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AMD is gearing up to launch the Zen architecture next year and while plenty of PC enthusiasts have their eyes peeled to see what AMD brings to the table, it looks like Apple may also want in on the action. This week, rumours came to light claiming that the Apple's 2018 Macbook Pros may ditch Intel in favour of AMD's new Zen processors.
The initial rumour comes from sources speaking with Bits and Chips. If accurate, this would mark a major change for Apple's systems, which have consistently used Intel processors for years across the board, whether it be the Mac Pro, Macbook, or iMac.
As wcccftech points out, AMD's Zen chip for Apple would be a custom SoC, and rather than being a CPU, Apple could end up opting for an APU. This chip would use AMD's latest GCN graphics cores, alongside HBM2 memory, running with a ultra-low TDP. Going down the APU route means that Apple may not need to rely on a discrete GPU for its higher end Macbook Pros. It could also potentially mean better graphics power for the lower end 13-inch Macbook Pros.
Of course, this is all very early information, especially since these Macbooks aren't said to be arriving until 2018, so a lot could change between now and then.
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KitGuru Says: This information is all super early, so it may not be accurate at all. That said, if AMD can gain more of Apple's business once Zen hits, then that would be good news for the company, after all, Apple is the largest company in the world with an awful lot of money to spend.
Don’t use apple products, but would be fantastic for AMD if true. A definite (large!) vote of confidence in their CPU/APU business. And I think we can all agree that we Intel having a monopoly would be a bad idea…
The Intel “APU” is just crap. The new Zen APU (CPU+GPU all in one) just rival a I5 Skylake performance, with lower price and lower watts.
We will see the new APU powering up Lenovo, hp, etc partners, before the years ends.
Macbooks might become good machines if this happens as long as apple doesn’t gimp them by lowering Frequency and reducing the amount of GDDR available for graphics. I doubt Apple macbboks will cost less money, this options allows apple to charge same money, and having more profits cause AMD products are cheaper then intel. Apple Fan Boys will love this, they will finally have same amount of GDDR memory as normal windows laptops
I think this is unlikely, given the involved negotiations Apple had with Intel before the switch to Intel. And that switch took place because Intel had a better choice of processors suitable for laptops, among other things; would Apple want to risk its future on a supplier that wouldn’t have the same selection available?
The only thing that would get me excited about this is if Apple used its bargaining power with AMD to get them to make modified processors that could switch to big-endian, or even switch to running PowerPC and 680×0 code, so that Macintosh computers could return to supporting all Macintosh software back to day one. But I doubt Apple has any interest in making that kind of effort, and at this late date, that is entirely reasonable on their part.
Maybe Intel will finally get off of their butts and start releasing their better technology, now.
If AMD takes Apple from Intel, that’s a huge account to lose.
Read Agner Fog’s x86 instruction latency studies. Your fabled tech doesn’t exist. Well, to put it more accurately, it’s already been released to you. The problem is consumer software is not well-optimized or even well-constructed, so it doesn’t end up taking advantage of newer instructions that can do more in a single cycle.
Intel graphics is poor, so Zen Apu is better choice if apple get a good price.
MacBook Pro with an AMD SoC? Not so sure.
Apple did not care too much about their MacBooks, why should they invest in a custom SoC.
I would rather expect a Apple TV-like device with (some) gaming / VR -capabilities
as a target for an AMD-SoC. For such an application a SoC would make much more sense.
And, for the fun of it,
the Apple SoC-business for iOS-devices,
could go to Intel (now with TSMC) in a 2 or 3 years time.
.
Not necessarily poor, but Intel has isolated their good IGPs at extreme premiums and leave their remaining SKUs with, as you meant, something not up to par.
Similarly, I figure nothing is stopping AMD from adopting such practices if/when it begins to suit them. For now, they may take advantage of the wide gap Intel has allowed for themselves.
Wasn’t this the point years ago, when Apple could have used AMD’s Llano APUs but AMD was held back by production issues and Apple moved onto Intel?
I’d say for mac AIO- a very high probability.
For macbook pro good possibility.
For the race to sleep air I think Intel still has the edge.
A custom APU would suit apple-they love their tied in hardware.
And let’s not forget apple’s lust for 400%+markup……………….
A custom apu could mean death of hackintosh as it will make it difficult to port the mac os to other hardware.
That’s EXACTLY what Apple wants…The death of Hackintosh
Was the fault of Global Foundaries
Tis rumor article is as ‘unreliable’ as tis http://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/apple/simon/apple-may-move-to-arm-as-early-as-q3-2012/ or tis http://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/apple/yong-lei/macbook-air-with-arm-a5-chip-spotted-in-wild/ The rumor also comin from the prankster Fottemberg at bits’n’chips…. LOL
Apple moved to Intel way back in 2005, long before Llano even appeared. Also Llano CPU had bad perf per watt, so Apple ain’t switchin to Llano.
I believe x86 already has some endian support. It would be great to see more emulation in Mac/Win, but it doesn’t appear to be a priority with them.
The source is “Bits and chips”, that marvelous source of misinformation…
They claimed October launch for AMD Zen, 16nm TSMC, variable size FPU, >4Ghz clocks, 12 and 20 cores for desktop,…
They also claimed Carrizo was coming with HBM, that about a dozen of HSA
applications were ready to launch after Kaveri, that Bristol Ridge would
be a 16CU APU,…
It is not the first time that they claim that Apple will switch to AMD. They did about one year ago
http://www.bitsandchips.it/52-english-news/6183-apple-could-use-custom-x86-soc-made-by-amd
From the rumours, They are making a custom SOC with HBM as shared System and graphics memory. Which can then use DDR4 to expand it for desktop parts.
For mobile parts, Having a HBM2 SOC setup will allow for a smaller overall mainboard.
The could be a bad business practice for them. Intel and nivida have alot of loyal customers amd does not. They need to take a healthy amount of the market back of they are to pull themselves out of the hole they are in. The only way to do that is to produce something cheaper and better or close to as good then said companies
Well it looks like all the bintel fannyboys (rogue1, bharath, juanrga) ditched wccftech and came over to kit guru to beeatch about AMD!.