Despite Apple’s recent usage of ATI graphics hardware for the MacBook Pro’s discrete graphics chips, SemiAccurate reports that Apple will be making the move back to NVidia for future MacBook Pro models.
The change will likely begin with Apple’s new Ivy-Bridge based MacBooks next year, and comes after Apple has just finished switching their entire line of Macs to AMD’s ATI chips.
According to the report, the market for discrete graphics for mobile computers is shrinking, as fewer notebooks contain dedicated graphics. As such, Apple has been forced to use Intel’s integrated graphics in its smaller notebooks, like the 13″ MacBook Pro and all current models of the MacBook Air.
It’s unclear exactly why Apple is switching from ATI chips to NVidia chips, but graphics performance and power consumption are likely key factors.