Just something that I've always wondered about.

[ToiletDuck]

IBM makes the processors for Apple, or did, and makes them crazy good. Why don't they ever just make their own processors instead of buying them from Intel or AMD? I mean everything says "or an IBM compatible" machine. Why don't they just roll out their own stuff. I'd love to see what they could do if they made a whole system from the ground up.

 

[Sjaak]

Developing a CPU, and in this case a PPC compatible one (check the frontpage for some interesting stuff about Apple, x86 and PPC!) takes alot of time and money. Apple can't afford it.

 

[Gnufsh]

IBM makes the processors for Apple, or did, and makes them crazy good. Why don't they ever just make their own processors instead of buying them from Intel or AMD? I mean everything says "or an IBM compatible" machine. Why don't they just roll out their own stuff. I'd love to see what they could do if they made a whole system from the ground up.

IBM does make their own boxes--high end servers based on their own Power 5 chip.

edit: IBM also has the top spot on the list of the top 500 supercomputer list:
http://www.top500.org/lists/2004/11/

 

[Speciale]

edit: IBM also has the top spot on the list of the top 500 supercomputer list:
http://www.top500.org/lists/2004/11/

They've got a comercial bragging this running now.

 

[Sjaak]

IBM does make their own boxes--high end servers based on their own Power 5 chip.

I think he means 'why doesn't apple make their own cpus', not 'why doesnt ibm make more pcs'

 

[MOSCHAMENSCH]

I think he means 'why doesn't apple make their own cpus', not 'why doesnt ibm make more pcs'

The Power 5 Chip is a CPU!

 

[Gnufsh]

The Power 5 Chip is a CPU!

Made by IBM.

Fine, to answer the other interpretation:
Apple doesn't make CPUs because they can't afford to. FABs are ridiculously expensive and apple doesn't really have the CPU volume to justify the cost (they'd lose a ton of money). IBM already has FABs and they make more CPUs than just the ones Apple uses.

 

[ToiletDuck]

I kinda figured that on the Apple's and thanks for the responses! What I didn't clearly state was why doesn't IBM design and market their own PC from the ground up? If their processors were so good mhz-mhz wise and they have their own fabs then why don't they do it? Why pay intel or AMD for their chips when they have their own fabs to make them? Why don't we see IBM personal computers and laptops with IBM processors and such? Also the G5 was made in conjunction with a few other companies no?

 

[Know Nuttin]

they did before. It's just that Intel made better and faster CPU's, that were lower cost. This is back in the 80's, when they were trying to push their own CPU out and justify why x86 was no good and their architecture was better. This didn't work.

They made a pretty big booboo in the 90's though, as they started to use the Cyrix design (5x86 and other's) and marketed them as their own. That was the start of the PR rating (now AMD is using the same thing).

IBM has left the personal PC market anyhow, sold their division.

there are times when it is not justifiable to put the resources into making/designing your own product. CPU's are not as easy to design as people think. It's very very complex work. And if you can't make it at a less cost than it would be to purchase it, it's a very bad thing, especially when you are publicly traded.

 

[ToiletDuck]

I guess I don't understand how they can't make them cheaper. They are Big Blue with their hands in all resources and they own their own factories.

 

[Gnufsh]

The original IBM PC had an Intel processor. Intel didn't make better and faster processors at the time, they made cheaper ones (which is actually why they were chosen over a line of motorolla chips). IBM moved to "better" architectures, but x86 refused to die--people needed backwards compatibility. Eventually performance did become a selling point, but it took a great deal of work to push the performance of x86 to where it is today. x86 instructions are actually decoded into RISC-like instructions to be executed by the processor now. Processors re-order instructions on the fly and remap x86's pitiful number of registers (for example, the P4 remaps the 8 x86 GPRs onto 128 physical registers). TO make CISC instructions fast, they basically run on a RISC core.