Intel’s “Arrandale” processor may be getting the cold shoulder from Apple, according to reports that say the MacBook maker is aiming for a custom design that would free it up to continue using Nvidia’s GPUs as well. But fulfilling that request might be a major undertaking for Intel, and it could once more stir up the squabbling between the two chipmakers over licensing issues. HardwareCentral has the story.
A report on a hardware enthusiast site states that Apple, already dealing with headaches from the Core i5 and i7 on its desktop iMacs, has refused to take Intel’s forthcoming mobile chips for the MacBook.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reportedly rejected Intel’s “Arrandale” processor, which has a dual-core 32-nanometer-process CPU and a 45nm GPU on the same die, according to a report in Bright Side of News which cited sources “close to the matter.”
Instead, Apple is asking Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to build a custom version of the Arrandale processor that leaves off the integrated graphics. That would allow Apple to use the graphics structure it has been using, a combination of integrated and discrete graphics from GPU maker Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).
However, this is not as cut and dried as the BSN story would imply due to all of the legal and technical entanglements of both Nvidia and Intel and the Arrandale architecture.
