Analysis: Reports of a Cell-based Macintosh workstation sent Apple's price upwards. But analysts say differences between the Cell and the current PowerPC architectures will make any transition an unlikely prospect for a good while.Before and after this month's unveiling of the PowerPC-based "Cell" processor, the Mac industry buzzed with predictions that the forthcoming chip will be adopted by Apple Computer Inc. as its next-generation computing platform. While the specs of the new chip are impressive, especially with its integrated support for virtualization and speedy video performance, analysts said differences between for the next few years. Besides, use of the Cell chip in a Mac would only make sense if Apple could get its Mac OS X to run faster than it does on a PowerPC—a task that may prove more difficult than it sounds.
Formally introduced at the International Solid State Circuits conference in San Francisco, the 64-bit Cell processor is a joint project of IBM, Sony Corp., and Toshiba Corp., and will first be used in Sony's PlayStation 3 box. The group claims that the Cell's potential goes beyond gaming, however, extending to everything from cell phones and televisions to high-end Linux workstations. IBM and Sony expect to have prototypes of Cell-based content-creation workstations available in the fourth quarter.
Read more here about the Cell's future in gaming boxes and development.
Speculation that Apple will adopt the high-performance Cell was fueled by a February 15 Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. report that predicted a Cell-based multimedia workstation from Apple. At the same time, the firm raised its Apple stock price objective from $85 to $102 per share, causing Apple's stock to jump 4.5 percent in one day.
IBM and Apple declined to comment on Apple's possible use of the Cell, but IBM spokesman Glen Brandow emphasized the compatibility between the Cell and the PowerPC.
"User applications for PowerPC will run on the Power Processor Element on Cell," said Brandow. "The Power Architecture remains compliant with applications written for previous, 32-bit, PowerPC processors. The Linux operating system for Cell extends the work for Linux on Power that already exists."
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: Is There a Cell Processor in Apple's Future?
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