Nvidia says new MacBook Pro graphics switching isn't Optimus @ www.appleinsider.com

AppleInsider | Nvidia says new MacBook Pro graphics switching isn't Optimus

An Nvidia spokesperson confirmed to AppleInsider Tuesday that Apple's new high-end MacBook Pros include an automatic graphics switching solution that is the Mac maker's own creation. Nvidia had no input on Apple's solution and would not comment on the utilized technology.

Earlier this year, Nvidia introduced a new technology called Optimus, which is designed two work alongside Nehalem notebook designs -- like the Core i5 and Core i7 -- that include Intel's integrated graphics processor, as well as a discrete Nvidia graphics chip. The feature chooses the best of the two processors for running a given application. While the end result is similar, Apple's automatic graphics switching solution is not Optimus, Nvidia said.

This switching is accomplished on-the-fly with no input from users. Apple also offers users the option to switch solely to discrete graphics and turn off the automatic switching.

The top-tier MacBook Pros include the Nvidia GeForce 330M graphics processor, which is more than twice as fast as the low-end 320M found exclusively in the new 13-inch model. The 330M, however, is not an exclusive GPU, as it has been found in competing PCs that have already come to market.

Apple on Tuesday introduced its new line of MacBook Pros, with the 15- and 17-inch models sporting the proprietary graphics switching capabilities. The feature dynamically switches between the 330M for peak performance, and the integrated Intel HD Graphics for more energy efficient operation. Apple said the tightly integrated software and hardware solution allows battery life of 8 to 9 hours on the new MacBook Pros.

Linux dynamic hybrid graphics: Learning from Apple's mistakes

MacBook Pros with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M silicon making questionable graphics switching decisions -- Engadget

But it gets worse. Viewing QuickTime movie trailers on Apple's site in Chrome (a buggy experience, by the way) bumps you up to discrete, but doesn't bump you back down after you're done -- only closing the browser and opening it up again seems to reset it. Firefox and Safari keep you on integrated graphics the whole time -- as does downloading 480p or 720p content to your local QuickTime player -- but pulling up 1080p video locally kicks you into high gear (this sounds closer to the correct behavior, at least).

The most egregious thing we've seen, though, has to be Tweetie. Yes, little ol' Tweetie, that innocuous applet that stays out of your hair and shoots you a Growl notification every once in a while: as long as it's open, it's going to be rockin' the discrete graphics. The bottom line is that this is a great opportunity to underscore something we've said before, which is that Apple needs to bring back an ironclad disable option for the discrete graphics like it does with the older unibody models -- especially when battery life is supposedly Cupertino's single biggest push with these things. Of course, failing that, we've got to hope that some third-party dev out there has the wit, courage, and spitfire to craft a simple toggle utility.

Apple's solution to hybrid graphics means NVIDIA Optimus is not a black box @ www.arstechnica.com

See highlighted the last sentence @ www.arstechnica.com: Microsoft probably didn't achieve the level of NVIDIA Optimus integration in the ASUS models because... well... they didn't spend enough time working with the drivers?!?!?!?!
This shows that there is a great opportunity in the open-source community to achieve the same features that Microsoft and Apple have independently achieved, and although it might be more difficult without NVIDIA's first-hand help, it looks doable.
Inside Apple's automatic graphics switching

Apple's approach in the new 15" and 17" MacBook Pros differs from Optimus in two key ways. The first is that the switching is all handled automatically by Mac OS X without any user intervention (though there is actually a System Preference to deactivate it, if you choose). Apps that use advanced graphics frameworks such as OpenGL, Core Graphics, Quartz Composer or others will cause the OS to trigger the discrete GPU. So, when you are reading or writing Mail, or editing an Excel spreadsheet, Mac OS X will simply use the integrated Intel HD graphics. If you fire up Aperture or Photoshop, Mac OS X kicks on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M.

The second way that it differs from Optimus is that the integrated graphics are powered down when the discrete GPU is active. This saves even more power than Optimus does, leading to a stated battery life as long as nine hours.

Apple credits its solution to the company's attention to detail when it comes to user interaction (though its original solution with its login/logout missed this mark), and because Apple is unique among PC vendors in that it controls both the hardware and software. That level of integration is much more difficult when multiple vendors control different parts of the system.

New Macbook Pro 13-inch stays Core duo -- "seamless" hybrid graphics only for 15- and 17-inch models

It turns out the rumors were wrong, and there *is* an update MacBook Pro 13.3-inch model. It features a Core 2 Duo CPU and a 320M NVIDIA graphics card. For the 15- and 17-inch models, with i5/i7 core CPUs, Apple's press releases describes the hybrid graphics capabilities as:

"Apple's new automatic graphics switching technology that toggles seamlessly between powerful NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and energy efficient Intel HD Graphics processors."

But again, that is only for the 15- and 17-inch models with the NVIDIA 330M cards.
So from the looks of it, the new Macbook Pro 13-inch will be competing for price/features with the low-end Sony Vaio Z model. The high-end Sony Vaio Z models, with newer Intel CPUs, powerful hybrid graphics GPUs and Quad-SSD options, remain unchallenged.
Also unchallenged in the sub-$1000 are going to be the powerful new U/UL lines from ASUS and the TimelineX series from Acer: ASUS UL30Vt, ASUS U30Jc, ASUS UL30Jt and Acer 3820TG.
ASUS remains king of the hill for battery life with the ~12 hours in UL30A models, and >10 hours for the hybrid models, like the UL30Vt and the yet-to-be-released UL30Jt.
Acer follows closely with more CPU and GPU power with the announced 3820TG, very competitive prices and decent battery life.

Apple Updates MacBook Pro Line

The 2.4 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

* 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
* 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
* 1066 MHz front-side bus;
* 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
* NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics;
* 250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
* AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* iSight® video camera;
* two USB 2.0 ports;
* one FireWire® 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
* SD card slot;
* combined headphone/line in (analog/digital);
* glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
* built-in, 63.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
* 60 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.

The 2.66 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

* 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
* 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
* 1066 MHz front-side bus;
* 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
* NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics;
* 320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
* a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
* Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
* AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
* Gigabit Ethernet port;
* iSight video camera;
* two USB 2.0 ports;
* one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
* SD card slot;
* combined headphone/line in (analog/digital);
* glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
* built-in, 63.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
* 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Nvidia Optimus in Linux -- the hardware is here

There are already 3 Linux users with Nvidia optimus-enabled laptops as of today (20100407), and given that ASUS has officially announced more optimus-enabled models, like the ASUS U30Jc and ASUS UL30Jt (go to Linux Macbook Air killers for more info), it's only a matter of time to see this hardware cropping up in hardware stores.
Things are far from perfect in the Linux world when it comes to Optimus support, although open-source work has started in this regard:
http://airlied.livejournal.com/71734.html
Also, there is still time for a Google Summer of Code application to the project (deadline is 9 Apr 2010).
What is important is that now people with the hardware at hand start contribution with a tiny bit of their time in giving debugging information. In the Linux Hybrid Graphics launchpad team, we've set up a doodle where anyone with this kind of hardware can pledge their debugging efforts towards full Nvidia Optimus support in Linux:
http://www.doodle.com/63fyczzrxqaquhqx
If you are a Linux user and have a Optimus-enabled laptop, please consider adding your name to the doodle!

Google Summer of Code 2010: Cool X.Org projects

X.Org Wiki - SummerOfCodeIdeas

Open Source PRIME multi-gpu support

This SoC project involves taking the nvidia optimus technology and implementing the same technology in open source driver stack. Some work has already been done to flesh this out in http://airlied.livejournal.com/71734.html there needs to be more work done in integrating it into the kernel and X.org stacks along with some client side method of picking which apps should be started where. Also the possibility of rendering 2D apps could be investigated.

Possible mentor: DavidAirlie

X.Org Wiki - SummerOfCodeIdeas

Gallium H.264 decoding

Write a VDPAU state tracker for Gallium. In Gallium, state trackers implement APIs, and generate card-independent shaders. This allows supporting multiple cards with a single piece of code. As part of Summerof Code 2008, a student successfully implemented g3dvl, a video layer for decoding XvMC on top of Gallium. This project separated the video decoding code into two parts: a common vl part, and an XvMC frontend. The result allowed hardware accelerated MPEG2 playback on all Gallium-supported hardware. The purpose of this project is to build upon this code and add H.264 and VDPAU support. This requires improving the vl code for features that differ between H.262 and H.264, and adding a new VDPAU frontend. Furthermore, not all H.264 features can be implemented using shaders (like for example CABAC), so integrating CPU-based and GPU-based acceleration stages together will be another challenge. Ultimately, the purpose of this project is the production of a fully open source chain for hardware video decoding on any Gallium-supported GPU.

Possible mentor: StephaneMarchesin

Google Summer of Code 2010 -- Open Source PRIME multi-gpu support

The would-be student application discussion period for the Google Summer of Code 2010 has started:
http://socghop.appspot.com/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2010/faqs#timeline
Potential students can now browse through the different proposals and choose the coolest sexiest project they want to spend their summer working on. The coolest sexiest project of all in the Hybrid Graphics Linux field is obviously the one David Airlie will be mentoring within the X.org:
http://wiki.x.org/wiki/SummerOfCodeIdeas

Open Source PRIME multi-gpu support

This
SoC project involves taking the nvidia optimus technology and
implementing the same technology in open source driver stack. Some work
has already been done to flesh this out in http://airlied.livejournal.com/71734.html there needs to be more work done in integrating it into the kernel and
X.org stacks along with some client side method of picking which apps
should be started where. Also the possibility of rendering 2D apps could be investigated.

Mentor: DavidAirlie

As it's stated in the description, David Airlie has already done a bit of work in this area, so it's now ripe time for an enthusiastic student to apply for the project and spend time experimenting with Linux/Xorg code to implement cool new Linux features for the newest line of GPU hardware on the market. All this while earning good money from Google! Who said open-source software doesn't pay???!?!

If you are an enthusiastic student interested in hybrid graphics features in Linux, contact David now!
If you are not a student but know someone who would be interested, spread the word :-)
If you are none of the above, but would like this project to happen, write your encouraging words as a comment to this post!