According to the invention, systems, apparatus and methods are disclosed for providing bimodal voltage references for use in differential signaling between components or devices. In an embodiment, a switchable power supply is used to produce at least one of two or more supply voltages based on the value of a selection signal received by the switchable power supply. This selection signal is also used by at least one of the elements to switch between a reference voltage produced by another device and a reference voltage derived from the supply voltage. In certain embodiments, the reference voltage derived from the power supply and the selection via a multiplexing circuit is contained within one of the devices (e.g., a chip), which provides certain design and cost advantages.