Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) push to new session highs ($9.17) on a notable pickup in intraday volume here. Strength being attributed to a MW report that says Apple Inc (AAPL) has announced that its updated ‘MacBook Pro’ notebooks will feature AMD’s Radeon HD stand-alone graphics processors.
Analyst Romit Shah of Nomura Equity Research said Apple’s choice was positive news for AMD — and a blow to rival Nvidia Corp. (NVDA). Currently, the 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pros use Nvidia graphics cards. However, that’s about to change. According to CNet, the 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros will use AMD (formerly ATI) discrete graphics cards alongside Intel’s (INTC) integrated solution. As in previous MacBook Pros, the discrete graphics chip is only acitivated when heavy lifting is needed. When high-end graphics processing is not necessary, the system then defaults to Intel’s graphics. Needless to say, the rivalry between AMD and Nvidia continues to grow in the graphics chip arena, particularly after AMD bought Canadian graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies, which had been a key Nvidia rival.
“While volumes of the MacBook Pro are not significant, we continue to believe that AMD’s relationship with Apple is strengthening,” Shah wrote.
At last check, AMD, based in Sunnyvale, California, gained $0.61, or 7.25 percent, to $9.17 in NYSE trading. NVIDIA Corporation, based in Santa Clara, Calif., rose 73 cents to $22.84 on the NASDAQ.
I think this is a good move for Apple. I think the whole issue with Nvidia and some of its failed dies on its GPU chips that affected Apple and other computer makers did not help Nvidia stay in Apple’s good standings. But I am no big fan of ATI either and have countless issues with their performance in 2D mode in Windows. Not sure if that will show itself in Mac’s. Actually when you look at what Apple is using for descete graphics in its Macbook Pro’s. Their really not good enough for gaming. Not sure why even have anything now that Intel has introduced its 3000 series with Sandy Bridge. Their is certainly plenty of power there for HD video some gaming in lower resolutions and good 2D performance. But will also do better in the power consumption area. I think the days are numbered for both Nvidia and ATI for low to mid level graphic solution. I think once again Intel will control that portion of the market.