NVIDIA and Intel Settle, NVIDIA Still Prohibited from Building Chipsets for Newest Intel Processors
Much has been made over the past year or so regarding NVIDIA's
exit from the chipset business in the wake of a dispute with Intel over whether or not NVIDIA was permitted to build chipsets for Intel's latest Core series processors. That dispute forced Apple's hand for its recent small notebooks, leading Apple to stick with aging Core 2 Duo processors paired with a custom NVIDIA integrated graphics chip, as NVIDIA was still permitted to offer chipsets compatible with those processors. The alternative for Apple was to offer newer Intel processors but with Intel's integrated graphics, which offered much poorer performance than NVIDIA's offerings.
NVIDIA and Intel today announced that they have entered into a new patent cross-licensing agreement that will see Intel pay NVIDIA $1.5 billion over six years, but the new agreement (PDF) appears to still prohibit NVIDIA from developing its own chipsets for Intel's latest processors.
The Parties agree to amend the Chipset License by adding the following at the end of Section 2.14 of the Chipset License:
"Notwithstanding anything else in this Agreement, NVIDIA Licensed Chipsets shall not include any Intel Chipsets that are capable of electrically interfacing directly (with or without buffering or pin, pad or bump reassignment) with an Intel Processor that has an integrated (whether on-die or in-package) main memory controller, such as, without limitation, the Intel Processor families that are code named 'Nehalem', 'Westmere' and 'Sandy Bridge.'"
Rumors of a settlement had been circulating, but NVIDIA has remain firm in its stance that it has exited the chipset business for good and that Apple is likely to continue using Core 2 Duo processors paired with NVIDIA's MCP89 chipset for quite some time. For its part, Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors, introduced last week, bring significantly enhanced graphics performance for integrated systems, making them a viable alternative for Apple in future hardware updates.
Update: From the press call:
NVIDIA just said on its press call that it has "no intentions to build chipsets for Intel processors," and that Intel will be able to use NVIDIA's technology in Sandy Bridge
Popular Stories
Significant changes are expected to arrive with Apple's fourth-generation iPhone SE, in terms of both design and hardware, MacRumors has learned. The iPhone SE 4, known internally under the codename Ghost, is expected to receive a new design derived almost entirely from the base model iPhone 14. According to our sources, the iPhone SE 4 will use a modified version of the iPhone 14 chassis...
At WWDC 2022 last year, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, personalization options, and more. Apple said the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience would be announced in late 2023, but it has still not shared any additional...
Wednesday September 27, 2023 1:57 pm PDT by
Juli CloverJust a week after releasing iOS 17, Apple has seeded the first beta of iOS 17.1 to developers. iOS 17.1 adds some features that Apple promised were coming to iOS 17 in the future, plus it refines and improves some existing features. This guide covers everything new in the first iOS 17.1 beta. Apple Music Favorites You can favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists in the iOS 17.1...
iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max overheating concerns continue to make headlines this week, with the topic highlighted by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. Both of the reports document anecdotal complaints from customers, and outline potential causes, but it's unclear how many devices are actually affected. Bloomberg said the overheating could be caused or compounded by the iPhone's setup...
Apple plans to release an iOS 17 update to address a bug that may contribute to the reported iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max overheating issue, according to a statement the company shared today with MacRumors and Forbes reporter David Phelan. Apple also says some recent updates to third-party apps have overloaded the system and contributed to the overheating issue. The report notes that...
Apple added a USB-C port to the iPhone 15 lineup this year, allowing it to work with USB-C cables, USB-C power banks, and more. It turns out that some USB-C battery packs are not working properly with Apple's iPhone 15, resulting in charging issues. As highlighted on Reddit and the MacRumors forums, not all existing USB-C power banks can be used with the iPhone 15 models, perhaps due to the...
Apple today released iOS 17.0.2 and iPadOS 17.0.2 updates, with the software coming five days after the releases of iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1. Today's iOS 17.0.2 and iPadOS 17.0.2 updates arrive as build 21A351 and can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Note that iOS 17.0.2 was previously made available for iPhone...