AMD to Bump Out Nvidia for New MacBook Pros?

It's expected that the Apple MacBook Pro line will be refreshed today in conjunction with the launch of Intel's Light Peak technology. That might not be the only new bit of kit, however, as Cnet reports that AMD may be bumping out Nvidia as the graphics part of choice in the higher-end of the Apple notebook offerings.

While ATI Radeon graphics parts are commonly used in the iMac lineup, Nvidia rules the entire MacBook line with either IGPs or discrete graphics parts. The new refresh of the MacBook Pros could potentially give Nvidia the entire boot with Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors and AMD providing the discrete graphics.

On the 13-inch model, Apple is said to be relying solely on the integrated graphics part that Intel developed inside Sandy Bridge. For the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros, it's believed that they'll be Radeon parts that will also feature dynamic switching between the Intel HD graphics part and the discrete GPU part depending on performance and power needs.

Hopefully we'll know all later today.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • wribbs
    Apple gets a ridiculous amount of press coverage.
    This news in particular really makes me yawn.
    Congrats AMD I guess.
    Reply
  • thomaseron
    If the switch occurs, it's probably 'cause AMDs cards are cooler...
    Reply
  • Ragnar-Kon
    thomaseronIf the switch occurs, it's probably 'cause AMDs cards are cooler...And, if the mobile AMD chips are similar to the desktop GPU chips, then less power hungry.

    wribbsApple gets a ridiculous amount of press coverage.So true. But if I'm being honest I don't mind hearing about Apple's latest hardware revamps. Steve Job's health and/or Apple shares? I could care less.
    Reply
  • blibba
    thomaseronIf the switch occurs, it's probably 'cause AMDs cards are cooler...
    Get a grip on physics. Temperature has nothing to do with it - that depends entirely on how Apple choose to cool them. What you mean to say is that they produce less heat.
    Reply
  • lashabane
    ...That might not be the only new bit of kit...
    Marcus, it sounds like you've been hanging out with Jane too much. :D
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    AMD has lower power consumption vs performance, apples are praised for their long lasting battery, so its a good move i guess. It should also sway software companies to implement hardware acceleration for AMD chips.
    Reply
  • @blibba

    I think what thomas meant, AMD cards are way 'cool' compared to nVidia. Not cool as in temperature.
    Reply
  • thomaseron
    harihb@blibbaI think what thomas meant, AMD cards are way 'cool' compared to nVidia. Not cool as in temperature.
    I meant a little bit of both. :)
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    its because everyone is Nvidia's pathetic low quality parts failing - they admitted to G84 and G86 part failures mostly in compaq's - THIS PROBLEM STILL EXISTS TODAY, IT STILL HAPPENS - mostly laptops, its to a point my workers see nvidia stickers on any laptop with problems and it more then likely is the issue (cold boot issues/reboot issues/stability issues/random/intermittent faults etc) - notice how Compaq/HP most of there units are now using ATI/AMD video rather then nvidia?

    These issues happen in new units and old - its not just the G84/G86 its ever since the 7 series all the way to the latest, brand new laptops (we have seen ASUS, Samsung and more with faults) - its a joke.

    DONT BUY NVIDIA
    Reply
  • Reynod
    9274376 said:
    "AMD to Bump Out Nvidia for New MacBook Pros?"

    I don't know, ok? You're the ones supposed to know. I wonder why most news articles on Tom's have to contain question marks.
    Probably because they're not real news.


    Markus has a pretty good record for predicting this sort of thing, and a question mark at the end of the sentence usually does mean just what you said.

    Congratulations for stating the obvious ... you may want to consider a career in politics ... or policy.

    :)





    Reply