AMD Macbook Air?

[bmad5]

Interesting rumor on the Air refreshing to AMD instead of Intel:

http://scottsoapbox.com/2011/06/20/amd-a-series-macbook-air/

You guys think its legit?

Bill

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Really reliable, since this comment is SOOOOO spot on and correct:

since even the 11″ Air included discrete graphics

The MBAs and MBs and 13" MBPs don't use dedicated GPUs, they use Integrated Graphics Processors (IGP).
Are you the author by any chance, promoting your own drivel?

 

[keewawa]

Interesting guess. But still prefer Intel i series for computing purpose on 13'

 

[MacHamster68]

think different i always prefered AMD over intel the only flaw in that idea is the thunderbold thing is partly developed by intel and i guess further that intel has a big say whats next in a Mac ..Apple cant leave intel that easy behind like like they did with ibm motorola freescale and intel sees AMD as a competitor , so Apple is better not upsetting intel otherwise the stream of cheap supply of intel processors might dry soon

 

[Oppressed]

Really reliable, since this comment is SOOOOO spot on and correct:

The MBAs and MBs and 13" MBPs don't use dedicated GPUs, they use Integrated Graphics Processors (IGP).
Are you the author by any chance, promoting your own drivel?

Discrete =/= Dedicated

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Discrete =/= Dedicated

So an Intel HD is not a dedicated GPU, but a 320M or 9400M is?

 

[Hellhammer]

The coolest AMD A-Series CPU at the moment is 35W. The current CPU in 13" MBA is 17W and it is expected that the next gen CPU will be 25W due to the IGP (no need for 320M, total TDP stays around the same). 35W is most likely too hot for MBA.

 

[Oppressed]

So an Intel HD is not a dedicated GPU, but a 320M or 9400M is?

320m is discrete in that it shares the 256 mb of VRAM with the main memory but is not completely integrated into the mother board.

Intel IGP stands for Integrated Graphics Processor and is tied completely into the CPU and mother board.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

320m is discrete in that it shares the 256 mb of VRAM with the main memory but is not completely integrated into the mother board.

Are you really, really sure? Because the Intel HD GPU and The Intel GMA GPUs did the same and are called IGPs, thus are neither discrete nor dedicated, as dedicated means, that the GPU has its own memory.
But maybe I understood it all wrong these past ten years.

 

[Hellhammer]

320m is discrete in that it shares the 256 mb of VRAM with the main memory but is not completely integrated into the mother board.

Intel IGP stands for Integrated Graphics Processor and is tied completely into the CPU and mother board.

320M has the I/O functions in it too (Northbridge and Southbridge) so it is tied to the motherboard as much as the CPU is. Without the 320M chip, your motherboard wouldn't be more than a piece of metal and plastic.

 

[cube]

The coolest AMD A-Series CPU at the moment is 35W. The current CPU in 13" MBA is 17W and it is expected that the next gen CPU will be 25W due to the IGP (no need for 320M, total TDP stays around the same). 35W is most likely too hot for MBA.

And how much does the IGP currently add?

 

[parapup]

The coolest AMD A-Series CPU at the moment is 35W. The current CPU in 13" MBA is 17W and it is expected that the next gen CPU will be 25W due to the IGP (no need for 320M, total TDP stays around the same). 35W is most likely too hot for MBA.

From the PCPer Review

"Battery life aside, the portability of the testbed is average, and I imagine that the same will be true of similarly equipped retail systems. The laptop easily fit into my messenger bag and didn’t add significant weight to my load, but this system’s dimensions are not particularly slim, no doubt due to the cooling the discrete GPU requires"

That pretty much rules out having 35W A-Series or any other AMD part in the Air.

And how much does the IGP currently add?

Around 10-12W for the 320M if I remember it right.

 

[Hellhammer]

And how much does the IGP currently add?

Around 10-12W for the 320M if I remember it right.

There is no official word on its TDP but 9400M had 12W so I have used it in my speculations and calculations.

 

[cube]

The E2 would fit.

July is technically Q3.

 

[parapup]

The E2 would fit.

July is technically Q3.

18W E2 will have Bobcat cores - that's in the Atom ballpark isn't it? Not sure Apple would put such a low capacity CPU in the Air. It's for low end netbooks.

 

[cube]

18W E2 will have Bobcat cores - that's in the Atom ballpark isn't it? Not sure Apple would put such a low capacity CPU in the Air. It's for low end netbooks.

It's not Bobcat, it's Husky. 25W. 3250.

 

[fyrefly]

It's not Bobcat, it's Husky. 25W. 3250.

E2-3250 is a desktop part, with a 65W TDP, no?

http://semiaccurate.com/2011/03/10/upcoming-amd-e-series-apus-leak/

Regardless, I can't see Apple moving to AMD. It might make sense for some models (like the MBA or Mac Mini maybe) - but they'd have to move whole-hog. And they get too much preferential treatment from Intel (new custom chip for Sandy Bridge MacPro/1st Access to new "fixed" Sandy Bridge MBP-type processors in March 2011, etc...) to even consider moving to AMD, which (currently) offer slower chips in general, but with better graphics.

 

[omicron]

AMD honestly has never been much of a power saving CPU. So I don't think we will ever see an AMD Mac. Although I guess those who said we would never see an Intel Mac was proven wrong.

But as of now Intel has the most power efficient and best performing chips.

BTW the definition of "discrete" and "integrated" graphics is more complicated than you think it is. Discrete graphics cards don't share a system bus, while integrated chips do.

So integrated cards are limited to how much bandwidth the system memory can provide, which usually kills performance. Although they also come with less shaders.

The 320M is an integrated card technically because it uses system memory to provide the VRAM, thus limiting the bandwidth to the speed of system memory. Which, keep in mind, is also shared by the CPU.

DDR3 gets around something like 8.5-10GB/s. My graphics card with GDDR5 gets around 76.8GB/s. The higher end ones that cost a gajillion dollars has like 200GB/s.

 

[Patriot24]

CNet reports that Intel has added new MacBook Air-class processors to their price list yesterday. We previously covered the rumors about these new processors which could be used in Apple's upcoming MacBook Air. The specs for the new chips are listed here:

• Core i7-2677M: 2 cores, 1.8GHz (turbos to 2.9GHz), 4MB cache, 17 watts, $317
• Core i7-2637M: 2 cores, 1.7GHz (turbos to 2.8GHz), 4MB cache, 17 watts, $289
• Core i5-2557M: 2 cores, 1.7GHz (turbos to 2.7GHz), 3MB cache, 17 watts, $250

The new MacBook Air is rumored to launch in June or July, but Apple may be holdings its release for OS X Lion to ship.


Article Link: Intel Shipping New 1.7GHz-1.8GHz MacBook Air-Class Processors

Moving on...

 

[alust2013]

Yeah, not happening. AMD has a long history of having less computing power per watt than Intel. My bet is on LV Sandy Bridge.

 

[bmad5]

Really reliable, since this comment is SOOOOO spot on and correct:

The MBAs and MBs and 13" MBPs don't use dedicated GPUs, they use Integrated Graphics Processors (IGP).
Are you the author by any chance, promoting your own drivel?

Uh, both the 11" & 13" Air have a NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor...

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html

If you want to be a smart-a$$ you'll need to work on the first part...

 

[alust2013]

Uh, both the 11" & 13" Air have a NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor...

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html

If you want to be a smart-a$$ you'll need to work on the first part...

Yes, but, the 320m is integrated. Like a previous poster mentioned, the computer would be a brick without it.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Uh, both the 11" & 13" Air have a NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor...

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/specs.html

If you want to be a smart-a$$ you'll need to work on the first part...

If you want to be a smartarse, you need to learn about integrated GPUs and dedicated GPUs. The 320M, just like the 9400M and the Intel HD 3000, is an IGP, and it is frelling integrated into the chipset.
But since you are only here to promote your abysmal blog, which has a lot of grammatical errors, I won't bother with you and your ignorance anymore. Have a good day.

 

[bmad5]

From the PCPer Review

"Battery life aside, the portability of the testbed is average, and I imagine that the same will be true of similarly equipped retail systems. The laptop easily fit into my messenger bag and didn’t add significant weight to my load, but this system’s dimensions are not particularly slim, no doubt due to the cooling the discrete GPU requires"

Thanks for the link to at A series review, I hadn't seen any yet.

Reading through it I did notice that it was a 14" Compal "testbed system" so I'm not sure we can draw too much from the author's comment on portability.

BUT 35 Watts is a a lot of power (heat). I must have skimmed too fast on the original Engadget link, because I was thinking there were 25 Watt APUs in the A-Series... which would be more in line with the current 11" MBA 10W CPU + 12W GPU.

Oh well so much for that rumor... maybe in the next next MBA revision.

 

[Oli3000]

I could believe that maybe the new Air is using an AMD/ATI IGP, but not a processor... Particularly because thunderbolt is developed and managed by intel, no? So if they really want to push it, they have to use an intel chipset!