We’ve just heard confirmation of the rumours that the next Apple OS, Snow Leopard, will run only on Intel-based machines.
The posting popped over on the official Apple Mac OSX homepage and has confirmed that if you want to run the latest iteration, then an Intel processor is a must.
The OS isn’t set for general release until September of this year, when it will be available to download at-large. That isn’t the only way to get your hands on 10.6 though, with it coming pre-installed on every post-release date Mac; or available for a $9.95 upgrade fee if you picked up a qualifying Mac on or after the 8th June.
The decision to run Snow Leopard only on Intel-based hardware is one that now sees PowerPC based machines out in the cold somewhat, although the transition is no surprise, with machines of the last few years all shipping with Intel hardware.
Apple is claiming that the new OS will be "faster, more reliable and easier to use" in an update that breaks tradition for Apple and introduces more stabilisation updates than actual new features.
It might be a tough sell to get users to upgrade to the new OS for the full standalone price, particularly given that the majority of the update has been focused toward refining rather than reinventing.
We’ll keep you posted on any other announcements as we approach the September launch date.
2 thoughts on “Confirmed – Mac OSX 10.6 runs on Intel only”
I think when Leopard came out it was generally understood that it would be the last version of OS X that supported the PowerPC Macs. Having said that PowerPC based Mac owners don’t need to despair as applications with Leopard support will be around for a while. I just installed Safari 4 on mu OS X Tiger (10.4) 450Mhz PowerPC Mac. Works fine.
Since Snow Leopard is Intel only the binaries that ship with it don’t have to be universal which is why an install of Snow Leopard gains 6GB of disk space… All the PowerPC code has been stripped out!
I wonder how Mac fanatic people are receiving this by now.
Apple totally gave up to the IBM compatible platform for which Intel develops its processors. And we all know it is mainly a PC platform.
This is another shift from Apple toward a point at which it will totally convert to a software developer, exactly like its definite competitor, Microsoft.
With Apple’s giving up its hardware development to PC hardware companies, I believe the day PCs will run Mac OS officially will not be so far from now.