No BTO Video Option On the MPB?

smashbrosfansmashbrosfan
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Is it just me or doesn't it strike you odd that the only graphics option in the new MacBook Pro is the ATi X1600?



It's a good mid-range card no doubt. But it seems to me like a strange choice. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't Nvidia cards do better work with Mac OS X being Open GL and all, or is my info outdated?



I'm aware ATi cards have lower power usage than Nvidia, therefore giving better battery life, But shouldn't they at least give users the option?



The last half-decent Nvidia card in an Apple notebook was the 5950... at 32 MB of Ram... Sad...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    thegreatlukethegreatluke Posts: 65member
    I hate to generalize here, but if I may guess, you're a former PC user, aren't you?



    Macs generally have less built-to-order options than their PC counterparts.



    If you don't like the options of a model, choose a better model.



    Notebooks aren't powerhouses, so choose a tower. May I recommend the PowerMac G5? (If you want Intel, which will probably be called the Mac Pro, it's most likely coming out by November.)
  • Reply 2 of 3
    cdong4cdong4 Posts: 194member
    it's quite a bit better than the ATi 9700 with 64MB in my PowerBook.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    If you look at this photo of the MacBook Pro motherboard, the leftmost chip labeled "Intel" is the south bridge, and the rightmost chip is the Core Duo 2.0 gHz.



    That means that one of the two middle chips is the graphics processor.



    There is no "card".



    "Offering a choice" would mean that Apple would have to prepare x number of mainboards with chip A and y number with chip B. The nVidia and ATI, I would guess, do not have identical pinouts so that means 2 different mainboard designs.



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