The next generation of Apple’s Mac mini will be based on Nvidia’s Ion chipset, claims Tom’s Hardware.
At the heart of the claim is this from Tom’s Hardware author Tuan Nguyen:
An Nvidia partner confirmed to us that Apple was the first to receive samples of Nvidia’s Ion platform…..In fact, Apple received prototype units long before Nvidia partners who opted to work on Ion. We’re told that some partners still only have blueprints of Ion.
Fair enough. But the Ion platform consists of Nvidia’s 9400M GPU (currently used in the MacBook and MacBook Pro) paired with Intel’s Atom 330. What a second? An Atom? This is where the controversy lies. The Atom 330 runs at 1.6 GHz and uses a 533 MHz front side bus for RAM. The current Mac mini has a 64-bit Core 2 Duo inside that runs at 1.83 or 1 GHz with 667 MHz RAM. So there’s a trade-off here that doesn’t make complete sense. While the 9400M would be an upgrade in terms of graphics performance, the Intel processor is a step down in processing power. However the size of the Ion platform would likely result in a Mac mini smaller than the current model.
Macrumors has previously come across evidence that the new Mac mini’s would indeed use an Nvidia chipset, but the reference was to Nvidia’s MCP79, which pairs the 9400M with an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.
So does an Atom-based processor make sense at all? I don’t think so, but Apple Insider does point out that it could be done if Apple implemented its new OpenCL technology and passed off some of the processing load to the faster GPU. But this is a workaround solution that would still result in a performance downgrade from the current mini’s.
The only way this would fly is if Apple wanted to build a low-cost netbook for emerging markets. Using the Ion chipset would dramatically lower the cost of a Mac mini, possibly as low as $400. However, Apple die-hards would never settle for this. That said, I wouldn’t put any money on this rumor coming true.
