Apple to switch to NVIDIA by 2007?
updated 05:20 pm EDT, Tue July 25, 2006
ATI's future with Apple
In the wake of AMD's decision to acquire ATI yesterday morning, Intel announced that it has no plans to renew ATI's chipset bus license. The implications of that decision directly impact two of Apple's most popular computer lines, the iMac and the MacBook Pro. One ZDNet columnist speculates that Apple will debut all new computers with NVIDIA graphics technology; he believes that the Cupertino-based company will be "all but forced" by Intel to make the switch, as any further business with ATI will fund Intel's arch-rival -- AMD. Further speculation leads to the possibility that NVIDIA's SLI technology for multiple graphics processors may make its way into Apple systems. By the time the dust settles, the columnist believes that all Mac will feature either NVIDIA or Intel graphics technology by the end of 2007.
Hmmm...
07/25, 05:31pm reply
Intel graphics? Well that sux :(
Infini-t
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2005
Well... duh
07/25, 05:40pm reply
Who didn't see this coming?
zankoku
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2001
what a stupid question!
07/25, 05:52pm reply
Apple uses Nvidia now! It has used Nvidia for quite some time. What next? Will Apple switch to Pioneer optical drives?
MacScientist
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2000
Not all...
07/25, 05:55pm reply
Actually edt, Apple does not use Nvidia graphics in all of their computers. As the article noted, the MacBook Pro and iMac, for example, use ATI Radeon graphics (Radeon X1600).
zankoku
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Feb 2001
Performance?
07/25, 06:20pm reply
In the past, ATI's Mac offerings generally seemed to outperform those from NVIDIA. This was probably mainly due to drivers. Does this mean that Apple and/or NVIDIA will finally get truly serious about optimizing the Apple/NVIDIA drivers?
DarylF2
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
What does this mean?
07/25, 06:26pm reply
By not renewing the ATI chipset bus license does that mean that only AMD chipsets will work in the future? What percentage of ATI video cards are used with Intel based systems now? It seems that AMD would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn't support Intel for sometime. Of course they could hobble the drivers and delay development, but that would only lose them business.
Toyin
Mac Elite
Joined: Nov 2000
disregard statement above
07/25, 06:36pm reply
From the New York Times: "A.M.D., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., expects that it could lose $80 million to $100 million a quarter in revenue that ATI gets from selling chips to Intel. "
Seems like a gamble....good luck to them
Toyin
Mac Elite
Joined: Nov 2000
re: anti-trust issues?
07/25, 09:49pm reply
Surely, Intel had enough problems in the past about locking out competitors.
redesigner
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2003
are they talking chipsets
07/25, 09:50pm reply
are they talking chipsets or graphics cards? ATI also makes chipsets for the motherboards, like nvidia does. This is where their crossfire motherboards come in. This may have nothing to do with graphics chips as those sit on industry standard busses like AGP and PCIe
chadpengar
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2001
This Stinks
07/25, 09:51pm reply
This move makes no apparent sense for AMD. There is much to lose, and seemingly nothing to gain. Moreover, it stinks for consumers. I wonder if AMD has something else up its sleeves. Perhaps, it wants ATI's property rights or manufacturing facilities.
Toyin:
If Intel does not renew ATI's license AMD cannot support Intel.
Terrin
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Joined: Jan 2006