You know, the funny thing is that all these stories say "Intel", but none of them really specify x86. It would be funny if they had something else in mind, maybe I2 or some such. That would be a major shocker. ;)
Right. The only way this makes sense to me is if Intel will start building PPC-compatible CPUs. From discussions I've read elsewhere this is somewhat plausible; Intel's current chips are essentially a RISC core with an x86 translator in front, so it might not be that hard to switch the translator to PPC. It would still be a major undertaking, but I can believe that more easily than that Apple will instantly obsolete their entire installed base.