Mac transition to Intel processors

This article is about Apple's transition of its Mac computers from the PowerPC architecture to Intel processors. For details on the architecture of Intel-based Apple computers, see Apple–Intel architecture.

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The Mac transition to Intel processors was the process of switching the central processing units (CPUs) of Apple's line of Mac and Xserve computers from PowerPC processors over to Intel's x86-64 processors.[a] The change was announced at the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who said Apple would gradually stop using PowerPC microprocessors supplied by Freescale (formerly Motorola) and IBM.[1]

The transition was the second time Apple had switched the processor instruction set architecture of its personal computers. The first was in 1994, when Apple discarded the Mac's original Motorola 68000 series architecture in favor of the then-new PowerPC platform.[2]

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 Mac OS X 10.4.4 Tiger. In August, Jobs announced the last models to switch, with the Mac Pro available immediately and the Intel Xserve available by October,[3] although shipments for the latter computer line did not start until December.[4]

The final version of Mac OS X that ran on PowerPC processors was Leopard, released in October 2007, with PowerPC binary translation support (using Rosetta) persisting up through the following version, Snow Leopard.[5] Support was later dropped in Lion.

In 2020, Apple announced that it would shift its Mac line to Apple silicon, which are ARM-based processors developed in-house.[2]


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  1. ^ "Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006". Apple Inc. June 6, 2005. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Shankland, Stephen (June 22, 2020). "Apple gives Macs a brain transplant with new Arm chips starting this year". CNet. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. ^ Cohen, Peter (August 6, 2006). "WWDC Live Keynote Update". Macworld. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  4. ^ "Xserve Technology Overview" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 23, 2020.
  5. ^ "Apple Previews Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Developers" (Press release). Apple. June 9, 2008. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.