Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Chances of a ATI HD3650 on the next MBP revision.
- Thread starter isauce
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
@OP: Please just use the forum search next time, and post in an existing thread.
As for the question itself: I am 80% sure the next generation Macbook Pros will have an ATi card as base, because they've been (so far) proven to be better in pro apps, and an Nvidia card as an option.
nVidia 9M Series is a shrink and slide of the older 8M Series.
ATi's Mobility HD 3xxx is getting older.
Not that nVidia has anything new on the table for mobile GPUs.
ATi's Mobility HD 3xxx is getting older.
Not that nVidia has anything new on the table for mobile GPUs.
By the time the new mbp (early 2009) comes out there will be something better than the ATI HD3650.
I really do hope that the 4xxx series give special privilages to Apple and incorporate it to their MBP. Otherwise, I really just see a 3650 being implemented.
I'd like to see a 3670 actually.
And unless I'm much mistaken, most of those threads have had to do with people [Yixian] whining about high-end cards; there hasn't been much talk of 3600's.
And unless I'm much mistaken, most of those threads have had to do with people [Yixian] whining about high-end cards; there hasn't been much talk of 3600's.
3670 would be nice, however if it is a 3670 it will be underclocked to reduce heat, which would be a 3650. However, I do hope it would be 3670, because of the 55nm die.
The reason for talk of high end cards is to support gaming. I believe if Apple want to do that, it will be for the iMac and the Mac Pro, which in recent time has been an improvement. eg. 8800GS imac and 8800GT & 3870 Mac pro. Yes, it is of course outdated now, but in the Apple world, it is better than previous generations.
They always underclock it, so a 3650 would beless than a 3650; a 3670 would be a bit better than a 3650... I believe they ramp the core down but keep the memory the same, but it could be the opposite, can't quite remember.
The 8800GS and GT are now midrange cards that can be had for $100 or less PC-side.
The 3870 is obsolete, and can be considered mid-range, but it's not a great card; pretty hot, and roughly half the speed of a 4850/70. 320 stream processors vs. 800 =/
That doesn't make their performance any lower, it just means there are better cards out there.
Yeah, the past couple revisions of ATi cards haven't been al that great.
As long as the next revision is ATI I am good. 4xxx series, do I dare to dream? Yes the 3870 is obsolete, but it is slighty better than the 8600M GT and is cooler and requires less voltage, hence reduce heat. Which is needed for the MBP.
Nah I only meant the 3870 is obsolete for Desktop PCs, it's not for laptops.
The 3870 is way too hot for the MBP, think 3650/3670. The 3870 would run circles around the 8600 GT, and the 3670 is a bit faster, around the 9600 GT speed, so that would be nice.
No, no 4650; I don't think they're even out yet, and they'd also have to incorporate the same 320 shaders as the 3870 (unless of course they just cut it in half, which... they might), making it just as hot.
If the rumors are true that Apple will adopt the nVidia mobile chipset for the next MacBook Pro, you can be pretty confident an ATI GPU will not be part of the specification. 
If the rumors are true that Apple will adopt the nVidia mobile chipset for the next MacBook Pro, you can be pretty confident an ATI GPU will not be part of the specification.
I think they'll drop OS X in favour of IBM's OS/2 before they use a nvidia motherboard chipset in the next MBP. In other words, it's on the list of things that just ain't gonna happen.
I'd be quite happy with an ATI 3650 or 3670 mobile GPU. I'd be more interested / hopeful about a HDMI socket next to the DVI one.
Correction: "...whining about the LACK of high-end cards..."
And there has been talk of the 3600s if you cared to look.
Addition: whining about the lack of high-end cards easily found on 17" PC laptops equal to or even slightly lower in price than the MBP.
It's the 1" thickness that is responsible for you people having to make do nursing your boners over 3670s, just one third of an inch thicker and you people could be looking forward to cards that are actually competitive at all in the pro notebook market.
True, however it is still pretty good to incorporate a lot of features in such a thin laptop.
Seriously, what is it with you? Go buy a Mac Pro if you want firepower+OS X. Or heck, get an iMac. They aren't that much more of pain to move than the 1.5in thick, 17in, 90 minute battery life dump truck you want the MBP to turn into.
Did it ever occur to you that some of us WANT the thing to stay that thin? I plan to take mine to class fairly often. I'm also a sound tech/tech setup person at my church. I plan to have my MBP assist me there too (my iPod Touch can only go so far). I also plan to simply carry mine around my house. I plan to use it in coffee shops. I personally don't want something that needs an outlet ever other hour, and weighs 8lbs. Books weigh enough as it is.
Tell me, what do you need a bigger GPU for anyhow? Having used a computer recently with a 7600GS, and another with an overclocked 8800GTS 512MB, I can say with all certainty there is practically no difference outside of 3dMark/gaming, and stuff like the iTunes visualizer. And the 3650M is a hell of lot more capable than a 7600GS. And these machines were running Vista Ultimate w/Aero enabled. Considering Leopard has even less overhead, especially in the GPU dept........
In short, you seriously want to a computer to 30% bigger, have half the battery life, and weigh 50% more.........so you can see more eye candy when you listen to music? So you can game more.......on an Apple laptop? Why are you buying an APPLE LAPTOP to play games? Go build a PC, or if you don't feel like doing that, go see your local computer shop, where they walk you through it and do the labor, then warranty the thing.
Not to sound rude, but I am just curious. You seem so adamant about this. What DO you plan to do with your MBP that you require such specifics (massive power, some sort of minor portablity, Mac OS X)
For the size and the thinness of a laptop, it packs a lot of power. I like your answer. +1