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Ivy Bridge to Offer Faster Graphics and OpenCL Support in MacBook Airs

Ivy Bridge is just a small update, now Haswell on the other hand, now that will be worth waiting for
 
Marx55 said:
What about the Mac mini?
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Good point, I'm also surprised that the dedicated 6630M chip of the current mini is not on the list supported OpenCL cards. Apparently it's the same core as the higher GPU options in the MBP, just lower clocked.

I wonder if it's just Apple that hasn't updated this yet or if they have blocked the mini's GPU for marketing reasons?
 
So the HD3000 was a downgrade after all ! No wonder they threw in so many little toys in the 2011 MBA. Makes me love my nVidia equipped 2010 even more.
 
As I've said...

Sandy does not put out....but Ivy sure does.

Skip the current MBA and wait.
 
Patrick J said:
Is it worth waiting for a refresh? Or should I buy a new 13” Air today?

Upgrading from a base 2009 MBP 13”.
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From a 09 MBP? I'd wait.

Largely depends on how much you value the GPU though. Me, it was all about the CPU, the most I ask of the GPU on my 2011 Air is watching HD rips and whizzing between spaces, for which the crappy Intel 3000 is more than sufficient.
 
Yumunum said:
I know...

I'm sitting here with my 2011 Air. A 60% graphic power would actually make playing games feasible. I mean, I didn't buy this specifically for gaming (that'd be pretty dumb), but I like to play some sandbox games for fun.
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Why is macrumors quoting wrong information? The original article said "up to 60%" and clarified it was in one specific syntetic benchmark. Another synthetic bechmark, the advantage was 30%. No ideas what the real number in games will be.
 
jobesucks said:
Ivy Bridge is just a small update, now Haswell on the other hand, now that will be worth waiting for
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Agreed. Ivy Bridge has a nice IGP upgrade, but Haswell will bring another big leap in CPU performance, IGP performance, and lower power. By then, Intel hopes Ultrabooks will be mainstream, so we'll have mainstream processors in them.
 
KPOM said:
Agreed. Ivy Bridge has a nice IGP upgrade
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Yeah, brings it up to par with the 320M. It's a nice IGP upgrade if you're willing to ignore what AMD and nVidia are putting out at this point (and would be putting out as IGPs if Intel hadn't locked down licensing for chipsets to these CPUs).

It's really too bad that Intel can't help but shove their incompetant graphics sub-division down our throats. It's high time they either buy competency (through nVidia) or let others make it work.
 
GekkePrutser said:
Good point, I'm also surprised that the dedicated 6630M chip of the current mini is not on the list supported OpenCL cards. Apparently it's the same core as the higher GPU options in the MBP, just lower clocked.

I wonder if it's just Apple that hasn't updated this yet or if they have blocked the mini's GPU for marketing reasons?
Click to expand...

What are you talking about?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4728

The following AMD, ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards support OpenCL in Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard and in OS X Lion:

NVIDIA
GeForce 320M
GeForce GT 330M
GeForce 9400M
GeForce 9600M GT
GeForce 8600M GT Note: OpenCL compatible, but does not meet system requirements for Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor.
GeForce GT 120
GeForce GT 130
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS
Quadro FX 4800
Quadro FX5600
ATI
Radeon HD 4670
Radeon HD 4850
Radeon HD 4870
Radeon HD 5670
Radeon HD 5750
Radeon HD 5770
Radeon HD 5870
AMD
Radeon HD 6750M
Radeon HD 6630M
Radeon HD 6770M
Radeon HD 6970M
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Yeah this would be nice, but to be honest the 2011 Air is fine for the few games you would want to run on it. Any "downgrade" is just a few fps on some games, and in some cases such as Starcraft 2 the 2011 is actually faster in OSX. (only new game I play)

To me the move to Sandy Bridge was the big step up for the Airs. Day to day use is blazing fast on my i7, it's pretty much a macbook pro 13" that got hot over the summer.

It would be nice to have big-rig graphics in an Air, but for it to run 2012 games it will need more than a 30-60% speed bump.

/boots up half-life 2
/air is great for revisiting classics!
 
I'm glad I skipped over this gen of MBA. I'm sticking with my C2D 320M MBA at the moment and secretly hoping for a 15" MBA next year with sick battery life. :D
 
KnightWRX said:
Yeah, brings it up to par with the 320M.
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It will outperform the 320m. The HD3000 performs roughly 80-90% as fast as the 320m, but it lacks OpenCL support. We can't change the past, and Intel is reluctant to purchase NVIDIA for whatever reason. It would be nice to have NVIDIA design the internal graphics for Intel.

Regarding the 13" MacBook Pro, it's Apple's decision not to include a discrete GPU. Other manufacturers have managed to put one into similar form factors. Apple's engineers ought to be able to figure out how to do so. The 13" Air is tight, though Lenovo has pulled it off with their upcoming Ultrabook.
 
KPOM said:
It will outperform the 320m. The HD3000 performs roughly 80-90% as fast as the 320m, but it lacks OpenCL support. We can't change the past, and Intel is reluctant to purchase NVIDIA for whatever reason. It would be nice to have NVIDIA design the internal graphics for Intel.
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80-90% is enthusiastic. It does so on a few synthetic benchmarks. Real-world scenarios have been far less a success for the HD3000, especially in GPU bound scenarios where the 320m can really shine.

The fact is, we might not be able to change the past, but we sure don't have to praise Intel or even like it.
 
I'm having a hard time understanding this article. At first it sounds that this is saying this technology graphics speed upgrade isn't available in any current Mac including the iMac I'm buying next month until Ivy Bridge is released next year. But when I read the graphic card AMD Radeon 6970m is supported that tells me the current 27" iMac I'm buying next month has this feature already and I don't need to wait for Ivy Bridge? Please clarify. Graphics is the reason I'm getting the high end iMac. If I need to wait til the iMac gets the Ivy Bridge to take advantage of the graphic upgrade I may decide to wait. If not I'll buy it next month.
 
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Mattsasa said:
You know, ...... The MacBook air never ceases to amaze me. It just blows my mind.

Oh and other ultra books are equally impressive.
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Equally impressive but fashionably late.

I can't help but give extra points to the Trend Starter.

Ivy bridge + the next Mac refreshes will be Mobile Nirvana.
 
Well that's good news...

Now if only Apple would step up their game a bit and put in some better graphics cards in the low end laptops... Anything non-Intel would be a step up, even if it's still integrated... Especially for the 13" macbook pro... it is a "pro" machine after all...

I'm not expecting a crazy gaming card, but something HALF decent would be nice...!
 
Liquinn said:
When is Intel releasing Ivy Bridge?
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'rumoured' delay to March/April 2012. And if that is the case, then how long before the Ivy bridge processors suitable for ultrabooks become available? With Sandy bridge there was a 6 month lag. So if you need a new laptop and ultrabook is what you have decided to do, I would say go out and buy one now rather than wait to potentially July/Aug 2012. Although Intel could surprise us all and release their processors early. I'm enjoying today
 
This is actually the reason why I did not upgrade to the new macbook air.

The current air only beats the previous air with processing power (second gen i7 vs. core 2 duo). The 320M is about the same as intel 3000, it isn't really worth the upgrade except for the backlite keyboard and standard macbook screen.

The 4GB RAM limit isn't that nice either. Next year, with ivy bridge, you would get even more processing power, more efficient processor, and a jump in graphical processing power! Hopefully an 8GB RAM option. The only thing that would make it better would be a lower price! :p
 
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