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

[wizard]

Actually this isn't the case.

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NVIDIA GPUs are faster and more power efficient. What's not to like? And the grammar errors from the source are kinda weird...

AMD has been supplying GPUs with excellent power profiles for some time now. As to whom is faster that changes with the wind and the yardstick.

 

[Alexjones]

I have the AMD Radeon 4800 series card in my Dell desktop and AMD in my newest MBP. No issues what so ever to speak of. All good

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

>Charlie Demerjian

Oh boy here we go.

Here are the facts:
NVIDIA said more or less that Demerjians report/analysis was correct, and paid 200.000.000 US$.

 

[Eidorian]

Here are the facts:
NVIDIA said more or less that Demerjians report/analysis was correct, and paid 200.000.000 US$.

Oh quite true. Semiaccurate on the other hand is either very informative or a page hit maker. Information is information to me though. I just collect it. It is somewhat saddening that I do not have the connections or resources to be a source. I have used Semiaccurate as a source in the past. I just hope the masses have an understanding of history and the people or at least read the source articles.

 

[goaliefight]

Set sail for FAIL. With Nvidia, I have had a 100% failure rate. Over 50 systems in the past 3 years. I'm not joking.

 

[6749974]

For such a large company Apple can seem surprisingly light on its feet when it comes to changing suppliers.

This is the most impressive aspect of how they run business, in my opinion. What other companies of Apple's size are so nimble on their feet? They move with then wind.

 

[cotak]

BS. Apple is committed solely to OpenCL, just like AMD. CUDA is not part of Apple's future and Nvidia knows it. Nvidia's implementation of OpenCL on the GPGPU and CPU lags seriously behind Apple and AMD.

This report is bunk.

And the macbook air's opencl is amazing yes?

People are being too emotional. Yes Apple help founded OpenCL but the reality is they have used it about as much as the rest of the industry. As in they really haven't done too much with it.

How many Apps does anyone here use on a daily basis that actually uses OpenCL? I count 0 for me.

I suspect the recent rumours regarding AMD are much more likely to be true than before. Lots of people lost their jobs at AMD recently, and when a company shows you no loyalty why would those people show any loyalty to them post pink slip?

 

[chrmjenkins]

>Charlie Demerjian

Oh boy here we go.


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.

Yeah, a sensible reader should have hypertension if they read SA and the inquirer a lot.

 

[ckeck]

While I've been generally happy with the performance of my ATI/AMD discrete GPUs in my Macs I've run into countless driver issues on my MBPs and iMacs. The driver options are so locked down as is the ATI control panel it drives me crazy.

On the older nVidia based Macs you could almost freely install any drivers and their control utilities under Bootcamp. Looking forward to having this capability again.

 

[cotak]

Nvidia typically does have the fastest single GPU, but they are not more power efficient. I expect AMD will further tighten their grip on that title with the 28nm cards as their architecture will be even more efficient than their current one while Nvidia has a big push for GPGPU to cater to the simulation/modeling people.

This announcement also surprises me because I'm pretty sure AMD will have their 28nm cards ready to go before Nvidia does. Although I do suppose it's doubtful that either will have mobile cards ready to go for Ivy Bridge launch. Still, it wouldn't make sense to switch to Nvidia for their mobile line unless the new 28nm cards are out. They are on par with the current MBP offerings. Given notebooks are Apple's biggest Mac business, I don't think framing this announcement in a mobile-only viewpoint is a bad way to look at it.

Don't assume too much about AMD's new GPU since Nvidia's still using FEMI based architecture while AMD's finally moving to a floating point FEMI like GPU. If anything I'd worry more about whether AMD's new GPU will be hotter and slower since it's their first go at a floating point GPU.

 

[Eidorian]

Yeah, a sensible reader should have hypertension if they read SA and the inquirer a lot.

Well most might do research when buying a computer. I like to know about the industries and people that go into building the parts the make up the computer. This is just a hobby too! I need to find a way to get paid for it.

Now if I only worked on my writing instead of just posting it on here for free.

 

[lilo777]

This is the most impressive aspect of how they run business, in my opinion. What other companies of Apple's size are so nimble on their feet? They move with then wind.

Once again, this is simply not correct. I understand that Apple fans may know little about other computer manufacturers but all of them are much more nimble than Apple. They are even nimble enough to use chips from multiple suppliers at the same time (never happens with Apple as far as GPUs are concerned).

 

[wizard]

AMD/ATI is a vastly changed company with respect to Linux.

ATI has Linux drivers?

Is the software support in Linux perfect - no, but they have at least three people working on open source support. If you want to support open source you really need to choose AMD over ATI.

 

[Eidorian]

Is the software support in Linux perfect - no, but they have at least three people working on open source support. If you want to support open source you really need to choose AMD over ATI.

nVidia has offered me a much more up to date and feature filled experience on Linux. Bare in mind that this is on Ubuntu with a 880G vs. GTX 460 in comparison.

Seriously though I love AMD and ATI. Even if I have an Intel processor and nVidia card as my primaries right now.

 

[oiuh151]

Once again, this is simply not correct. I understand that Apple fans may know little about other computer manufacturers but all of them are much more nimble than Apple. They are even nimble enough to use chips from multiple suppliers at the same time (never happens with Apple as far as GPUs are concerned).

List of Intel Macs that have either offered cards from both vendors in the same line or offered a card from a different vendor as an upgrade option:
iMac - Late 2006, Early 2008, Early 2009, Late 2009
Mac Pro - Mid 2006, Early 2008, Early 2009

 

[baryon]

Here are the facts:
NVIDIA said more or less that Demerjians report/analysis was correct, and paid 200.000.000 US$.

And when I brought my Late 2008 MacBook Pro with faulty nVidia graphics to the Apple store 4 times, they told me to buy a new motherboard, for £600.

 

[dylin]

This seems promising

Well i guess this means more selection to choose from, right? or is it that they are only going to be using NVIDIA only for the next update?

 

[MacSince1990]

I hope this isn't true.

ATI vs. Nvidia.

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Except that nVidia cards generally have far more issues than AMD... and aren't on par performance-wise.

 

[*LTD*]

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.

Apple's market will barely notice. Unless these video cards burst into flames or destroy the logic board at will, the change is of no real consequence for the consumer.

 

[wizard]

Well yeah in a very closed source way.

nVidia has offered me a much more up to date and feature filled experience on Linux. Bare in mind that this is on Ubuntu with a 880G vs. GTX 460 in comparison.

Seriously though I love AMD and ATI. Even if I have an Intel processor and nVidia card as my primaries right now.

AMD however has done a 180 with respect to supporting open source. They have also invested in their closed source support. The reality is this AMD hardware is more accessible to the open source community today.

 

[Eidorian]

AMD however has done a 180 with respect to supporting open source. They have also invested in their closed source support. The reality is this AMD hardware is more accessible to the open source community today.

I see where you are going but what matters to me is as an end user on Linux.

 

[whooleytoo]

For such a large company Apple can seem surprisingly light on its feet when it comes to changing suppliers.

Given they switched from classic MacOS to a new Unix-based OS and switched CPU architectures twice (if not thrice if you include ARM) : switching graphics cards is probably as big a headache to Apple as the colour of the mouse.

Apple probably just wants to routinely switch back and forth to ensure neither provider gets lazy and complacent. It's not as if there are many other choices out there.

 

[Wafflausages]

the drivers for nvidia suck dick on the mac

 

[mdriftmeyer]

And the macbook air's opencl is amazing yes?

People are being too emotional. Yes Apple help founded OpenCL but the reality is they have used it about as much as the rest of the industry. As in they really haven't done too much with it.

How many Apps does anyone here use on a daily basis that actually uses OpenCL? I count 0 for me.

I suspect the recent rumours regarding AMD are much more likely to be true than before. Lots of people lost their jobs at AMD recently, and when a company shows you no loyalty why would those people show any loyalty to them post pink slip?

That's Intel you have a beef with concerning the Air. The Air presently doesn't have a discrete GPGPU. It's using the Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor which is junk.

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the drivers for nvidia suck dick on the mac

They are even worse on Linux. And when I mean worse I mean the 290.06 beta is broken for Linux 3.1 kernel and for the past 6 months has periodically been broken against Xorg. People complain about Flgx driver from AMD but it's continuing to evolve even within Linux which still doesn't have a stable and agreed upon ABI.

 

[Stingray454]

So what happened to the licencing issue? Intel had strictly forbidden discrete graphics to be used, everyone had to use their HD3000 built into the Sandy Bridge. What changed? How come they are allowing Apple to use nvidia chips all of a sudden? Did intel change its licence, did Apple persuade them, or are intel and nvidia suddenly friends again?