Switching to an Intel-based iMac

Tip 1: The ins and outs of the switch
Tip 2: Fighting common problems
Tip 3: Upgrading your software

Tip 1: The ins and outs of the switch

If you missed Steve Jobs's announcement at Macworld in January about Apple's new Intel-powered iMac Core Duo desktops and MacBook Pro notebooks, the short story is that Apple recently partnered with Intel to sell computers with Intel Core Duo chips in them. The new iMac and the new MacBook Pro are the first products to result from that partnership. Apple has also announced a new Intel-based Mac Mini. It hasn't been out long enough to run the early-adopter gauntlet, so while some of what we're about to talk about applies to all of the new Intel-based Apple systems, we won't be able to speak about issues specific to the new Mac Minis for a little while. Here's what we know so far.

By switching chip makers (Apple formerly partnered with IBM on the PowerPC G-Series CPUs), Apple gains processors that squeeze out more performance, consume less energy, and have a better growth path for future releases. You, the consumer, will win out, too: the iMac Core Duo costs the same as the previous-generation iMac G5, yet delivers faster performance (roughly 35 percent faster in native applications -- more on that later). We have hopes that the MacBook Pro will outperform its predecessor, the PowerBook G4, as well.

Apple would like users to view the transition from a PowerPC Mac to an Intel Core Duo Mac as a seamless operation, and for less-demanding users, it probably will be. There are a variety of known issues and newly discovered bugs that you should consider, however, before you make the switch. Chief among them is that software has to be completely recompiled or rewritten to run on the Intel chips.

Older software that hasn't been ported over will still run in most cases, thanks to a built-in program called Rosetta that emulates the processing environment of the older PowerPC chips. The apps won't be as fast as they were on a PowerPC-based Mac, though. In our review of the Intel-based iMac Core Duo, we found that professional-level programs such as Sorenson Squeeze could be mind-numbingly slow when run in emulation.

Besides software issues, new users are discovering that the iMac Core Duo has problems with video glitches and with maintaining a wireless connection. As more vendors port their software to run on the Intel chip, the possibility of more errors turning up is also ever-present. If you aren't in desperate need of a new computer and you can hold off on your purchase, we recommend that you wait for ports of your favourite apps to show up, and then, as with all new software, be ready to deal with the occasional headache after their initial release. Tip 2: Fighting common problems

The downside of buying an Intel-based Mac now is that you could become a beta tester for undiscovered -- and therefore, yet-to-be-solved -- problems. While the transition to the new chip should be smooth for most people, we've noticed that a couple of common problems have cropped up on the message boards since the iMac Core Duo's debut. We've haven't encountered either of these problems during our experience with the iMac Core Duo, but with the number of people discussing these issues online, we wanted to help bring them to light and share the solutions users have found.

Video tearing
The biggest issue so far is a video glitch that appears primarily when using Front Row applications. Users experience video tearing (meaning that sections of video flicker and appear where they're not supposed to), random horizontal lines, and ghosting (a second ghost image of the object on the screen appears next to it). These glitches obscure the image so badly that Front Row becomes unusable. If this describes your experience, don't worry -- you're hardly alone.

Apple was a bit slow in addressing this problem, and when we first spoke to Apple PR about it, all we got was, "Apple is aware of this issue and is looking into it. If a customer has any technical issues, they should contact AppleCare." Judging by the comments in Apple's discussion forums, many people did just that but found that AppleCare wasn't much use. Users reported tech support reps who claimed to have never heard of the problem or who weren't given instructions on dealing with it. Some tech support reps asked the callers to return their iMacs for repair and treated the problem as a hardware issue.

Enterprising users, however, discovered that it was a software issue. Apple shipped Intel iMacs running two different builds of OS X 10.4.4; these go by the codes 8G1165 and 8G1171. Nearly all the users experiencing video problems ran 8G1171. To find out which build you're using, go to the Apple Menu pull-down and select About This Mac, then click the More Info button. This opens the System Profiler utility. Click Software on the left and look under System Version. You'll see your build number in parentheses after the OS version.

Luckily, Apple addressed the problem in a software update on February 14. To get the update, which addresses this and a variety of other issues, open the Software Update System Preference and click the Check Now button. The update, labeled 10.4.5, is only a 6.4MB download for PowerPC Mac users, but a giant 40MB download for Intel Macs. The update doesn't fix every problem Intel Mac users have found, but it effectively cures the video-tearing issue.

Wireless woes
Several different wireless connection issues are plaguing users, but so far only one of the issues has a fix. If you aren't able to connect to your wireless network and you're using a Westell Versalink 327W router, then that's the problem. The Intel iMac doesn't seem to be compatible with it, so you'll need to switch to one from a different maker. An AirPort Express Base Station is pricey but will certainly do the trick. For more on this issue, this thread gets into the nitty-gritty details.

Other users have reported their wireless connections dropping out during long file transfers or oscillating between fast and slow throughput rates. With these issues, the solution isn't clear; discussion board members haven't yet discovered the source of the problem, and Apple hasn't released a fix. (Apple's official response is, "If a customer has any technical issues, they should contact AppleCare.") We tried several large downloads, including a 1.3GB file, and saw no problems with our review model of the iMac Core Duo, but that of course doesn't mean the issues don't exist. Until someone gets to the bottom of it, just know that some users have had wireless networking issues. If that feature is important to you, you'll want to follow the issue closely before you make a purchase. Tip 3: Upgrading your software

The move to Intel chips is a major undertaking for the Mac community, as every software title for the Mac OS will need to be recompiled (which is easier) or rewritten (which is more complicated) for the new platform and released in a Universal version, which will run on both PowerPC and Intel chips. It's similar to when Apple moved from Motorola 68K architecture to PowerPC chips in 1994, or when it asked users to upgrade to OS X in 2001. In the OS X transition, older, Classic apps ran in emulation mode, and that's what happens here, as well. The difference is that the emulation, using a built-in program called Rosetta, is much faster and smoother this time.

To help you sort through the messy software transition, Apple has created a new Universal designation, a blue yin-yang symbol that indicates that a program will run natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs. Make sure that any programs essential to you are available in a Universal version before you switch. Fortunately, the Apple software bundle included on the iMac has already been translated for the Intel chip, so it runs natively. These apps include the iLife '06 suite (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand), Mail, Address Book, Safari, and more.

Other less-demanding programs aren't ready for the Intel platform yet but run so well in emulation that you won't notice a speed decrease. Apps such as Firefox, the Microsoft Office suite, and America Online work fine with Rosetta. If these two categories include every app you run during a standard day, you can move to an Intel-based iMac or MacBook Pro now.

More processor-intensive programs don't do well under emulation. You won't want to run Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign on an Intel iMac, for example. Our benchmarks show that the nonnative versions of Adobe Photoshop and Sorenson Squeeze slowed dramatically compared to their native performance on the old iMac G5. For any professional programs, you'll want to wait for the Universal code before even thinking about moving to an Intel-based Mac. Unfortunately, Adobe has announced (click here for PDF) that it won't release Universal copies of its current product versions but will wait until new versions are ready. Going by Adobe's standard production cycle of 18 to 24 months between releases, that means a Universal version of Creative Suite could be up to 14 months away (Adobe Creative Suite 2 came out in April 2005). Design professionals, part of Apple's user base, will certainly want to avoid Intel Macs until this and other professional programs are available.

Finally, some programs won't run at all on the Intel chip. These include (surprisingly) Apple's Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express, DVD Studio Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, and Remote desktop. Apparently, the move to Intel chips came so quickly that even Apple wasn't ready for it. Universal versions of those apps should be ready next month, although getting new versions of the same programs will cost you US$50 per app.

Other programs that won't run in emulation include Microsoft Virtual PC, Alsoft Disk Warrior, Micromat TechTool, and Telestream Flip4Mac. Macs no longer support Classic mode, so if you're still running OS 9 software, the Intel iMac isn't for you.

To find out if programs you require are available in Universal versions, check out Apple's list of Universal programs, which documents available programs but doesn't offer information on when others will be ready. The Apple enthusiast Web site MacInTouch has its own page listing Universal programs and a useful one telling how well various major programs run in emulation.

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