Hi,
I have a MacBook Air with i7 intel processor, so according to the download page I should be installing the PC (Intel x86) version. However, my Mac would not at all recognize the bootable USB of PC (Intel x86).
So, I have tried installing the 64-bit PC (AMD64) version, and it worked!
My question is: Since this version is not intended for intel processors, would it cause any performance issues in the future?
Thanks,
The naming is slight confusing, but:
Intel x86 / i386 / i686 is the 32-bit version.amd64 / x86-64 / x64 is the 64-bit version.I believe the naming amd64 has roots back to AMD being the first to release a 64-bit processor. Intel’s been around a long time with the 32-bit processor, namely i386 or x86. My guess is that they gave the name for that architecture and it stuck around. Here’s some users offering some answers to that question.
Both versions work on both types of processors (providing it is indeed, only 32-bit or 64-bit capable)
Macs in particular require EFI, which is only compatible with a 64-bit OS, hence why it wasn’t bootable.
So, to directly answer the question, there will not be any performance issues except the standard questions of 32-bit vs 64-bit OS (more applicable to PCs than Macs)
The download page probably ought to change that. 
Thank you so much for your quick and informative answer. It was a great relief!
I think my source of confusion was in the description of the versions: It specifically stated that newer Mac machines running on intel should go for the x86 version!
and thanks for the link too 
You're welcome. 
I see now, I just took a look at the download page:
PC (Intel x86) For almost all PCs. This includes most machines with Intel/AMD/etc type processors and almost all computers that run Microsoft Windows, as well as newer Apple Macintosh systems based on Intel processors.
64-bit PC (AMD64) Choose this to take full advantage of computers based on the AMD64 or EM64T architecture (e.g., Athlon64, Opteron, EM64T Xeon, Core 2). If you have a non-64-bit processor made by AMD, or if you need full support for 32-bit code, use the Intel x86 images instead.
Hmm, I guess this is not actually the case. Before Ubuntu MATE 14.04 and many releases ago, there was a amd64+mac image specifically for Macs, but that was dropped and become part of amd64, so I'm not actually sure why Intel x86 would be recommended for newer Macs. 
It's true that the 32-bit version would run on pretty much nearly all the PCs, so I'm thinking the UEFI in newer Macs specifically want a 64-bit version and has no more support for 32-bit, so x86 makes sense for older Macs (but not as old as the PowerPC)
@lah7 You’re right. The information seems to be from a few years back (note the processors mentioned - Athlon, Core 2).
It is now recommended by most distros to use a 64bit version (amd64) if the computer supports it. The command lscpu can be used to verify the same.
@Wimpy Updating the information accordingly should eliminate any possible confusion which a new user might have 
Can someone suggest alternative text please?
Personally I’d want to overhaul the download page - it feels like TMI 
I’d like to put things into tabs, show off MD5’s, give a choice between 14.04 and 15.10.
Should I go to the drawing board and pull request later? 
@lah7 Sure, please do but don’t bother including 14.04 in the download options. Also, try to promote the use of Torrents
I amended the download description, it should be more clearer now.
https://bitbucket.org/ubuntu-mate/ubuntu-mate.org/pull-requests/5/improved-download-description-for/diff