Apple's Switch to Sandy Bridge: Impact for Gamers?

10.12.2010
Rumors suggest that Intel's forthcoming will find its way into the lower-end range of the next generation of MacBooks. Bearing in mind Apple's cozy relationship with Intel and its habit of adopting each new generation of Intel's processors, this would make a lot of sense.

Sandy Bridge is the first of a new generation of processors (intended to supersede the ), in which the CPU and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) functions are combined onto one piece of silicon. This reduces costs while at the same time offering performance boosts.

Technically speaking, the graphics function of Sandy Bridge falls into the category of integrated graphics, even though there are massive technical differences between Sandy Bridge and true (poor-quality) integrated graphics.

In the world of gaming, integrated graphics are considered vastly inferior to dedicated, discrete graphics cards. Sandy Bridge seeks to change this perception with new, performance-enhancing integrated graphics. Whether Intel's marketing drive and performance boost will change the minds of dead-set gamers remains to be seen.

As such, the reliance on what is viewed as integrated graphics in Macs could be a marketing challenge for Apple, which some have suggested is trying to position its Mac as a gaming platform. Valve recently , for example, and now offers an impressive roster of games. It's been suggested that the new Mac App Store, due at the end of this month, could also .

If Mac devotees do decide to take umbrage at the fact that Apple has turned its back on Nvidia, its current graphics partner for the MacBook range, the irony will be that Sandy Bridge is actually provided modest settings are used. It's certainly far in advance of existing integrated graphics chipsets and has more in common with discrete graphics cards.