According to a little birdie that comes via SemiAccurate, the MacBook Pro will be in receipt of a new graphics card supplier when the next round of updates takes place next year. According to the report, Apple is planning to transition back to nVIDIA as the supplier for the graphics chips in the MacBook Pro, leaving AMD who currently supply the graphics components. Interestingly, this is a bit of a u-turn as nVIDIA were previously ditched three years ago in favor of AMD.
Website title of the source notwithstanding, the rumor doesn’t seem too out of left field as Apple has previously switched suppliers fairly frequently in order to source the components required for their devices. What isn’t clear, should the rumor turn out to be true, is why the switch was made. Given that the MacBook Pro is thought to be currently undergoing a bit of a redesign, the switch might have been made because nVIDIA could engineer smaller and thinner graphics cards to suit the next generation MacBook Pro more appropriately than those of AMD.
Alternatively, it could be a power issue with nVIDIA potentially offering more bang for Apple’s (and in turn, the user’s) buck. Only time will tell but it will be interesting to see if the desktop line-up follows suit given that AMD/ATI currently supply the graphics cards for models like the iMac and Mac Pro, a model which is due for an update.
Interestingly, nVIDIA recently announced that some of the fastest gaming machines ever built are now shipping supported by nVIDIA graphics. If Apple were to stick one of the SLI cards in an iMac or Mac Pro…well, let the games begin.
Very Graphic…
via MacRumors