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Closed Out!! Can one make a graphics card to use the Express Slot of the MacBook Pro?

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I have a thing against closed systems. One peeve is the non-disclosure of information needed to make 3rd party firmware for digital cameras and another is the built in obsolescence of Mac Laptops, to whit the MacBook Pro graphics card power. Since a 17 year old kid claimed to have hacked the iPhone with just a few hours and a minor soldering job, I got to thinking as whether what we believe are limitations to the MacBook Pro are necessarily barriers we have to accept.

I saw this report of a little wonder chip from Toshiba and it got me wondering as to why we can't have a more open platform with using 3rd party graphics cards. A paradox that should make Jobs blush, the MacBook Pro is really crippled for top performance using Apples own Aperture software! One cannot upgrade the built in video card and that is a major stranglehold on speed for this software.

img1701.jpg

100mega polygon/second rendering surpasses performance of handheld game consoles, will stimulate new software

"Toshiba's new chip integrates a new developed 3D graphics processor that achieves 38 times*2 the performance of existing products. Its extremely advanced capabilities open the way to further development of software applications of mobile phones. The new chip is also compatible with programmable shader*3, and its advanced rendering capabilities will bring realistic shading and reflectivity to mobile phones for the first time.

Alongside the new 3D graphics processor, the new LSI also integrates Toshiba's "Media Embedded Processor" (MeP) to handle sound, a host processor, a WVGA LCD controller for wide-screen displays, and brings all the essential components of a game console onto a single chip dedicated to enhancing mobile phone game performance.

With the launch of the high performance TC35711XBG, Toshiba will contribute to further development in games for mobile phones, while reinforcing its position as a technology and market leader in advanced LSI.

*1 In terms of pixels, it can render 800 mega-pixels a second.
*2 Compared with Toshiba's existing product, TC35296XBG, which offers a high
performance of 2.6 mega-polygons a second.
*3 The latest programmable technology for 3D graphics which brings realistic shading." Source


So with chips this smart, should there be a barrier to expanding current laptop Graphics capability or are we stuck?

I'm not saying this particular chip can be used! However, is it that difficult to design a graphics card from existing technology using such high performance chips from Toshiba Texas Instruments etc?

So does anyone hold any hope that the Express slot can be used for adding graphics power or is this not really feasable?

Asher
 
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