Which Apple Macs use Intel processors?

The iMac "Core Duo", Mac mini "Core", MacBook, and MacBook Pro models use Intel processors. EveryMac.com provides a complete list of Intel-based Macs in the By Processor subsection of the Systems section of the site.

Will the "Macintel" systems use OpenFirmware?

No. According to page 47 of the first edition of Apple's Universal Binary Programming Guidelines, "Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors do not use Open Firmware. Although many parts of the IO registry are present and work as expected, information that is provided by Open Firmware on a Macintosh using a PowerPC microprocessor (such as a complete device tree) is not available in the IO registry on a Macintosh using an Intel microprocessor."

Will the "Macintel" systems use a PC BIOS?

Although the test system demonstrated at WWDC on June 6, 2005 had a 3.6 GHz Pentium 4 processor with a Phoenix PC BIOS the released Intel-based Macs instead use Intel's Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI).

Will the "Macintel" systems support PC video cards?

Apple engineers reported during WWDC 2005 that "Macintel" systems will support Intel integrated graphics as well as video cards from ATI and NVIDIA.

Early Intel-based Macs used either ATI or Intel integrated graphics.

Will the "Macintel" systems support AltiVec?

Originally, according to page 53 of the first edition of Apple's Universal Binary Programming Guidelines, "AltiVec instructions, because they are processor-specific, must be replaced o[n] Macintosh computers using Intel microprocessors."

However, the second edition of Apple's Universal Binary Programming Guidelines no longer listed "code written specifically for AltiVec" as being incompatible with the "Rosetta" translator. This does not mean that the "Macintel" systems are able to take advantage of performance improvements that code written for AltiVec provides, these systems impressively are able to run applications with AltiVec instructions courtesy of Rosetta.

Will existing peripherals be compatible with "Macintel" systems?

Although there was no official information available, it originally seemed likely that USB, USB 2.0, Firewire "400" and Firewire "800" peripherals would be compatible with at least the majority, and most likely, all "Macintel" systems provided that appropriate drivers were released.

With the introduction of the first MacBook Pro 15" models, which do not have a "Firewire 800" port, it became clear that Apple has decided to limit Firewire "800" ports to the highest-end models.

Will the "Macintel" systems support Firewire?

One certainly hoped that Apple would not abandon their superior Firewire standard for USB 2.0, particularly given that videographers rely on Firewire as a lifeline. However, prior to shipping any of the Intel-based Macs, noting that none of the current iPod models support Firewire, it was viewed as not unreasonable to think that Apple might no longer support Firewire at least on "consumer" targeted systems. There was much speculation along those lines coming from ZDNet's Apple Core blog (subsequently discontinued), among others.

Many Intel-based Macs support Firewire "400". Firewire "800" was restricted to the highest-end models. Apple discontinued the last Macs that supported Firewire in 2014.

Will the "Macintel" systems have integrated cameras?

On January 10, 2006, Apple introduced the iMac "Core Duo" and MacBook Pro, the company's first Intel-based systems, both of which have integrated iSight cameras. The original answer is below for your review.

Although there is no official information available, now that the iMac G5 has been released with an integrated iSight camera for easy video conferencing, it is a fairly safe bet that integrated iSight cameras will find their way into future PowerBook and iBook models, and possibly future revisions of the Apple Cinema Display as well.

Will upgrade cards be available for PowerPC-based systems?

No. The switch from PowerPC to Intel is a major architectural change and upgrade card manufacturers cannot simply provide processor upgrade cards to upgrade a PowerPC-based Mac to an Intel-based Mac.

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