Apple rumored to switch to Nvidia graphics for new MacBook Pros

Apple rumored to switch to Nvidia graphics for new MacBook Pros

New reports claim to have confirmed that Apple's upcoming MacBook Pros will eschew AMD graphics processors in favor of GPUs from Nvidia.

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This is actually a huge positive if true. An Nvidia card will mean an easier time running Linux, and the rumored GeForce GT 650M is Kepler-based.

With the past problems that nVidia has had, I thought Apple was firmed up on ATI? And especially now with Intel getting into the act with supposedly fast on board graphics included with their new CPUs, why would Apple switch back to nVidia?

chscag said:

With the past problems that nVidia has had, I thought Apple was firmed up on ATI? And especially now with Intel getting into the act with supposedly fast on board graphics included with their new CPUs, why would Apple switch back to nVidia?

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That was just the one time with the 8800 series, as horrifying as it was. The fact stands that Nvidia video card performance is currently blowing AMD out of the water in all but the highest of price ranges. Nvidia has also done a lot with the 650M to make it more energy efficient. Intel's onboard graphics still aren't even close to half as good as they would need to be to provide performance comparable to what you get out of dedicated video cards. As long as Apple wants to call these pro machines and justify charging over $1000 for them, they won't be able to go with integrated graphics. The 13-inch model kind of breaks that, but I was never overly impressed with the 13-inch MacBook Pro anyway, especially when compared to the 12-inch PowerBook (and even the 13-inch Air in a few ways). It might as well merge with the Air at this point.

chscag said:

With the past problems that nVidia has had, I thought Apple was firmed up on ATI? And especially now with Intel getting into the act with supposedly fast on board graphics included with their new CPUs, why would Apple switch back to nVidia?

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Also, the on board graphics on even the latest Sandy and Ivy Bridge CPU's still doesn't come close the the performance you see with dedicated graphics cards in tasks such as gaming or HD video editing.

Integrated graphics is perfect for everyday tasks such as browsing the web but the MB Airs fill that roll. I think the MB Pros should keep graphics cards in them for the time being.

Mbp's do have discrete cards. They're just currently ati, not nvidia.

He was responding to chscag's suggestion that "Intel getting into the act with supposedly fast on board graphics" might be reason enough for Apple to not want to switch back to Nvidia even if they didn't want to be firmed up with ATI anymore.

If this is true, this would be a great upgrade to the Mac