[arendtio]

I know this is an Apple/Mac discussion, but from a Linux/OSS perspective, it looks very different. If it weren't for CUDA, Tensorflow and so on, I wouldn't even consider buying NVIDIA (anymore).

Currently, I have a laptop with NVIDIA graphics and a desktop PC with AMD graphics. The AMD stuff just works; out of the box (OSS, good performance, happy user). But NVIDIA either comes with nouveau (OSS, poor performance) or the nvidia proprietary binary driver which has all sorts of weird issues (e.g. always-on fans, animations running at different speeds, etc.).

Sure, this doesn't say anything about how a Mac would run with NVIDIA drivers, but it gives a hint that NVIDIA has its own weak spots. But the reason why Apple decided to skip on NVIDIA in this case, is probably rooted deeper within their strategies.

[jachee]

There was an anecdote on a semi-recent (sometime this year) episode of ATP where an inside source related to them that nVidia were a terrible organization to try and work with. They apparently screwed Apple over, and Apple has a long memory for that sort of thing.