Apple–Intel architecture

This article is about the architecture of Intel-based Apple computers. For the Apple’s transition from PowerPC to Intel processors, see Apple Intel transition.

The Apple-Intel architecture is an unoffical name used for Apple Macintosh personal computers developed and manufactured by Apple Computer that use Intel x86 processors, rather than the PowerPC and 68k processors used in their predecessors.

Technologies

Apple uses a subset of the standard standard PC architecture, which provides support for Mac OS X and limited support for other operating systems. Hardware and firmware components that must be supported to run an operating system on Apple-Intel hardware are listed below.

Extensible Firmware Interface

Main article: Extensible Firmware Interface

Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is the firmware-based replacement for the PC BIOS from Intel. Designed by Intel, it was chosen by Apple to replace Open Firmware, used on PowerPC architectures. Since older Microsoft operating systems, such as Windows XP and early versions Windows Vista are incompatible with EFI, Apple released a firmware upgrade with a compatibility support module that provides some traditional BIOS support on their Boot Camp product.

GUID Partition Table

Main article: GUID Partition Table

GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a standard for the layout of the partition table on a physical hard disk. It is a part of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) standard proposed by Intel as a substitute for the more common PC BIOS. The GPT replaces the Master Boot Record (MBR) used with BIOS.

See also

• Apple Intel transition
• BAPCo consortium

External links

• Intel EFI Open-source implementation, code-name 'Tiano'
• Apple boots Windows XP on Intel-based Macs
• Mactel Linux
• Bootcamp for Intel Macintoshes
• A video on BootCamp Beta