Apple today confirms all the rumors of switching to Intel are true. I have mixed feelings about this announcement. On one hand I know the PowerPC platform is clearly the better platform for all out performance. Also the Apple camp has already started a transition to 64-bit and I don’t see an Intel solution for this other than the ability to handle 64-bit addressing of memory.

On the other hand the move to Intel could be a good solution. Number 1 they’ll produce laptop chips. They’ll also put forth a lot of R&D into these laptops. Not just the chips but the enclosure too. And I’m not talking about apple specific research, but research for the low power mobile chips for the entire industry. Intel will do a lot of work that apple would normally be left to do for themselves with a chip not designed with mobility in mind. This leaves more money to develop cooler stuff on the already great systems. All in all it seems to be the way apple is going. So I’ll keep my Dual G5 system for awhile and wait for a fast Intel based laptop to appear before trading in the old powerbook.