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On 64-bit Intel machines, the Apache version provided by Apple is a universal binary that includes both 64-bit and 32-bit architecture support. As a result, the default arch used will be x86_64. On OS X versions prior to 10.6 (Snow Leopard), the primary build instructions and portfiles provided for Shibboleth build 32-bit libraries, which cannot be used with a 64-bit Apache process.

There are instructions for building for 64-bit Intel under 10.5, but those instructions are a bit rough. The 64-bit version works with Apple's 64-bit Apache.

To run Apache as a 32-bit process, refer to the these instructions.

As of Snow Leopard, Apple has defaulted builds to 64-bit, so these problems should be gone.

An additional point is that in at least some cases, possibly confined to the server version of OS X, Apple supplies a configuration in which MinSpareServers and MaxSpareServers are both set to "1". This isn't a very typical setup for preforking Apache, particular the maximum. The result of this setup is that the Apache process will frequently spawn and reap its children, which is somewhat heavyweight when the SP is used. Normally a higher maximum, often 5-10, is more efficient.