July 3, 1991: IBM Promises to License RISC Processor to Apple

In the early nineties Apple needed a new processor and IBM wanted a new OS. Apple was working on a project called Pink, which more or less brought the Mac experience to PCs, and IBM was working on a RISC based chip.

It seemed like a marriage made in heaven, Apple had something IBM wanted and IBM had something Apple wanted. Pink resulted in the creation of two companies (Taligent and Kaleida) but never made it to market. While Mac on Intel may have stalled (until recently), IBM with the help of Apple and Motorola, was able to design a functional RISC processor.

The RISC processor, called the PowerPC by the AIM coalition (Apple, IBM, Motorola get it?) went on to power every Mac from the PowerPC 6100 to the last G5. IBM sent Apple a letter of intent promising to help finish Pink and license the PowerPC this week in 1991.