OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 Beta has AMD Radeon 7XXX drivers

[dtrvndrn]

I agree with tonymac, this makes no sense.

You would think that Apple would standardize on one GPU vendor for all products to make development and support easier. Or they could be doing this incase NVIDIA pisses them off and they decide to switch vendors down the road.

Who knows? Maybe AMD cut them a better deal...

 

[Darky57]

I agree with tonymac, this makes no sense.

You would think that Apple would standardize on one GPU vendor for all products to make development and support easier. Or they could be doing this incase NVIDIA pisses them off and they decide to switch vendors down the road.

Maybe Apple is getting into the Console market? AMD was chosen for the next gen Playstation and Xbox because integrated GPU/CPU capabilities is AMD's forte.

..heck, with AMD's current financial state and Apple's cash reserves, a buyout to bring processor/graphics developement/production completely in house without having to reinvent the wheel is a extremely far out but plausible solution. Samsung currently produces the A series processors for the iPhone/iPad and since they aren't exactly on friendly terms with Apple this would lend support to the idea.

Or if you really want to get outlandish, Apple might be considering to sell Apple clones again now that Jobs is gone

 

[windwalker]

I don't understand what is everyone so confused about.
This makes perfect sense.

The drivers are for the graphics cards in the 2013 Mac Pro.
Why would Apple switch the graphics card provider for Mac Pro if there is no good reason to do so?
That machine has no power or heat restrictions, so Apple can just use whatever grahics chip has the best price to performance ratio.

 

[WinOSXBuntu]

Maybe Apple is getting into the Console market? AMD was chosen for the next gen Playstation and Xbox because integrated GPU/CPU capabilities is AMD's forte.

..heck, with AMD's current financial state and Apple's cash reserves, a buyout to bring processor/graphics developement/production completely in house without having to reinvent the wheel is a extremely far out but plausible solution. Samsung currently produces the A series processors for the iPhone/iPad and since they aren't exactly on friendly terms with Apple this would lend support to the idea.

Or if you really want to get outlandish, Apple might be considering to sell Apple clones again now that Jobs is gone

That would make a heck of a lot of sense given the recent news articles about Apple bringing chip development in house, think about it like this:

1) Can't drop x86 because of speed, ARM has got the battery life but it is in no way comparable to even a Core 2 Duo for godsake.
2) Can't drop x86 because of compatibility, even CNET and ZDNet's Apple fan boys said they would have no option but to switch back to Windows if Apple moved to an ARM chip for the Macs.
3) Can't continue with Intel because of cost, possibly, maybes? An Intel chip is still relatively expensive.
4) AMD is hanging by a thread really, if AMD goes, Intel has the whole market to itself, Intel bumps up the prices, everyone else has to bump up their prices to accommodate it, that includes Apple.

If you think about it, Apple bringing AMD as an in house chip developer, ensures, a) compatibility with existing applications, b) lower costs for Apple, c) better battery life for the Macs, d) better graphics performance. On the other hand, for everyone else, that means no competitor to Intel which will mean a hike in prices and just like with Microsoft and IE, slacking in innovation until someone else comes along.

Thank you Darky, you just sparked an intense debate between myself and a gentlemen for whom I'll be setting up OS X for.

 

[MacMan]

I don't understand what is everyone so confused about.
This makes perfect sense.

The drivers are for the graphics cards in the 2013 Mac Pro.
Why would Apple switch the graphics card provider for Mac Pro if there is no good reason to do so?
That machine has no power or heat restrictions, so Apple can just use whatever grahics chip has the best price to performance ratio.

Apple does a vendor swap for each generation of product.

So the next Mac Pro will be NVIDIA since last was AMD.

 

[sonicseamus]

Apple does a vendor swap for each generation of product.

So the next Mac Pro will be NVIDIA since last was AMD.

This has been true in the past, but there's absolutely no reason why Apple would feel pressured to stick to this pattern if AMD had offered them a better deal. I think what it will come down to (or probably already has come down to) is whichever manufacturer works better with Thunderbolt integration. Given how hard Apple is pushing the technology, seamless integration with the discrete graphics cards on the Mac Pro (which presumably won't have Thunderbolt ports themselves) will be a must for them when designing the new generation.

 

[minihack]

Maybe as this is a preview release not all the final graphics drivers will make it to the final release. It wouldn't be the first time that that happened.....

 

[tonymacx86]

Maybe as this is a preview release not all the final graphics drivers will make it to the final release. It wouldn't be the first time that that happened.....

Good point.

 

[Supermulti]

Sweet!

Time to throw some cash at the struggling AMD.
(if it really appears working in the release.)

 

[Darky57]

[...]
If you think about it, Apple bringing AMD as an in house chip developer, ensures, a) compatibility with existing applications, b) lower costs for Apple, c) better battery life for the Macs, d) better graphics performance. On the other hand, for everyone else, that means no competitor to Intel which will mean a hike in prices and just like with Microsoft and IE, slacking in innovation until someone else comes along.

Thank you Darky, you just sparked an intense debate between myself and a gentlemen for whom I'll be setting up OS X for.

Exactly! Although I'd argue that just because Apple owns AMD or at least the majority share of it (hypothetically of course) doesn't mean AMD has to or will stop producing chips for other tech manufacturers. Combining Apple's reputation of quality with AMD's of great/good performance to cost ratio would be great for marketing and if you can increase your profits to include not only your own products but also a share of your competitors. This means more money for Apple while keeping Intel honest, a major win-win.

Not to mention, AMD's FABless manufacturing allows them to increase the specialization of their chips for each product - a major plus not only for Apple, but also other companies looking for specific requirements from processors they wish to use. It also allows AMD/Apple to expand their market base at low overhead costs by branching into other markets considered to small/unprofitable for Intel to focus on.

Glad to have been of service!