NVIDIA GeForce Making a Comeback to Apple?

btarunr · Sep 28, 2016

NVIDIA could be close to scoring design wins with Apple, for its MacBook, iMac, and Mac Pro families. This came to light in a job posting at NVIDIA, which calls for applicants to "help produce the next revolutionary Apple products." Although Apple has offered options of both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs on its Mac products in the past, the company hasn't offered NVIDIA GPUs for several generations now, with AMD Radeon being the only discrete GPU choice for MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Pro products, with the only other choices being integrated GPUs by Intel.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

ZoneDymo · Sep 28, 2016

Interesting, I thought Apple would do away with a graphics processor altogether, why? courage!

AlienIsGOD · Sep 28, 2016

i also read that Apple may be considering Zen CPUs http://www.eteknix.com/apple-considering-custom-amd-zen-socs-imac/

Patriot · Sep 28, 2016

Doesn't make any sense. Nvidia just doesn't support OpenCL well enough to get wins from Mac.

Octavean · Sep 28, 2016

Apple could probably buy AMD if they really wanted to,....

MagnuTron · Sep 28, 2016

Patriot said:
Doesn't make any sense. Nvidia just doesn't support OpenCL well enough to get wins from Mac.

To be honest I think the lack of OpenCL support is just that.. No reason when they have CUDA. It will have to change.

dj-electric · Sep 28, 2016

Who cares about openCL? NVIDIA is eons ahead of AMD in power efficiency and that is all that matters in thin and\or mobile devices. shoving a GTX 1080 in a thin desktop mac is not a hard job.

Toothless · Sep 28, 2016

Dj-ElectriC said:
Who cares about openCL? NVIDIA is eons ahead of AMD in power efficiency and that is all that matters in thin and\or mobile devices. shoving a GTX 1080 in a thin desktop mac is not a hard job.

Bring the price up 5x because Apple

Patriot · Sep 28, 2016

Dj-ElectriC said:
Who cares about openCL? NVIDIA is eons ahead of AMD in power efficiency and that is all that matters in thin and\or mobile devices. shoving a GTX 1080 in a thin desktop mac is not a hard job.

Apple does... hence the problem.
All of their software is OpenCL accelerated...

And nvidia is NOT eons ahead of AMD on power efficiency.

jabbadap · Sep 28, 2016

Patriot said:
Doesn't make any sense. Nvidia just doesn't support OpenCL well enough to get wins from Mac.

Oh it does, apple supports only OpenCL 1.2 same as nvidia. OpenCL is like bastard son of nvidia and apple, neiher is really wanting it any longer.

I think those job positions are more to do with getting Metal API support for nvidia graphics cards than any.

slozomby · Sep 29, 2016

here's hoping the next mac pro gives up the magic trashcan design and goes back towards a proper ATX style case.

Fluffmeister · Sep 29, 2016

Octavean said:
Apple could probably buy AMD if they really wanted to,....

No need, they get their stuff at bargain basement prices already.

Captain_Tom · Sep 29, 2016

Hmmm after losing almost the entire console market Nvidia seems keen on not letting AMD capture Apple.

If AMD managed to capture Apple in 2018, they could come back hard on Nvidia's last true market: PC GPU's.

Octavean · Sep 29, 2016

Fluffmeister said:
No need, they get their stuff at bargain basement prices already.

Perhaps but that isn't necessarily the point.

Apple is interested in exclusivity. For example, the necessary components needed to design their own ARM based SoC and circle the wagons in the process. Apple would probably be interested in designing their own CPUs and GPUs based on acquisitions from a company like AMD,....assuming the designs are competitive / perform well.

Then again, as you said, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free,.....

ironwolf · Sep 29, 2016

There goes that word "revolutionary" by a company again... :wtf:

Captain_Tom · Sep 29, 2016

ironwolf said:
There goes that word "revolutionary" by a company again...

Haha I bet people are responding to that word well these days because they are fed up with their governments.

Like a subliminal message to our subconscious...

Bansaku · Sep 29, 2016

nVidia has always played nice with Apple; With every OS update they release new drivers. Not to mention that in terms of compatibility nVidia has always made their latest releases fully compatible. Considering Apple has discontinued Pro model desktops with upgradability options, this is pretty impressive for nVidia to care. Although I am pretty sure nVidia recognizes the HUGE Hackintosh community, where because of OOB compatibility their cards reign supreme over sometimes troublesome AMD cards (even though Apple has an AMD engineer on their payroll just for drivers which are bundled in the system, and thus unable to upgrade without updating the OS or downgrade when needed).

Anyway, many popular apps use CUDA, and Metal plays nice with nVidia, so no worries in regards to lacking compatibility.

:toast:

Frick · Sep 29, 2016

Captain_Tom said:
Hmmm after losing almost the entire console market Nvidia seems keen on not letting AMD capture Apple.

If AMD managed to capture Apple in 2018, they could come back hard on Nvidia's last true market: PC GPU's.

Apple already have AMD GPUs in them, and (obviously) only mobile versions.

Pascal is exactly what Apple should want. Massive power/W.

Assimilator · Sep 29, 2016

Patriot said:
And nvidia is NOT eons ahead of AMD on power efficiency.

When AMD's current-gen 14nm GPU uses the same amount of power as NVIDIA's last-gen 28nm GPU... yes, NVIDIA is streets ahead.

Nosada · Sep 29, 2016

ironwolf said:
There goes that word "revolutionary" by a company again...

The only thing "revolutionary" about Apple is that they haven't payed taxes in decades.

Captain_Tom · Sep 29, 2016

Frick said:
Apple already have AMD GPUs in them, and (obviously) only mobile versions.

Pascal is exactly what Apple should want. Massive power/W.

Yeah but in Vulkan/DX12 games Pascal is barely more efficient that Polaris (Or even Fiji lol). So if you take full advantage of GCN's compute properties (Like with Apple's Metal): efficiency isn't an issue, and dirt cheap GloFlo would allow AMD to sell their cards for a lot less than Nvidia.

But Apple may go with Nvidia in the short term while they wait for the rumored Zen/HBM/APU being custom designed for Apple by AMD.

I No · Sep 29, 2016

Captain_Tom said:
Yeah but in Vulkan/DX12 games Pascal is barely more efficient that Polaris (Or even Fiji lol). So if you take full advantage of GCN's compute properties (Like with Apple's Metal): efficiency isn't an issue, and dirt cheap GloFlo would allow AMD to sell their cards for a lot less than Nvidia.

But Apple may go with Nvidia in the short term while they wait for the rumored Zen/HBM/APU being custom designed for Apple by AMD.

Mac and games, came up with that one all by yourself? Who in their right mind would buy Mac for exclusive gaming?. I don't mean to rain on your parade but say what you want about Apple (i hate them btw) but they do have efficient stuff. And I really don't see them fitting space-heaters into their junk designs. If AMD can't get their stuff to be remotely functional in laptops I doubt that Apple will even consider them since OpenCL is dying out on OS X (or whatever the heck they call that abomination).

FordGT90Concept · Sep 29, 2016

AMD doesn't have any products to compete with the GTX 1080 and family. AMD forced Apple's hand to NVIDIA. Sad but inevitable. AMD had to see this coming and Apple won't be the only one changing orders.

Captain_Tom · Sep 29, 2016

I No said:
Mac and games, came up with that one all by yourself? Who in their right mind would buy Mac for exclusive gaming?. I don't mean to rain on your parade but say what you want about Apple (i hate them btw) but they do have efficient stuff. And I really don't see them fitting space-heaters into their junk designs. If AMD can't get their stuff to be remotely functional in laptops I doubt that Apple will even consider them since OpenCL is dying out on OS X (or whatever the heck they call that abomination).

Games is the only reason we would debate if Apple should use Nvidia. If games aren't being talked about, than AMD is CLEARLY the better choice.

AMD's hardware acceleration curb-stomps Nvidia's (OpenCL is more the standard on OSX than Cuda), and again their cards are a lot cheaper to produce and therefore sell to Apple. Also you are really making me laugh with the space heater talk. RX 460 in laptops uses like <50w of energy, and Nvidia is busy shoving 2 x 180w cards in moron laptops.

Frick · Sep 29, 2016

I No said:
Mac and games, came up with that one all by yourself? Who in their right mind would buy Mac for exclusive gaming?

You wouldn't, but capable occasional gaming is always nice.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite V2
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 16GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 4070 Ti EX
Storage	Samsung 990 1TB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Cyberline
Processor	Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory	Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD RX480 -> RX7800XT
Storage	Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s)	Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case	antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply	Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse	Elecom EX-G
Keyboard	Rapoo V700
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

System Name	Aliens Ryzen Rig \| 2nd Hand Omen
Processor	Ryzen R5 5600 \| Ryzen R5 3600
Motherboard	Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite (F61 BIOS) \| B450 matx
Cooling	DeepCool Castle EX V2 240mm AIO\| stock for now
Memory	16GB X 2 DDR4 3200mhz Team Group VulcanZ \| 16GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 7700 12GB \| GTX 1650 4GB (soon to be RX 5700)
Storage	Adata XPG 8200 PRO 512GB SSD OS / 240 SSD + 2TB M.2 SSD Games / 1000 GB Data \| SSD + HDD
Display(s)	Acer Nitro x27OU 27" VA 165hz Freesync Premium\|TCL 32" 1080P w/ HDR
Case	NZXT H500 Black \| HP Omen Obelisk
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek \| Onboard Realtek
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650w 80+ Gold \| 500w
Mouse	Steelseries Rival 500 15 button mouse w/ Razor Goliathus Chroma XL mousemat \| Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair K65 Mini w/ Cherry MX brown keys \| Logitech G513 Carbon w/ Romer G tactile keys
Software	Windows 10 Pro \| Windows 10 Pro

System Name	[H]arbringer
Processor	4x 61XX ES @3.5Ghz (48cores)
Motherboard	SM GL
Cooling	3x xspc rx360, rx240, 4x DT G34 snipers, D5 pump.
Memory	16x gskill DDR3 1600 cas6 2gb
Video Card(s)	blah bigadv folder no gfx needed
Storage	32GB Sammy SSD
Display(s)	headless
Case	Xigmatek Elysium (whats left of it)
Audio Device(s)	yawn
Power Supply	Antec 1200w HCP
Software	Ubuntu 10.10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1780855 http://www.hwbot.org/submission/2158678 http://ww

Processor	RyZen R9 3950X
Motherboard	ASRock X570 Taichi
Cooling	Coolermaster Master Liquid ML240L RGB
Memory	64GB DDR4 3200 (4x16GB)
Video Card(s)	RTX 3050
Storage	Samsung 2TB SSD
Display(s)	Asus VE276Q, VE278Q and VK278Q triple 27” 1920x1080
Case	Zulman MS800
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Seasonic 650W
VR HMD	Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest V1, Oculus Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 64bit

NVIDIA GeForce Making a Comeback to Apple?

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

ZoneDymo

AlienIsGOD

Vanguard Beta Tester

Patriot

Octavean

MagnuTron

dj-electric

Toothless

Tech, Games, and TPU!

Patriot

jabbadap

slozomby

Fluffmeister

Captain_Tom

Octavean

ironwolf

Captain_Tom

Bansaku

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Assimilator

Nosada

Captain_Tom

I No

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Captain_Tom

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

System Name	NorthBlackGoldDream
Processor	Ryzen 7600X
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650M-DS3H
Cooling	Arctic Freezer II 240
Memory	16 GB DDR5-5200C40
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB
Storage	1 TB NVMe PCIe 3.0
Display(s)	24.5" 240 Hz TN
Case	Fractal North Black Mesh
Power Supply	650W

System Name	Veral
Processor	7800x3D
Motherboard	x670e Asus Crosshair Hero
Cooling	Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO
Memory	2x24 Klevv Cras V RGB
Video Card(s)	Powercolor 7900XTX Red Devil
Storage	Crucial P5 Plus 1TB, Samsung 980 1TB, Teamgroup MP34 4TB
Display(s)	Acer Nitro XZ342CK Pbmiiphx, 2x AOC 2425W, AOC I1601FWUX
Case	Fractal Design Meshify Lite 2
Audio Device(s)	Blue Yeti + SteelSeries Arctis 5 / Samsung HW-T550
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Mouse	Corsair Harpoon
Keyboard	Corsair K55
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2
Software	Windows 11 Professional
Benchmark Scores	PEBCAK

System Name	Gaming Desktop
Processor	i7 6700k
Motherboard	asus rog alpha
Cooling	H110i
Memory	Corsair Dominator 16gb DDR4 3200
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080
Storage	EVO 840 500gb, EVO 850 500gb, Perc 710 Raid WD RED 4tbx4
Case	Corsair 500r
Power Supply	Antec 850
Mouse	Logitec G502
Keyboard	a cheap dell

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Memory	Team Group Dark Pro 8Pack Edition 3600Mhz CL16
Video Card(s)	Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+
Storage	Kingston A2000 1TB + Seagate HDD workhorse
Display(s)	Hisense 55" U7K 4K@144Hz
Case	Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG ARGB
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX-850
Mouse	Razer Deathadder Chroma
Keyboard	Logitech UltraX
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Darkside
Processor	R7 3700X
Motherboard	Aorus Elite X570
Cooling	Deepcool Gammaxx l240
Memory	Thermaltake Toughram DDR4 3600MHz CL18
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RX Vega 64 Gaming OC
Storage	ADATA & WD 500GB NVME PCIe 3.0, many WD Black 1-3TB HD
Display(s)	Samsung C27JG5x
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 XL
Audio Device(s)	iFi xDSD / micro iTube2 / micro iCAN SE
Power Supply	EVGA 750W G2
Mouse	Corsair M65
Keyboard	Corsair K70 LUX RGB
Benchmark Scores	Not sure, don't care

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 7600
Motherboard	MSI X670E Gaming Plus Wifi
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1TB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Plantronics 5220, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Dell SK3205
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Firelance.
Processor	Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard	ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling	IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory	8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage	2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s)	Dell S3221QS(A) (32" 38x21 60Hz) + 2x AOC Q32E2N (32" 25x14 75Hz)
Case	Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse	Logitech G604
Keyboard	Razer Pro Type Ultra
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

System Name	Purple Stuff
Processor	Intel Core I7-8700K @ 5.0 Ghz
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming
Cooling	NZXT Kraken X62
Memory	Corsair Vengence 16 GB DDR4 @ 3600 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080 TI
Storage	Samsung EVO 960 500 GB, HDD 4TB WD Black, SSD Crucial MX400 1TB
Display(s)	Acer Predator XB271HU 27" x2
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus + Platinum 850 W
Mouse	Steelseries Rival 700
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2
Software	Win 10 Pro

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.