A MacBook Pro-specific update to Mac OS X 10.6.7 includes native support for several 5000 and 6000 series AMD Radeon GPUs. Apple doesn't typically include support for GPUs that aren't in shipping products, so the inclusion has some important implications for Mac Pro users, future Sandy Bridge iMacs, and even for the "hackintosh" scene.

According to hackintosh site tonymacx86, Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro contains native support for a range of Radeon HD 5xxx and HD 6xxx cards. The support brings full Quartz Extreme and CoreImage acceleration on these GPUs. tonymacx86 notes that for those building hackintosh systems—PCs built to run Mac OS X—using one of these cards won't require hacks or special kernel extensions such as Chameleon's GraphicsEnabler or ATY_init.

GPU Device ID ATI Radeon HD 5630 0x68D8 ATI Radeon HD 5630 0x68D9 ATI Radeon HD 5670 0x68D8 ATI Radeon HD 5730 0x68D8 ATI Radeon HD 5770 0x68B8 ATI Radeon HD 5850 0x6899 ATI Radeon HD 5870 0x6898 AMD Radeon HD 6850 0x6739 AMD Radeon HD 6870 0x6738 AMD Radeon HD 6970 0x6718 The full list of supported Radeon GPUs

Beyond making it easier to build a hackintosh, the new video card support has other ramifications. The Radeon HD 6xxx series cards in the list could very well be used in the next expected iMac revision with Sandy Bridge processors, rumored to arrive as soon as April.

The support may also mean that Mac Pro users won't have to continue to buy special and often expensive "Mac edition" Radeon GPUs; instead, such users could buy standard cards available for Windows PCs. Developers experimenting with Lion have already determined some Radeon 5000 and 6000 series cards are supported without hacks as well.

No new NVIDIA GPUs are covered by this native support. Mac Pros, iMacs, and now MacBook Pros all use AMD Radeon GPUs. The only NVIDIA GPUs still shipping from Apple are the ones integrated in the 320M controllers used in current MacBooks, MacBook Airs, and Mac minis. These platforms are likely to rely on integrated Intel GPUs once updated to Sandy Bridge processors some time later this year.