Apple to ditch Intel chipsets in new MacBooks?

While the move to Intel processors has been incredibly beneficial for Apple in terms of computer sales, there are rumors that the chipset its Macs are currently running on is perhaps no longer adequate and thus the company is looking for a suitable third-party alternative.

Some say that Apple may develop its own chipset, others have shuffled ATI and VIA as possible candidates, but an interesting piece over at PC Perspective puts Nvidia as the only likely suitor. Ryan Shrout claims that with Apple?s current partnership with ATI on discrete graphics it would only seem logical for the company to use their chipset technologies in upcoming products, but such a move would entail switching to AMD processors ? which is very unlikely.

He also discards VIA Technologies, well, for the mere fact that their chipsets compare unfavorably with competing parts from Intel so it wouldn?t make much sense. However, Shrout thinks that Apple has every reason to choose Nvidia?s upcoming MCP79 chipset, which is an Intel-compatible product that integrates a DX10-class graphics core with support for HybridPower and HybridSLI technologies as well as HDMI, 1066MHz FSB, both DDR2 and DDR3 memory support and more.

This is all just speculation for now but we may find out for sure by the end of September, which is when Apple will purportedly unveil its latest round of MacBooks.

Source

K

Didn't Apple buy some chipset maker, that made processors for US Army?
Correct me if I'm wrong.

^^ Exactly. They might start using their own chipset

That was P S Semi, but Apple claims it is only for its iPhones and iPod Touches.

ah. okay. IN that case, they should go for ATI

ATI certainly has the performance advantage now and price is also good.

Since apple does not encourage users to overclock, I think they should go for AMD 780G Mobile chipset with Turion Ultras and Phenom X3s and X4s. This way they can utilise hybrid graphics very well, and replace their current useless 8600GT with something better like HD3650.

They are definitely sticking to Intel. The public recognises Intel and goes for it. I think they will tweak the chipset and other stuff though to make Macs more different from the regular PCs hardware wise. Looking forward to the new revamped MacBook/Pros.

Bad news for Hacintosh users

^^ Lol

I would guess they're going to go with IBM for the cell processors, something very similar to what they had previously used which kept them ahead of x86 computers at that time!

Cyrus_the_virus said:
I would guess they're going to go with IBM for the cell processors, something very similar to what they had previously used which kept them ahead of x86 computers at that time!

Isn't it funny how apple first bashed IBM with words like PCs suck, then licked their ass by going after them for PowerPC architecture, got bashed by good old PCs which they had to imitate, then finally may be going with IBM again afterall ?

Moral of the story: There is nothing special about a mac which makes it "different" from PCs. Mac IS a PC. Its just Apple who spreads FUDs about PCs.

The move from PowerPC to Intel was on the grounds of less power consumption.

CadCrazy said:
Bad news for Hacintosh users

Abhi kahan bad Cad bhai.. abhi jab switch hoga tab bad hogi.. God.. please let them choose AMD..

And they'll not choose PowerPC as coz then Macs would be unable to run Windows natively which is a huge advantage for Apple

They will stick to Intel CPU for sure. Intel chipsets r suited for locked hardware enviroment of Apple, they won't change. Intel chipset lack in graphics but Mac doesn't need AMD 780G anyway

Just to make it clear, this rumour suggests that Apple is sticking with Intel processors. They’re just changing the architecture or something. I have no idea what a “chipset” is or what anything else is, so I’m not trying to appear intelligent about it. The point is that the processors itself are going to remain Intel’s, even if this rumour is to be believed.

gx_saurav said:
Intel chipset lack in graphics but Mac doesn't need AMD 780G anyway

Care to explain the sentence ? It looks a bit too vague by your standards.

aryayush said:
Just to make it clear, this rumour suggests that Apple is sticking with Intel processors. They’re just changing the architecture or something. I have no idea what a “chipset” is or what anything else is, so I’m not trying to appear intelligent about it. The point is that the processors itself are going to remain Intel’s, even if this rumour is to be believed.

Thats a distinct possibility too.
I just remembered that nVidia 730i is soon comming with onboard GF9400 graphics.
Maybe Apple is after a mobile version of the 730i chipset, or a similar chipset for the nehalem range of processors ?