Apple could dump AMD for nVidia graphics processors in next gen Macs
AMD could be dumped, report claims
By Ben Camm-Jones | Macworld UK | Published: 13:00, 23 November 2011
Apple could be about to switch back to nVidia GPUs for its next generation of Macs, according to reports.
The SemiAccurate website claims that Apple is about re-engage nVidia as a graphics processor supplier, after completing the switch to AMD GPUs in all of its product lines earlier this year. The last Macs to feature nVidia GPUs were the early 2010 MacBook Pros.
The report states that the Ivy Bridge-based Macs due to appear in the spring of next year will revert to nVidia GPUs after Apple decided to terminate its deal with AMD, the company that bought graphics-chip maker ATI in 2006.
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It has been rumoured that AMD and Apple were working on a version of the MacBook Air that would have used the former's Llano processors but the project floundered at the last minute. SemiAccurate's article implies that this may have had something to do with Apple's apparent decision to dump AMD as a GPU supplier.
It was thought that Apple and nVidia had fallen out in 2009 after a contract dispute though neither company officially confirmed this.
