future for such a high end machines

[@thethriftyfawn]

This was SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!! 😍😍😍 I'm definitely gonna have to re-watch this again later on and/or in the morning to really process all of this, and to be more immersed without paying attention to the chat window! I'd love to know what inspired you to give music a try with this one? Perhaps just for the sake of giving it a try? Even though your videos don't typically NEED music, this was VERY NICE and I'm glad you decided to give it a try! You also did a great job getting adjusted to balancing the audio levels of the background music combined with the voiceovers... it can be a fine line sometimes to avoid having voice sounding like it's "yelling" or "fighting" over the music, or the music sounding too quiet or non-existent to even be there in the first place... this was basically BANG ON! For any fine adjustments moving forward, I would say to keep paying attention to the background music like you did here, and maaaybe drop it a dB or two so it doesn't try to overpower your softer spoken voice, but that's just for the sake of very fine adjustments- all in all, this is GREAT and you did an EXCELLENT JOB with the audio editing! Oh, and of course the audio pauses with the transitions and use of more than one audio track for the whole production... those are all signs of an EXPERIENCED audio editor, right there! 😊 So many shots, moving shots, smooth transitions, incredible lighting effects... it's like you went to editing bootcamp or something LOL! I especially loved the GOLDEN HOUR look! And as always, the excellent storytelling and overviews of information done in a manner that's appealing to BOTH viewers who are very familiar with the subject, and to viewers who are hear learning about it and/or haven't experienced some of these machines before (like me for the desktop ones, but they were COOL!) The internet will be making a pit stop HERE during the holidays, and for the eternity of youtube, I can tell you that RIGHT NOW!!! Once again, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS on 11K!!! You are literally UNSTOPPABLE! ✨️😎🤟✨️ Thrifty 🩷🎉

[@schvabek]

@@thethriftyfawn Hey, I’m so glad you liked it ❤️ I was very anxious about it, since it was my first time including the background music. I don’t know, it kinda felt natural, since there was nothing to fix on these units, it was all just kinda showcasing the performance, so it felt kinda… fitting? I don’t know, it reminded me of some other retrospectives/documentaries I watched, with the jazzy/bluesy soundtrack, and I just decided to give it a go. I don’t think I’ll necessarily do it for every video, but I do think I’ll start including it more 😊 I really appreciate your comments and thoughts, helps me out a lot and is a huge motivation 🤟 Hopefully other people like it too. We’ll see how it performs 🙏❤️

[@thethriftyfawn]

@schvabek Hope you're feeling less anxious now! Remember- you have included music previously with your guitar playing, and AGAIN recently- you've already posted videos that included background music combined with a voiceover during the Christmas Special- so this was an EXCELLENT time to give it a try on a longer full length video! The music definitely added an extra element of interest, and certainly stylized this one- similarly to more of a documentary style of video. I agree, you definitely don't need to use music for every video, but ANY TIME it feels right, natural, suitable, or you just WANT to- GO FOR IT! You did great! We'll see how this video goes, but I'm certain anyone who chooses to watch it will be very happy and will experience enjoyment from watching it! No problem regarding the comments- even though some of my comments are kinda long sometimes lol... glad they're helpful! 😊

[@gori_maheswari8994]

Ab giveaway kb lavoge 😊

[@loodwich]

I disagree. Twenty years ago, I bought my first Apple computer, a PowerBook G4 12-inch PPC architecture, so I know more of the story. (Starting my Ph.D. degree) The company that made the original G4 and G5 Motorola/IBM (PowerPC) decided they would not develop new chips, so the MAC will stop the performance of new chips, contrary to Pentium and AMD that increase the power of their chips to make better IBM-compatible computers. Microsoft was a partner of Mac computers because Word/Excel/PowerPoint have their exclusive editions for Macs, and they work better than the Windows versions. My first PowerBook G4 had a 35W charger, contrary to Intel Pentiums, which had a 65W charger (less powerful Celeron had only 45W chargers). Thus, there was no competition for "energy performance"; it was only a problem of raw computer power. But in 2007, the Mac, as expected, presented the iPhone... most companies thought that the product would be only a new try to make the PDA like the previous Apple Newton... but the iPhone changed mobile phones forever. They designed a new concept of "smartphones" with the help of Samsung. Samsung produced the parts (for the iPhone), copied them, and improved them to make their exceptional smartphones. The iPhone had a market like any other Mac product, and their first move was to go to Intel and ask to develop new chips for the iPhones and iPads. Intel said that they were not interested in ARM chips. So, with the extra cash, they bought P.A. Semi to develop those ARM chips for the new mobile devices (iPod, iPhone, and iPad)... ARM chips are power efficient but not as powerful as x86 processors... until the iPhone 11 Pro, which was more able to process a 4K video than the MacBook Pro with Intel processors. In 2020, the M1 was presented... and Apple led the way for more power efficiency and high-performance chips for the first time.

[@schvabek]

@@loodwich Not sure what you don’t agree with, but thanks for the input man 🤟

[@loodwich]

@@schvabek It is only an exaggeration for the misleading term "Power efficiency." 20 years ago, I struggled to use Windows or Linux on my laptop for the laboratory. A friend bought a Power Mac G5 and was using it when I found the Linux basis for the MAC OSX. A PowerBook G4 12-inch was lighter and had better screen resolution than my Windows/Linux laptop... Later, working with the laptop, I found that the battery allowed me to use it for 8 hours, while a Windows computer had a battery for 2-3 hours. In 2005, the importance was only the CPU computer power. When Apple showed the M1, was Intel and AMD the people who said "Power efficiency" because their x86 chips were more powerful (10%), but used 5-6 times the electric power.

[@kynkai]

RISC->CISC->RISC

[@kirishima638]

Modern chips incorporate features from both designs

[@cjeelde]

No! You forgot Motorola 68k, also CISC. Released Macs these years: 68k 1984-1993 (1994?) PPC 1994-2005 X86 2006-2020 ARM 2020-?

[@schvabek]

@@cjeelde yeah, this was their second architecture transition

[@cjeelde]

@@schvabek yeah they are used to this now :) and so are we customers :)

[@xluumu]

@@schvabekNot second, third 😉