I just came across this interesting rumor thanks to a tweet from Ian Betteridge. Short version: Apple have told Nvidia to go stick their gpu’s where the sun don’t shine. On the face of it this seems unlikely, considering how fundamental Nvidia GPU’s and architecture seems to be to Apple’s latest Laptop Line Up. But then there’s this page on Apple’s support website about the Nvidia Graphics failures that I like many others was the unfortunate victim of. What’s surprising about this is the language from Apple:
“In July 2008, NVIDIA publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect. At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected. If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within three years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty.
This seems uncharacteristically bitter for a support document. You can sense the seething anger filtering through in that, so I guess it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Apple will say goodbye to Nvidia for a while. Apparently Dell have already told them to shove it. I also can’t help but wonder if Apple’s takeover of PA semi might lead the company to start doing their own GPU designs, as other manufacturers haven’t exactly been jumping on board with enthusiastic Mac support. Interesting times ahead.
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