Nvidia Custom-Made the 320M IGP for Apple

[skimage]

Not really enough said. You forgot that my battery lasts twice as long as yours. You assumed I "forgot" my charger and intentionally brought a second battery, being somehow "clever" and realizing that I'd "forget" my charger. I wouldn't forget my charger and I wouldn't need to bring a spare battery.

If you'd comprehended anything I said, you'd realize I am not a fan boy. I am a person who bought an apple because it was the only option for me. I am a person who is resentful towards people who judge everyone who buys an apple without thinking maybe they had a valid reason. Its so easy to say something sucks without giving a reason, and its very easy to say someone is somehow ignorant or bad for not following you. It is OH SO easy to be part of the ignorant majority.

 

[mindless728]

You forgot that my battery lasts twice as long as yours

and that isn't necessarily true, you can spend the $100 to get a battery that lasts that long

 

[egidem]

[citation][nom]Skimage[/nom]Not really enough said. You forgot that my battery lasts twice as long as yours. You assumed I "forgot" my charger and intentionally brought a second battery, being somehow "clever" and realizing that I'd "forget" my charger. I wouldn't forget my charger and I wouldn't need to bring a spare battery. If you'd comprehended anything I said, you'd realize I am not a fan boy. I am a person who bought an apple because it was the only option for me. I am a person who is resentful towards people who judge everyone who buys an apple without thinking maybe they had a valid reason. Its so easy to say something sucks without giving a reason, and its very easy to say someone is somehow ignorant or bad for not following you. It is OH SO easy to be part of the ignorant majority.[/citation]

Then CONVINCE THEM not to be part of the ignorant majority! Cheers.

 

[skimage]

Nah, I'm done for the year.

I bought an apple and there are things I like about it and things I really really don't. It was the only thing that would work for me though; and while I'm glad I have it, I wish there had been another option.

Apple hating Tom's readers, please continue - I can't stop you.

 

[miloo]

the design, the screen always attract me, but the price always make me stay away from it ~ LOL

 

[mindless728]

Nah, I'm done for the year.

I bought an apple and there are things I like about it and things I really really don't. It was the only thing that would work for me though; and while I'm glad I have it, I wish there had been another option.

Apple hating Tom's readers, please continue - I can't stop you.

i don't hate apple, its just there are cheaper alternatives that are just as good, you have to look though

though i do hate that they won't sell osx to the pc community (i don't want it, they just have a monopoly on the os)

 

[mindless728]

the design, the screen always attract me, but the price always make me stay away from it ~ LOL

there are plenty of pc's using the same type of screen (led backlit lcd)

 

[drowned]

I wonder how much nvidia is getting for this "custom 320m" vs their normal 330m. My guess would be Apple is giving them a nice bj from the apple tax. Otherwise, why would nvidia bother designing a custom chip fo a company that has less than 5% of the market.

 

[Guest]

Interestingly though...how many other laptops out there provide a matte screen (reflectionless screen for the ignorant ones) instead of the shiny "I can't see crap when I'm in a well lit area" screens.

 

[col_krismiss]

Haha as a PC lover I am a little embarased at some of the pc arguments. If you are gonna argue for one thing over another yuo immediately lose youre credibility when you say the reason for it sucking is that it sucks. (unless talking about a vacuum) I enjoy PCs for their value and their potential for upgrades. Like what has been said, Apple serves a "niche" and thats fine for those looking for that particular thing, but to me the price isnt worth it to just fill a "niche". I want the most usability out of the money I put into a computer. Gamers keep in mind that Valve is moving to support MAC and you can bet they wont be the last...so it may serve us well to keep an open mind. If Apple starts to grab more market share its possible the prices drop.

There has been something I wondered though, as someone who deals with plenty of avid Mac users I try to study them so I know my enemy, lol. One thing I learned browsing their website is one of their Power Macs. It has 2 Nvidia Graphics cards and I first thought to myself that its kind of impressive, until I read they are two DIFFERENT cards. Now I have been in Afghanistan for the past 8 months and may have missed the memo from Nvidia but, SLI still requires the 2 cards to be the same model correct? The reason they state they have 2 cards is that to save power it turns one off and runs another... I dont remember exactly the 2 cards but I think the smaller one was a 9400M, I feel like just using an integrated intel graphics solution would save money and power over a 9400M, maybe im wrong? Anyway, the point being it seems to me that its just a gimick to grab the uninformed...or I am uninformed, hence why Im asking.

 

[belardo]

[citation][nom]micr0be[/nom]u know i used to sit down with ppl like u and discuss for hours why apple is what it is ... and convince u all to c the light regarding the disadvantages of MACs ....[/citation]

What was ever the point? Not everyone HAS to like Windows or Linux, it is their right to buy an expensive MAC... yes, the hardware is $$$... but in the end, its not really up to you. Obviously if someone felt that there was value in spending $2500 for a notebook which would cost about $1000~1500 from a PC company... they are making a choice and can obviously afford to buy a PC-notebook if they wanted to.

A better argument is to convince someone to spend an extra $20~250 for a notbook to get something of better quality (ie: ACR vs Dell vs ThinkPad), but for many people its out of their budget or not worth it.

Think about this... in the 80s & 90s, people actually spend $3000~6000 for IBM PCs that only ran MS-DOS (non-gui, mouse/windows operating systems), while the Amiga computers that sold for $500/$1200~2500 were faster, more advanced (PnP, multitasking, GUI-OS since 1985) included graphics and sound. But as PC sales people said "thats not a real computer" er.. huh? PC's were a joke until Win95 came out... that is when you guys (we) got a mainstream computer that supported file names that weren't 8.3! MYREPORT2.DOC UGH! 10 years after Mac and Amigas.

 

[zoemayne]

[citation][nom]Skimage[/nom]I bought an apple because at the time they were the only consumer laptop with a matte screen option. They were the only 15inch worth a darn that weighed less than 6 pounds. They were the only option with a good performance to battery life ratio. I'm so sick of reading comments about how apple sucks because the specs and price are terrible. Ever price a business class laptop? Those are stupid expensive for what you get. Ever look at the HP Envy? Doesn't even have an internal optical drive, and it's stupid expensive too. Laptops are supposed to be portable. That means lightweight with good battery life. It also means "able to see the screen without wondering whats behind that nice mirror you just bought." I hate how much apple costs but NO ONE offers the features I need for a lower price. Your arguments are weak and baseless when it comes to the macbook pro line. If you wanna bash their desktops be my guest. That is why I own a home built win7 desktop. Be informed consumers. Complain about things things that should actually matter in a laptop. Like Macs lack of a full keyboard or stingy ports. But it'd also be nice to hear someone just once point out that an 11 or 13 inch laptop weighing the same as a 15 is dumb, or that plastic shells break more easily, or that having a mirror in place of a screen in daylight or fluorescent lighting is obnoxious. Or that having a massive power brick is silly when you could have a small one. Macs have their problems, but they also have their niche and they are quality. There are some pc laptop manufacturers that can claim the same and many who can't. BTW the ilife suit is included with a macbook pro and its WAYYY better than anything microsoft has ever included in windows. Also, macs can play Crysis (an overly bloated inefficient mainly there for benchmarks game) just fine via bootcamp. Yes my macbook pro runs win7 90% of the time.[/citation]

Did anyone seriously read all of that^?

 

[nforce4max]

Yawn

I hate apple as much as I hate microsoft both are elitist money hungry power tripping corporations. When it comes to battery life nothing beats the TRS-80 model 100 with a 20 hour life and can maintain in ram information for up to a month. I don't see your fancy shiny macs doing that. To be honest we all NEED something new that isn't microsoft or apple that isn't yet on the scene.

 

[nforce4max]

[citation][nom]Skimage[/nom]I bought an apple because at the time they were the only consumer laptop with a matte screen option. They were the only 15inch worth a darn that weighed less than 6 pounds. They were the only option with a good performance to battery life ratio. I'm so sick of reading comments about how apple sucks because the specs and price are terrible. Ever price a business class laptop? Those are stupid expensive for what you get. Ever look at the HP Envy? Doesn't even have an internal optical drive, and it's stupid expensive too. Laptops are supposed to be portable. That means lightweight with good battery life. It also means "able to see the screen without wondering whats behind that nice mirror you just bought." I hate how much apple costs but NO ONE offers the features I need for a lower price. Your arguments are weak and baseless when it comes to the macbook pro line. If you wanna bash their desktops be my guest. That is why I own a home built win7 desktop. Be informed consumers. Complain about things things that should actually matter in a laptop. Like Macs lack of a full keyboard or stingy ports. But it'd also be nice to hear someone just once point out that an 11 or 13 inch laptop weighing the same as a 15 is dumb, or that plastic shells break more easily, or that having a mirror in place of a screen in daylight or fluorescent lighting is obnoxious. Or that having a massive power brick is silly when you could have a small one. Macs have their problems, but they also have their niche and they are quality. There are some pc laptop manufacturers that can claim the same and many who can't. BTW the ilife suit is included with a macbook pro and its WAYYY better than anything microsoft has ever included in windows. Also, macs can play Crysis (an overly bloated inefficient mainly there for benchmarks game) just fine via bootcamp. Yes my macbook pro runs win7 90% of the time.[/citation]

Mac porn Mac porn Mac porn

iPorn

 

[Regulas]

[citation][nom]asdf634[/nom]lol Doom 3, how about some Crysis benchmark? Oh that's right, it doesn't play Crysis!Seriously Apple, make your tax actually worth something, not just the privilege to use your product...[/citation]
Give me a break, no one (in their right mind) buys this laptop with the intention of playing Crysis or using it as a gaming laptop.
In my opinion 13.3" is the sweet spot for laptop size. If I already didn't have a 13.3" Acer Timeline (Running Ubuntu) I would look hard at this laptop.
I think this would be a sweet laptop, 10hr battery is nothing to sneeze at either, then there is OS X, love it.

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]Kelavarus[/nom]Considering they're boasting about having had Nvidia custom make the 320m for them, why wouldn't they just use the Optimus and have Nvidia custom-make a low-power low-cost IGP to tag along with the Intel HD? ... Actually matter to US. Apparently some things that matter to US don't matter to you. Be an informed person, and realize your concerns differ. As for being an informed consumer, Crysis isn't overly bloated/inefficient game. While the gameplay may be lacking, why don't you try actually looking into the technology behind CryEngine 2, hm? See how much that engine is rendering and at what accuracy. Hypocrite for not doing your own research.[/citation]

They aren't boasting. The article states that Nvidia is boasting about having built a custom IGP for Apple. Apple was merely talking about how much more powerful it is than then the previous generation IGP.

You can't have an Nvidia IGP with a Core series processor. It would have to be a dedicated GPU. It would cost more for an actual chip, it would take up more space, and it would require more energy. Apple developed their own optimus style graphics switching technology so the move you suggested was possible but would have eroded their profit margins significantly on the 13" Macbook Pro series. The 13" series is by far where they make the least amount of money. It's much less of a rip off than the 15/17 inchers.

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]micr0be[/nom]u know i used to sit down with ppl like u and discuss for hours why apple is what it is ... and convince u all to c the light regarding the disadvantages of MACs .... i simply gave up, there are too many of you and i have a better chance of flipping the earths magnetic poles then to reason with apple fan boys...... thats when i chose to reduce my comments to "apple sucks" its much less technical for the simple minded ones .... now excuse me while i boot my fedora 13 and lol at OS X. good day[/citation]


Speaking of fanboys....

You actually made a hobby of trying to convince people to not buy Mac.

I've used Windows and OS X heavily. Neither sucks. Try not having such a dogmatic point of view. I bet you've never once sat down and used an Apple piece of hardware for more than a minute or two. Don't lie.

 

[arvink]

Makes sense,
-Sales pitch

Bah, WHY WOULD YOU WANT A DUAL CORE???
Spend the extra $500 and get yourself an i5 ...so worth it!!
(not sure on exact amound $$)

but thats what i get from this

 

[jecastej]

To much Apple hate but very little smart comments.

Is evident to me Mac people are reading a lot on PC sites which is great, but that PC fan boys are also reading and making comments on a lot of Apple news. Which brings me to my next point: Why and when PC sites started to pay attention to Apple? I think sites like this are writing about Apple all the time now, and I think it is because Apple is a PC maker and they are bringing a "different" consumer and Professional approach. And because there are manny Mac readers out there who are now customers of sites like this.

More or less Apple Macs are among the top of consumer computers and also on the entry or medium professional level. But Apple is not the ultimate anything PC hardware conscious. What Apple brings is the sense that you don't need to worry that much for the "intimidating" technical culture in a more user experience oriented product. Apple wants you to feel good about yourself and this is a personal and social issue and not a ground manny techie guys dominate. That is intimidating too. Apple considers more the user as a person and not as a wise PC expert.

But, is also evident manny PC fans are felling threatened by this incoming Mac invasion. Right into their precious serious toys. I am not being sarcastic. PC boys are felling threatened by the Mac storm and it shows all the time with their defensive comments.

Apple wont give you the ultimate performance but it offers a different angle and one that is working very well for 10 percent of the population. Call this marketing but the other PC maker like Dell, Sony or HP have big marketing campaigns all the time.

I am a hybrid Mac and PC fan boy, I really love them both! I build my own PCs for my specific needs and is a fantastic experience I would recommend to other users. What I have with my PC I cannot have it on a Mac but also my Macs and very fine machines. I have an octacore 2.8 Mac Pro and it costed me less than 3000 when a similar PC would be close to $5000. Locky me, because I can have 3 computers and I don't need to be an exclusive hardware and software centric person. But it took an additional effort I don't see on manny of this defensive comments. But I challenge you reader to really get to know and understand the other dark side.

 

[Reynod]

Markus your point about the core2 + Nvidia GPU (or AMD GPU I'd guess) vs an i3 with a poor performing IGP is a good one.

Until Intel markedly improve their on die GPU with the i3's and i5's they won't trap a large part of the market I would guess, as Notebook owners want to at least have graphics that is functional ... beyond their current "EGA" model.

Apple would have jumped into the i3 or i5 if they considered the graphics value was high enough ... as the power savings is a good one.

Unfortunately the 45nm HD Intel graphics is poor.

Surely Apple must have done a price / performance ananysis.

They obviously decided the NV custom GPU part plus the core2 gave them the best bang for the buck.

Once AMD produces a similar part it will be all over rover on the notebook front for Intel ... price and performance basis.

Thats why they rushed the i3 and i5 out the door so quickly.

Anyway, nice article.

 

[dman3k]

And somehow the pricing is justified...

 

[mindless728]

Makes sense,
-Sales pitch

Bah, WHY WOULD YOU WANT A DUAL CORE???
Spend the extra $500 and get yourself an i5 ...so worth it!!
(not sure on exact amound $$)

but thats what i get from this

the mobile i5 is a dual core, the quads don't start until the i7-720qm

 

[jecastej]

I knew with the Intel/Nvidia legal battle over the chipset that Apple was affected and that they Apple needed to come up with a hardware that would offer their users an upgrade over the 9400 Nvidia chipset. Obviously the core i5 improves the cpu performance at a higher power consumption too but that is not the case with the Intel integrated graphics.

Apple answer makes sense as a possible and viable transition for their public. Ones the Intel integrated GPU improves I think Apple will use the Intel solution on their lower end consumer notebooks also lowering the price (I, we hope).

I have a Mac book core 2 but I am going to wait for the next Sandy Bridge 32nm and see if the next generation will offer me the opportunity to have a powerful enough notebook, Apple or not Apple, at a "reasonable" price. But honestly I don't think Sandy Bridge will offer a revolutionary performance gain. Also I understand it will improve floating point performance that will benefit me. I want and need a mobile "workstation" on a budget and for the time being I think I am going to spend my money to upgrade my PC to a Core i7 system.

 

[racermx187]

I myself have a 13" MBP and I really like it. I have used Windows all my life and still use it on my homebuilt desktop and at work. The reason for the MBP was the size, weight, and battery life. Being at school and out in the field for work I needed something that lasted and was portable and light. The aluminum body was also a nice feature as I am on construction sites often and it has been roughed up a bit.

 

[jenesuispasbavard]

Why not ATI? Their mobile offerings are sooo much more efficient than NVIDIA's.