"This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far"
-- From "The Impossible Dream," by Joe Darion, 1965
Advanced Micro Devices
Apple rumormonger extraordinaire AppleInsider.com reports that AMD executives have been shuttling into Apple's Cupertino headquarters as if they were on a mission. The companies already have a working relationship since you can buy Mac systems with ATI graphics cards inside. In fact, AMD's ATI products are the high-end option over the standard NVIDIA
But AppleInsider's unnamed sources claim that these discussions have focused on notebook and workstation/desktop processors -- not on fancier graphics chips. If true, that would be a major coup for AMD. Macs have featured Intel
Mind you, this is just a rumor at this point. Like I said, the companies already have reason to hobnob due to the graphics connection; their headquarters are just 5.5 miles apart if you cut through Ponderosa Park on Wolfe and Sunnyvale-Saratoga, so we're not talking cross-country schlepping; and AppleInsider's "people familiar with the matter" ring a bit less reliable than when The Wall Street Journal says the same thing.
However, I see a few reasons to believe this report. Apple is known to grab components from multiple sources wherever possible, pulling memory chips from suppliers like Samsung and Toshiba, graphics engines from NVIDIA and AMD division ATI, LCD screens from Samsung and LG Display
Cupertino just refreshed a few notebook models, and they're still built on Intel platforms. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the first AMD-powered Macbook or iMac unleashed in the next wave of Apple's product updates. Will Apple make a reality of AMD's impossible dream? Discuss in the comments below.