15 years ago, Steve Jobs ditched PowerPC for Intel processors in Mac computers

In his keynote address at WWDC 2020 last night, when Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company would ditch Intel for ARM processors in Mac computers, it was a déjàvu for some like me. At the 2005 WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs had unexpectedly dropped the news of a phased transitioning of the Mac computers to Intel processors from PowerPC chips. It was a big move by Apple to switch from IBM-built PowerPC processors to x86 processors made by Intel.

At that time, many questioned Apple’s motive behind the transition. To answer critics, Jobs addressed the challenges Apple had been facing with the PowerPC. “I stood up here two years ago in front of you and promised you 3.0 GHz.