Steve Jobs wanted to put OS X on Sony Vaio

In 2005, Steve Jobs unexpectedly announced the transition of Apple computers from PowerPC to Intel. According to Jobs, OS X has led a “secret double life” with Intel for five years. However, according to The Verge, OS X could have an even more unexpected partner - Sony.

Japanese freelance writer Nobuyuki Hayashi, who has been writing about Apple for more than two decades, quotes the story of former Sony president Kunitake Ando about a meeting in 2001 between him and Jobs in Hawaii. After playing golf with other Sony executives, Ando says, "Steve Jobs and another Apple executive were waiting for us at the end of the field, holding Vaio with Mac OS."

In 2001, Mac OS X just came out, and it is likely that this was the Intel version of OS X, which was carefully concealed for another four and a half years. By that time, Jobs had already broken all of the Macs' cloning agreements by other companies, considering it important to preserve the Apple ecosystem. However, according to Ando, ​​he admired the Sony Vaio lineup so much that he was “ready to make an exception”.
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Ando liked Apple. He has always believed that the philosophy of Mac and Vaio is very close. He especially admired Aymak, which appeared in 1998. However, Jobs chose the wrong moment. Sales of Sony laptops on Windows just began to grow, the Vaio team resisted the idea of ​​Vaio on a Mac, and negotiations ultimately led to nothing.

No matter how far-fetched this story may sound, it is known that Jobs treated Sony with great respect, and also maintained good relations with the company's management team. Ando's story also confirms the story of Intel’s secrecy at Apple, when Apple’s former vice president of software engineering, Bertrand Serlet, told the team “to go to Fry’s and buy the most top-notch and expensive Vaio” to demonstrate the ability of OS X to work on Sony hardware.

There were rumors yesterday that Sony plans to sell its Vaio division to a Japanese investment company. The company acknowledged the rumors, but declined to comment.