Apple Ditching Nvidia to Pair With AMD Instead?

By Marcus Yam
published

Radeons could be inside the next MacBook Pros.

Right now Apple's main graphics dancing partner for its MacBooks is Nvidia, which does the pixel pushing for the entire line. While the 13-inch models operate with an MCP, the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro line gets discrete Nvidia switchable graphics that are called into use when the integrated Intel HD graphics aren't enough.

The word on the street now, Cnet reports, is that Apple could be dumping Nvidia in favor of going with Intel's integrated graphics. The next-generation of integrated graphics that'll be a part of Sandy Bridge CPUs is expected to be far more capable than Intel's current offerings.

Intel hasn't said yet when it plans to support the OpenCL that Apple requires, but it goes without saying that the MacBooks of 2011 should have Sandy Bridge CPUs. The high-end real "pro" MacBook Pro machines will still need discrete graphics, and Cnet believes that the 15- and 17-inch models could go with AMD graphics parts.

With AMD already pushing the graphics with its Radeon HD products in the iMacs, it's plausible that the agreement could extend into the mobile space.

Marcus Yam
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.
68 Comments Comment from the forums
  • xantek24
    Clanging chains still?
    Reply
  • Cooool, AMD always needs a lil more rating, so many people(except gamers and PC enthu. 's)think AMD is crap, which it isn't.
    Reply
  • alidan
    sidspykerCooool, AMD always needs a lil more rating, so many people(except gamers and PC enthu. 's)think AMD is crap, which it isn't.and going with that in a mac will change that how?
    Reply
  • dEAne
    Bad news for nvidia, that means nvidia should work harder to get apple's attention on it's graphics card.
    Reply
  • beans4you
    I swear, Jobs could sell ice to Eskimos and walk out with a 5 year contract with their land as collateral.
    Reply
  • Marcus Yam
    xantek24Clanging chains still?Yup, just like Jacob Marley.
    Reply
  • Xatos
    If Apple starts using ATI products, my next PC will be powered by Nvidia. Bottom line.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    this is probably also because of failure rates with nvidia mobile products, and the capabilities of intel's integrated video(initial previews look great for basic integrated video)
    Reply
  • reconspartan
    AMD doesn't need that dirty money.
    Reply
  • dragonfang18
    Does this mean the price of their computers will go down, or the fact that they will earn more money doing this if they just keep prices the way they are? I guess to ignorant people they are the same, though they dont know who much worse they are losing....
    Reply