Servers/Datacenters aren't just about being able to run Linux though. How are they going to do firmware updates? Apple can break stuff as there is no contract there like there is with x86 server vendors who test all their updates to make sure Windows and Linux runs. Besides there's the whole issue of configuration/systems management, remote access and bulk chip availability.
I would love to see the shakeup with more efficient chips pressuring Intel to innovate in the datacenter space. Being able to decrease our hosting bill would reflect well on me, and it just seems like the way the space will eventually progress.
However, I run a hackintosh at home. I personally love it; I had access to top of the line hardware years before Apple offered it, with an OS that I understand and work well in, etc. It is absolutely not the way to go for any kind of must-work production. It is brittle. Apple is in the enviable position of being the only consumer of its APIs, and they barely publish documentation on the public stuff, much less internal-only provisions. Unless Apple explicitly supports (read: $$$$) a datacenter application, I can only see burning buildings (from all the hair on fire) where stable datacenters should be.
Yeah Intel and AMD both need competition from power efficient chips that perform equally well and offer the same level of support for Windows/Linux. And as you said, it's not going to be Apple - they have a consumer focus and culture and it's far fetched to imagine they will do all the stuff necessary for enterprise adoption of their ARM chips. In the cloud space Amazon has Graviton but there's not much hype about its performance and you run into compat issues a lot for normal cloud workloads at least in the Enterprise.
Nvidia has a real shot here with ARM purchase to fill the gaps but I doubt that's something they have as a focus.
