Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Switching Back to NVIDIA for Next-Generation MacBook Pro Graphics Chips?

TSE

TSE

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2007
3,971
3,302
St. Paul, Minnesota
I don't understand this move.

AMD has absolutely destroyed nVidia in the graphics segment with everything but the high-end gaming graphics that requires a dedicated gaming laptop.

The 6xxx series trounces the nVidia 5xx series.

The 7xxx series is going to make even a bigger jump than the 5xxx to 6xxx jump was. 28nm core, completely new architecture.

Unless nVidia's new architecture is a vast improvement over what they currently have, I don't get this move.
 
Deflorator

Deflorator

macrumors member
Jul 15, 2010
41
24
Prague, Czech Republic (Yes, its in the European U
TSE said:
I don't understand this move.

AMD has absolutely destroyed nVidia in the graphics segment with everything but the high-end gaming graphics that requires a dedicated gaming laptop.

The 6xxx series trounces the nVidia 5xx series.

The 7xxx series is going to make even a bigger jump than the 5xxx to 6xxx jump was. 28nm core, completely new architecture.

Unless nVidia's new architecture is a vast improvement over what they currently have, I don't get this move.
Click to expand...

Lowend and mainstream of the whole 7XXX series will be just renamed chips of the 6XXX series. And only the highend chips will have new architecture. Just wait and see...
 
Sackvillenb

Sackvillenb

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2011
573
2
Canada! \m/
Well this is great! Not because I really care about nvidia or anything, to be honest, but because it will allow for greater flexibility in the graphics cards and integrated gpu's that could potentially be put into future MacBooks...
 
E

erio

macrumors regular
Sep 20, 2004
125
62
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Yay, more flickering MacBook Pros! Yeah, I have a Late 2008 15" MBP, which keeps flickering, no matter how many times Apple "fixed" it.
 
6

66318

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2006
130
56
Doctor Q said:
For such a large company Apple can seem surprisingly light on its feet when it comes to changing suppliers.
Click to expand...
This is why I've been so fascinated by them. They have managed to be nearly as agile as a startup, while also growing to the market size they are today. Their power over the supply chain is impressive, and even helps the competition in a way. If Apple threatens to leave, or does so, it's a solid message to the other company to improve. That improvement is then available for integration by other OEMs as well.

This is one positive side to the power Apple wields. And I believe a lot of it came from Job's management. He never bothered to study business, and just did it the way that felt right to him. He stumbled, learned, and improved, and was greatly assisted in his personal areas of weakness by those he hired, such as Tim Cook.

I did gain some insight on Job's perspective on business from the recent Lost Interview movie. Basically he never accepted "Because thats how it's done" as an answer when asking why. He would dig deeper, answer why, and change the process if the old why didn't make sense. One of his examples was the unit cost for a product. Most companies back then (back then being pre Macintosh in 1984) didn't have the capabilities to measure the exact cost down to the component level. On the books, there was simply a guess, adjusted quarterly based on real costs examined after some were made. When Jobs figured this out, he then ensured the first Macintosh factory had systems in place to track everything, and they knew minute by minute the cost of every Mac being made. Resistors went up in price by 10%? That cost would show up in the first Mac being assembled with the higher priced ones, while it was still on the line.
 
mrxak

mrxak

macrumors 68000
Apr 16, 2004
1,650
697
Drifting through space in a broken escape pod
This report makes my MBP feel old, since it has an NVIDIA chip. Except, no, it came out a little over a year ago. Did I miss some (rather short lived) drama or something? This report seems completely nonsensical in light of the actual facts.

For what it's worth, I prefer AMD to NVIDIA. No AMD chip has ever died on me, and the ones I've had have always run so cool and quiet. My personal failure rate for NVIDIA chips is shockingly high. Like, >50%.
 
R

reallynotnick

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2005
1,249
1,193
While I don't see this happening, I just really hope we see a removal of the optical drive in the 13in and a dedicated GPU put in it's place.
 
Macopotamus

Macopotamus

macrumors regular
Jun 22, 2010
186
0
xraydoc said:
So I guess we're stuck with integrated graphics on the smaller models (11", 13") for the foreseeable future, eh?
Click to expand...


Sure hope not but that is probably true. Perhaps an external Thunderbolt GPU will be offered to supplement the abysmal Intel GPU's.
 
baryon

baryon

macrumors 68040
Oct 3, 2009
3,878
2,929
Let the screen flickering issues and kernel panics begin yet again!


mrxak said:
This report makes my MBP feel old, since it has an NVIDIA chip. Except, no, it came out a little over a year ago. Did I miss some (rather short lived) drama or something? This report seems completely nonsensical in light of the actual facts.

For what it's worth, I prefer AMD to NVIDIA. No AMD chip has ever died on me, and the ones I've had have always run so cool and quiet. My personal failure rate for NVIDIA chips is shockingly high. Like, >50%.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, nVidia has an ultra high failure rate and there's nothing but problems with it. They simply can't make a working chip, I don't see why anyone would want that in their computer?
 
Last edited:
Koodauw

Koodauw

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2003
3,951
190
Madison
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

iMouse said:
Who cares.

I see no benefits or drawbacks from the move if NVIDIA can continue to provide a reliable product. I cringe every time I see a pre-unibody MBP with a GeForce 8600...a ticking time bomb.

As for PhysX....yeah, whatever...or more like whenever.

When Intel gets over themselves and allows ATI and NVIDIA to design chipset/GPU combos for the Core i-series again, I'll be happy.
Click to expand...

I've had two MacBook pros with bad graphic cards. This is disappointing. Never had an issue with ATI/ AMD
 
F

Ferazel

macrumors regular
Aug 4, 2010
146
96
The biggest problem with NVidia graphics has been the very sub-par graphics drivers. The bigger headache comes from with 2 GPU vendors comes 2 sets of vendor specific extensions that can be used which is kind of a nightmare (from what I understand).

This whole release about AMD being dropped from the Macbook Air kind of sheds some light on the situation.

For some reason the drivers for AMD GPUs have been pretty mature and have been generally faster than Nvidia's offering. AMD is hurting and an exclusive Apple product that uses its brand of chips would have been extremely beneficial from the market view standpoint. So they throw more resources at the Mac OS X drivers and improving the speed and work on trying to increase its relationship with Apple. However, with Apple's decision to not use AMD in the Macbook Air, and not likely any other product in the future, they pull out. Expect AMD graphics drivers to lag behind again, and hopefully Nvidia will throw some more resources into Mac drivers again now that they will be used again in the current Mac lineup. Thus we'll never really have good/fast/mature drivers for OS X.
 
D

Durendal

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2003
287
1
WHY is MR citing Semiaccurate? Charlie is one of the worst sources of information in the tech world. The guy is utterly full of crap and should be ignored by default, such as his "three year" claim that ATI/AMD cards weren't seen in Macs despite this being laughably false.
 
Mr. Retrofire

Mr. Retrofire

macrumors 603
Mar 2, 2010
5,064
518
www.emiliana.cl/en
markieg said:
AMD are cheap sub quality in comparison to nvidia
Click to expand...

Read this:

INQUIRER confirms Apple Macbook Pros have Nvidia bad bump material
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...s-apple-macbook-pros-nvidia-bad-bump-material

Apple Extends NVIDIA MacBook Pro Warranty to 3 Years
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/01/apple-extends-nvidia-macbook-pro-warranty-to-3-years/

MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

All Mid-2009 MacBook Pro computers with the 9600M GT are also affected. I have one.

NVIDIA? No, thanks!
 
AppliedMicro

AppliedMicro

macrumors 68020
Aug 17, 2008
2,219
2,538
parapup said:
NVidia can shut shop as far as I am concerned - crappy overheating pile of undocumented, unstable crap is what nVidia has been spewing since some time - 8600M, 9400M etc.
Click to expand...
8600M GT had and still has its problems, no doubt about that.
But 9400M and 320M have been great IGPs in my book - decent performance and never a single hiccup.

parapup said:
With ATI chips I can run open source OS on the Macs - with Nvidia not so much - that's another reason for NVidia to die^W gracefully run out of business.
Click to expand...
Your personal mileage with "open source OS" may vary... but Nvidia is clearly (and widely) regarded as having (had) better Linux drivers than AMD/ATI.
 
Last edited:
S

Slurpy2k8

macrumors 6502
Feb 26, 2008
383
0
Eidorian said:
Apple knows that there are only two major discrete GPU vendors. I really do not understand the "never again" attitude only to need come crawling back.

Charlie gets hits regardless.
Click to expand...

Do you know what 'crawling back' means? It implies that person/entity coming back is in a worse position now than when they left, and desperately are in need of your services/whatever. Considering Apple's insane growth and success the past few years with AMD chips, and that they're in a better position than they ever have been, I don't think they fit the definition of 'crawling back'.
 
Xenomorph

Xenomorph

macrumors 65816
Aug 6, 2008
1,397
829
St. Louis
This is what I'm hoping to get in 2013:

15" MacBook Air
Anti-Glare
512 GB SSD
8 Gigs RAM
NVidia Graphics

I will be a happy bunny.

I know anti-glare is an option for MacBook Pro (it's my current screen). I really wish it was on more devices. I don't need "bright, vibrant colors" or whatever the glossy screen is supposed to provide. I just want to be able to use my computer in any room without having to close all the drapes first.
 
Eidorian

Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
Mr. Retrofire said:
Read this:

INQUIRER confirms Apple Macbook Pros have Nvidia bad bump material
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...s-apple-macbook-pros-nvidia-bad-bump-material

Apple Extends NVIDIA MacBook Pro Warranty to 3 Years
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/01/apple-extends-nvidia-macbook-pro-warranty-to-3-years/

MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

All Mid-2009 MacBook Pro computers with the 9600M GT are also affected. I have one.

NVIDIA? No, thanks!
Click to expand...
>Charlie Demerjian

Oh boy here we go.


Slurpy2k8 said:
Do you know what 'crawling back' means? It implies that person/entity coming back is in a worse position now than when they left, and desperately are in need of your services/whatever. Considering Apple's insane growth and success the past few years with AMD chips, I don't think they fit the definition of 'crawling back', especially that they can pretty much write a cheque tomorrow and buy out Nvidia if they really wanted to.
Click to expand...
That's the joke. Seriousness ended after the first sentence. Everything else is typical Charlie. Semiaccurate is fun for "insider info" but it does drag down into sensationalism.
 
L

lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
5,144
0
drakino said:
This is why I've been so fascinated by them. They have managed to be nearly as agile as a startup, while also growing to the market size they are today. Their power over the supply chain is impressive, and even helps the competition in a way. If Apple threatens to leave, or does so, it's a solid message to the other company to improve. That improvement is then available for integration by other OEMs as well.

This is one positive side to the power Apple wields. And I believe a lot of it came from Job's management. He never bothered to study business, and just did it the way that felt right to him. He stumbled, learned, and improved, and was greatly assisted in his personal areas of weakness by those he hired, such as Tim Cook.

I did gain some insight on Job's perspective on business from the recent Lost Interview movie. Basically he never accepted "Because thats how it's done" as an answer when asking why. He would dig deeper, answer why, and change the process if the old why didn't make sense. One of his examples was the unit cost for a product. Most companies back then (back then being pre Macintosh in 1984) didn't have the capabilities to measure the exact cost down to the component level. On the books, there was simply a guess, adjusted quarterly based on real costs examined after some were made. When Jobs figured this out, he then ensured the first Macintosh factory had systems in place to track everything, and they knew minute by minute the cost of every Mac being made. Resistors went up in price by 10%? That cost would show up in the first Mac being assembled with the higher priced ones, while it was still on the line.
Click to expand...


This is just pure ignorance. Apple is one of the most rigid computer manufacturers out there. Just look at Dell offerings. You'll find that right now they offer computers with Intel and AMD CPUs, integrated (Intel/AMD) and discrete GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD including dual card SLI and crossfire configurations. When you buy Apple computer, you buy it for the case not the internals. Apple being "agile" is a good joke though :D Agile companies do not keep their models unchanged for 2 years (as Apple does with Mac Pro).
 
T

Thomas2006

macrumors 6502
Sep 2, 2006
254
16
alent1234 said:
did AMD do something to apple again? what's the point in switching?
Click to expand...
Maybe Apple used AMD/ATI graphics exclusively so AMD would have money to spend on R&D for their "Bobcat" APUs which would provide the MacBook Air with powerful graphics, but that did not pan out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom