This is really a blow to the stomach for AMD with Steve Jobs officially announcing that they are going to Intel for their Mac line of computers. So many times we thought we had seen AMD nearly sign up with Apple for this exact deal, but it would seem that AMD’s smaller fab capabilities are holding it back yet again.
One interesting point though is that with the Intel chips in Macs, that means an official x86 version of Mac OS X should be released soon, so maybe AMD users that build their own systems can still get the Mac experience if they wish to?
The transition will not happen overnight, Jobs explained, saying it will take two years comprised of two major challenges. The first will be making Mac OS X work on Intel-based x86 processors, but Jobs wowed WWDC attendees by announcing all of the demos he had performed were actually on an Intel machine.
Apple has been compiling Mac OS X on x86 processors for 5 years Jobs said, adding that by this time next year, Apple hopes to ship the first Macs with Intel chips.