APPLE’s Steve Jobs will on Tuesday unveil a new range of Macintosh computers, the first to be powered by Intel microprocessors. At the annual Macworld show in San Francisco, Apple’s chief executive is expected to launch new and faster Intel-based laptops, a move designed to accelerate the revival in the company’s computer business.
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For more than 10 years Apple has used chips made by IBM and by Freescale Semiconductor, formerly part of Motorola. However, Jobs has been frustrated by the inability of his suppliers to match the performance of some of the chips available from Intel. For example, nearly 18 months after the launch of the latest iMac, which uses the G5 processor made by IBM, Apple has been unable to introduce a similarly powerful chip into its laptops.
In terms of raw processing power, this has left Apple at a disadvantage against Intel-powered computers from Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others.
Despite this, Apple’s computer business has been growing rapidly, helped by the “halo” effect of the iPod’s popularity. In the most recent quarter Mac volumes were up 48%, with revenues 31% higher.
Some analysts believe that Apple will introduce an Intel-powered version of the mini Mac, the budget computer sold without a screen that has helped introduce the operating system to a new audience.
Jobs is also expected to announce new sources of video content for Apple’s iTunes store.
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