As we approach the release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), Appleinsider suggests that this may be the last major Mac OS revision that supports the PowerPC architecture.
Looking ahead, those people familiar with Apple development cycles speculate that Mac OS X 10.6 will exclude support for PowerPC-based Macs entirely, requiring that users have one of the company's Intel-based systems which first began making their way to market in early 2006.
Cited as speculation, Apple may not yet have made a decision on this matter. Apple has made no announcements about Mac OS X 10.6. Based on the most recent Mac OS development cycles, Mac OS X 10.6 would not likely ship until 2009.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects Apple to release new AirPods Pro this year, and he said the earbuds will have a key new feature: heart rate monitoring.
From his Power On newsletter today, with emphasis added:As for Apple's other devices, there's a lot in the fall pipeline — though many of the new products are only incremental upgrades.
There will be Apple Watch updates, faster Vision...
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max should be unveiled in a few more weeks, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman corroborated a rumor that iPhone 17 Pro models will be "available in an orange color."
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are...
Monday August 25, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple will offer the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max in a new orange color, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman made the claim in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, adding that the new iPhone 17 Air – replacing the iPhone 16 Plus – will come in a new light blue color.
We've heard multiple rumors about a new iPhone 17 Pro color being a shade of orange. The ...
Sunday August 24, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has "considered" releasing a bumper case for the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Similar to the bumper case that Apple introduced for the iPhone 4 in 2010, Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air version of the case would cover the edges of the device, but not the back of it. Those bumper cases were made of rubber.
Given that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to have ...
Tuesday August 26, 2025 9:01 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple will hold its annual iPhone-centric event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, according to an announcement that went out today. The event will start at 10:00 a.m., with select members of the media invited to attend.
At the September 2025 iPhone event, Apple will unveil the iPhone 17 lineup, which includes an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. It...
Wednesday August 20, 2025 6:44 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're only weeks away from Apple's annual iPhone event – rumored to take place on September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023.
By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for enhancements,...
Tuesday August 26, 2025 4:17 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today announced its "Awe Dropping" iPhone-centric event, which is set to take place on Tuesday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. There are a long list of products that are coming, but we thought we'd pull out five feature highlights to look forward to.
That Super Thin iPhone - Apple's September 9 event will see the unveiling of the first redesigned iPhone we've had in years, ...
Tuesday August 26, 2025 4:05 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022 other than a shift from Lightning to USB-C, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will launch AirPods Pro 3 later this year, and apart from new features like heart rate monitoring, we're also expecting a few design changes.
The fourth‑generation AirPods offer useful clues to Apple's design cues for ...
...and only fundamental difference between G4 and G5 is 32/64 bitness. It would make sense to only support G5 or not support PPC at all if the next big cat (10.6) would be 64-bit only — but WHY ON EARTH would they make it 64-bit only as they now tout the wonderful feature of letting 32bit and 64bit hardware live nicely together under the same roof? No, that's not going to happen.
They won't do that. There are a lot of Intel based Minis, MacBooks, MBPs and iMacs that don't have 64 bit CPUs. The Mini got the C2D only 2 months ago. When 10.6 comes out in 2009, they won't exclude systems that are only two years old.
manufacturers of processor upgrades. There are still a few out there, cranking out PPC G3 and G4s. They might eventuallly get some G5s, but that's doubtful.
If PPC support is dumped, and I don't doubt that it will be, it's just a question of when, they're going to lose a major part of their business. It's time to diversify!:eek:
Once this news gets out, expect lower prices on eBay for PPC macs :-)
By late 2009, it would have been 4 years since the last new PPC mac was sold.
Not so; new PPC Macs were still being sold at least as late as August 2006, when the Mac Pro was introduced. Plenty of 17" and 12" PowerBooks and iBooks were also sold in '06, too, to say nothing of the XServes, which remained G5s until less than a year ago.
In any event, since Tiger will have been out for 2.5 years when Leopard ships (assuming it's still on time, as now appears the case), shouldn't we be expecting Cougar (or whatever) to be coming around April 2010 at the earliest?
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
