Nvidia can't shake MacBook, chipset unit rumors

Nvidia has become a Silicon Valley hot spot for rumors. One is tied to an analyst downgrade Monday, the other to the rumored Apple MacBook refresh.

An analyst rekindled speculation Monday that the world's largest graphics chip supplier would sell off its chipset business, while rumors persist that the company would play a larger role in an expected refresh of the Apple MacBook.


Nvidia graphic on its notebook home page
(Credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia shares fell Monday after a Pacific Crest analyst issued a negative report on the company's prospects. In the report, the analyst said "our checks confirm" that Nvidia will exit the chipset business next year.

Nvidia chipsets--sometimes referred to as MCPs--serve as supporting silicon for the company's graphics processors. In the past, Nvidia has denied that it will exit the chipset business.

The analyst also speculated that Nvidia will pre-announce negative results for the third quarter (ended October). Nvidia has been dogged by negative press and analyst reports after it disclosed issues with its processors and chipsets back in July.

If that wasn't enough, Pacific Crest said Nvidia may see share loss in the notebook market next year as a result of a future refresh of "Montevina" graphics silicon from Intel.

But not all is lost. On the upside, rumors persist that Nvidia will play a large role in an expected MacBook refresh this month. The latest rumor holds that Nvidia is showing off prototypes internally of upcoming MacBooks with new Nvidia silicon.

Some are even pointing to a graphic on the Nvidia notebook home page of a slim notebook design as a possible MacBook design--though a more plausible explanation is that it's simply generic artwork.

Apple uses Nvidia graphics chips in its high-end MacBook Pros, but the MacBook and MacBook Air use Intel integrated graphics silicon. One of the latter two could be recipients of new Nvidia graphics chips.

Nvidia would not comment on the rumors.

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Nvidia says chip faster, smaller than Intel graphics

Nvidia on Wednesday introduced its GeForce 9400M graphics chip, a direct threat to Intel's graphics silicon.

Apple's choice of the 9400M for its refreshed MacBook line heralds a much-needed infusion of competition in the market for mobile integrated graphics--a low-cost solution that is built into Intel chipsets. To date, Intel has dominated the market, with many of the top notebook vendors defaulting to Intel graphics in low-end models and ultraportables. Apple chose Intel graphics for previous versions of the MacBook and MacBook Air.


Nvidia claims the GeForce 9400M is smaller and faster than Intel's popular integrated graphics silicon
(Credit: Nvidia)

Not this time though. Apple did its homework and CEO Steve Jobs made a point Tuesday to cite the 9400M as a reason for better performance in the new MacBooks. You can bet that other PC makers are looking closely at the 9400M.

"Intel's technology is integrated throughout Apple's product line but we didn't win this particular design," Intel commented yesterday. Its newest graphics product is based on the G45 chipset.

The Apple announcement Tuesday is the "first in a string of announcements" coming from PC makers, said Bill Henry, director of notebook marketing at Nvidia. "Most of the top OEMs have designs in the works."

"It's ideal for getting really good graphics capability in 10-inch designs and 12-inch designs," Henry said, referring to small laptop designs that use screens sizes ranging from 10 to 12 inches. These are typically referred to as ultraportables.

Some important 9400M features include the integration of 16 streaming processors to boost game-playing performance and a technology called Hybird SLI, which allows Nvidia's integrated silicon to be paired with an external graphics card for more speed. (SLI stands for Scalable Link Interface.)

The 9400M can handle 30-frames-per-second frame rates in many games and supports Nvidia's PhysX technology for more realistic game playing.

From a PR perspective, Nvidia also made it clear Wednesday that the 9400M won't have any of the issues of past Nvidia mobile graphics. Some of Nvidia's mobile chips have had issues with weak die and packaging materials.

"We've updated the materials we're using to manufacture our chips," Henry said.

Nvidia also issued this statement: "Apple was fully aware of the issue during the MacBook development program, and they are satisfied that Nvidia has implemented corrective actions to ensure there will not be an issue in the future."

The chip is being manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on a 65-nanometer process.

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