Asianometry — "Why the Original Apple Silicon Failed"

Host: Jon Y
Date: November 9, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jon Y explores the rise and eventual fall of Apple’s original silicon strategy, focusing on the PowerPC alliance between Apple, IBM, and Motorola. The episode dives deep into the historical, technical, and business challenges that led to PowerPC’s failure to dethrone Intel, demonstrating that technological merit alone was insufficient without strong manufacturing partnerships and market momentum.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Motorola Era and Apple’s Early Silicon Choices

• Apple initially used Motorola chips, thanks to Steve Wozniak’s preference for affordable technology like the MOS 6502.
• The Macintosh line used Motorola’s 68000 series, but Intel’s rapid progress—with the 386 CPU—soon left Apple behind.
  • “Semiconductors are a volume game, and the millions of PC chips sold each year gave Intel economies of scale.” (03:33)

2. The Rise of RISC and Internal Deliberations

• RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) architectures exploded in the 1980s, offering greater speed.
• Apple considered several RISC options (including MIPS and Sun SPARC), but ultimately stuck with Motorola’s 88000, aiming for backward compatibility.

3. The Creation of the AIM Alliance

• Apple’s fears about keeping up with Intel led to secret outreach to IBM in 1990, given IBM’s advanced semiconductor technology (e.g., copper interconnects).
• The three-way alliance (AIM: Apple, IBM, Motorola) emerged in 1991.
  • “In July 1991, the two companies signed a letter of intent to share technology and collaborate on four overarching initiatives…” (10:00)
• The “deal of the century” shocked the tech industry and even the companies’ own employees.

4. Development and Launch of PowerPC

• Despite abrupt changes, the alliance managed to produce a chip faster than its x86 counterpart within 12 months.
  • “The whole execution of this first PowerPC chip went beautifully, …then faster than its x86 counterpart.” (20:31)
• Apple, IBM, and Motorola’s differing cultures required careful navigation, with Motorola bridging customer relationship gaps.

5. Challenging Intel’s Dominance: Marketing & Reception

• Apple hyped PowerPC’s launch with bold claims of outpacing Intel’s Pentium.
  • Michael Spindler (Apple CEO): “PowerPC would be the mainstay of the desktop.” (27:12)
  • “It was a Pentium versus PowerPC show.” (28:01)
• The first Power Macintoshes launched in March 1994; sales were brisk at first, but the price and need for software recompilations hampered broader uptake.

6. The Alliance Weakens: Software Disappointments and Failed Collaborations

• Promised joint software ventures like Kaleida and Taligent fizzled.
• IBM even considered acquiring Apple, but negotiations collapsed due to price and antitrust worries.
• Apple’s market share continued to slide, falling to 8.3% by 1995.
  • “Spindler spent much of the year trying to cut costs faster than revenues can decline…” (34:22)

7. Clone Wars and the End of Cooperation

• Apple attempted to license its technology to clone makers to bolster market share, but Steve Jobs later killed the program, fearing loss of control.
• The end of Mac clones strained Apple’s relationship with Motorola, whose chip business depended on scale.
  • Joe Gulielmi (Motorola): “Apple has made its decision. Now we have made ours. We will be phasing out our investments.” (46:10)
  • Katie Cotton (Apple spokesperson): “We respect their decision. Apple and Motorola have a strong business relationship.” (46:53)

8. PowerPC Migrates to Embedded and Gaming Devices

• With desktop ambitions thwarted, IBM and Motorola pushed PowerPC into embedded sectors—printers, consoles, etc.
• Notable wins included the Nintendo GameCube and Sony’s PlayStation 3.

9. The Megahertz Wars and PowerPC’s Technical Limits

• The late 1990s saw Intel and AMD chasing faster clock speeds, a metric favoring their chips over PowerPC.
• Apple’s G4 launch suffered due to Motorola’s delays, leading to public downgrades (“the G4 speed dump”).
  • “They shouldn’t have put out a computer that fast. But it made clear the major problem—Motorola was losing its edge in the semiconductor business.” (55:11)

10. Motorola Exits, IBM Struggles, and the Final Straw

• Motorola spun off its semiconductor division (later Freescale), essentially exiting the PC chip business.
• IBM retained Apple as a client, but Apple’s demands were costly and its market share too small.
• Introduction of the G5 (PowerPC 970) in 2003 initially looked promising, but IBM couldn’t deliver viable laptop chips or meet thermal demands.
  • Steve Jobs: “What happened? The G5, as you know, is a very complex chip… The whole industry hit the wall at 90nm and it's been a lot harder than people thought.” (01:10:00)
• Apple found PowerPC unsuitable for laptops, which were becoming a dominant product category.
  • Tim Cook: “The mother of all thermal challenges.” (01:13:55)
• Intel, meanwhile, addressed performance-per-watt—precisely what Apple needed.

11. The Switch to Intel and Lessons Learned

• In 2005, Apple announced the transition to Intel processors; Jon Y notes that PowerPC’s failure wasn’t about core technology but the inability of Motorola and IBM to keep up with investments, scale, and Apple’s needs.
  • “For what it is worth, it seems like the technology mostly kept up with whatever Intel had. Whatever problems that PowerPC suffered, such as thermal issues, Intel had too. The issue was more with Motorola and IBM as Silicon Fab technology partners.” (01:22:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Robert W. Stearns (Compaq):
  "PowerPC supporters are smoking dope. There's no way it's going to work." (13:21)

• Andy Grove (Intel):
  "There has not been a day in Intel's life... where we haven't had major forces trying to take a chunk out of our existence. The PowerPC crowd won't do it." (28:35)

• Paul Otellini (Intel):
  "When we come out of this, Apple will be left with only 5 to 10%. If this is a religious war, we've already won." (29:48)

• Steve Jobs on the G5 Promise:
  "The PowerPC G5 changes all the rules. This 64 bit race car is the heart of our new power Mac G5, now the world's fastest desktop computer." (01:06:29)

• Steve Jobs (WWDC 2004):
  “Now I want to talk about 2.5 GHz because I stood up here a year ago and said we'd have 3 gigahertz within a year. What happened? The whole industry hit the wall at 90nm and it's been a lot harder than people thought.” (01:10:00)

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:02 — Introduction; the Apple–IBM–Motorola (AIM) Alliance origins
• 10:00 — AIM’s joint ventures and initial technology sharing
• 20:31 — PowerPC’s fast-track development and early technical wins
• 27:12 — PowerPC vs. Pentium: Market hype, Apple’s tactics and industry response
• 34:22 — Software collaboration failures, Apple’s sliding market share, IBM’s failed acquisition attempt
• 46:10 — End of clone licensing, Motorola’s crackdown and fallout
• 55:11 — PowerPC pivots to gaming and embedded markets
• 01:06:29 — The PowerPC G5 launch and Steve Jobs’ 3 GHz promise
• 01:10:00 — The 90nm “wall” and end of single-core clock scaling
• 01:13:55 — Mobile computing challenges, Tim Cook’s “mother of all thermal challenges”
• 01:22:06 — Reflections: Technology vs. manufacturing scale and business realities

Tone & Style

Jon Y’s narration mixes authoritative technical detail with a conversational and at times wry delivery, peppering historical facts with understated humor:

• “Whatever that means…” (commenting on John Sculley’s declaration, 00:25)
• “Andy Grove said, presumably while sitting on a throne made from the tibias of his vanquished foes…” (28:35)
• “Displaying the 500 MHz number front and center, perhaps feeling the pressure to deliver something to match at a critical time. Unfortunately, they moved too fast…” (56:41)

Conclusion & Takeaways

• The PowerPC project was a bold effort that ultimately faltered due to both business and technical fractures—not technological incompetence.
• Apple, IBM, and Motorola could not match Intel’s scale and continuous investment, and their partnership suffered from diverging strategic priorities.
• Apple’s ultimate switch to Intel signaled not a failure of RISC architectures per se, but rather underscored how crucial manufacturing partnerships and market leverage are—even for innovative, well-designed technology.

For further insights, Jon Y recommends Stephen Hackett’s 512 Pixels blog post on Steve Jobs’ 3 GHz pledge.