Mac transition to Intel processors

The Mac transition to Intel processors was the process of switching the <a href="/facts/Central_processing_unit/Jxp1bqMV">central processing units</a> (CPUs) of <a href="/facts/Apple_Inc./oTJYta3k">Apple</a>'s line of <a href="/facts/Mac_(computer)/8GhnXTK0">Mac</a> and <a href="/facts/Xserve/QHnJJtIB">Xserve</a> computers from <a href="/facts/PowerPC/DqmM9y50">PowerPC</a> processors over to <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a>'s <a href="/facts/X86-64/cyWvUFlP">x86-64</a> processors. The change was announced at the 2005 <a href="/facts/Worldwide_Developers_Conference/hEjVWkoo">Worldwide Developers Conference</a> (WWDC) by then-Apple CEO <a href="/facts/Steve_Jobs/fQpja1hx">Steve Jobs</a>, who said Apple would gradually stop using PowerPC <a href="/facts/Microprocessor/Fx9CaQht">microprocessors</a> supplied by <a href="/facts/Freescale/mRjBBbeX">Freescale</a> (formerly <a href="/facts/Motorola/ztqczx68">Motorola</a>) and <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a>.
The transition was the second time Apple had switched the processor <a href="/facts/Instruction_set_architecture/8p8vwUeE">instruction set architecture</a> of its personal computers. The first was in 1994, when Apple discarded the Mac's original <a href="/facts/Motorola_68000_series/jxd7VPlW">Motorola 68000 series</a> architecture in favor of the then-new PowerPC platform.
Apple's initial press release originally outlined that the move would begin by June 2006, with completion slated by early 2008 – the transition had proceeded faster than anticipated. The first-generation Intel-based Macs were released in January 2006 with <a href="/facts/Mac_OS_X_Tiger/q6vKCpvq">Mac OS X 10.4.4 Tiger</a>. In August, Jobs announced the last models to switch, with the <a href="/facts/Mac_Pro/aS0qSBTl">Mac Pro</a> available immediately and the Intel <a href="/facts/Xserve/QHnJJtIB">Xserve</a> available by October, although shipments for the latter computer line did not start until December.
The final version of <a href="/facts/Mac_OS_X/Y93vVpTm">Mac OS X</a> that ran on PowerPC processors was <a href="/facts/Mac_OS_X_Leopard/UmXw4H5x">Leopard</a>, released in October 2007, with PowerPC binary translation support (using <a href="/facts/Rosetta_(software)/9snj5mV4">Rosetta</a>) persisting up through the following version, <a href="/facts/Mac_OS_X_Snow_Leopard/GGNogRTe">Snow Leopard</a>. Support was later dropped in <a href="/facts/Mac_OS_X_Lion/CHyxXg8X">Lion</a>.
In 2020, Apple announced that it would <a href="/facts/Mac_transition_to_Apple_silicon/66tIrRs2">shift its Mac line to Apple silicon</a>, which are <a href="/facts/ARM_architecture/SALsYA79">ARM</a>-based systems-on-a-chip developed in-house.

Mac transition to Intel processors open-in-new

Mac transition to Intel processors