Steve Jobs and Apple turned down Cell

Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, announced a week ago the company’s perhaps biggest news ever. The fact that it will switch from IBM-based processors to Intel-based versions for its Mac-computers. IBM has except for its PowerPC-series also a very renowned processor arcitecture up its sleeve, namely the Cell, that so far hasn’t been used with any consumer product, but that will of course change when the gaming console PlayStation 3 arrives.

According to information from IBM it has offered Jobs and Apple to use the Cell-processor instead of PowerPC, thus continuing to use IBM’s processors with the Mac. Looking back we can see that Jobs turned down the offer and went for Intel’s x86-arcitecture, but when it comes to why he turned it down the companies have different stories.

According to IBM it was because of the cost that Apple chose Intel’s processors while Jobs and Apple it was pure choice of performance, something that is kind of nudge in Cell’s image as the uncornwned king of performance. It doesn’t get any better when Steve Jobs beliees that Cell might be even more inefficient than IBM’s current PowerPC-arcitecture.

“The New York Times also confirms that Apple has investigated other chips as well. Apple reportedly met with Sony regarding the Cell design but Jobs “was disappointed with the Cell design, which he believes will be even less effective than the PowerPC.”

If Steve Jobs is on the right track this might be good time to lower the expactations on IBM’s Cell-arcitcture. And considering ATi and Microsoft says it will be hard to take advantage of all the performance of the the Cell-arcitecture with PlayStation 3, Jobs thoughts are hardly stunning.

Source: Real Tech News