#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA HOW TO#
#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA MAC OS X#
#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA PRO#
#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA SOFTWARE#

I know I don't need a dedicated GPU so to me the trade-off is a no-brainer.Īpple basing GPU switching on frameworks in use and doing so automatically - well I am not surprised it doesn't work very well - the only surprise is that it works at all. I was ready to write one myself, actually. When the automatic switching first came out, my only thought was: Can it be turned off? My second thought was I hope somebody would write a utility that does it.

#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA SOFTWARE#

Thanks, man!! Once I receive my new rMBP this will be the first piece of software I install, and I'll donate too. Huge thank you to Cody Krieger for fixing this issue. I think gfxCardStatus is sort of a compromise between Apple's and NVIDIA's approaches. GfxCardStatus gives similar control to the Optimus control panel, but it doesn't have an exceptions list-something Apple purposefully wanted to avoid in its implementation. This saves even more power than Optimus does, leading to a stated battery life as long as nine hours.' The second way that it differs from Optimus is that the integrated graphics are powered down when the discrete GPU is active.

#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA MAC OS X#

If you fire up Aperture or Photoshop, Mac OS X kicks on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. So, when you are reading or writing Mail, or editing an Excel spreadsheet, Mac OS X will simply use the integrated Intel HD graphics. Apps that use advanced graphics frameworks such as OpenGL, Core Graphics, Quartz Composer or others will cause the OS to trigger the discrete GPU. The first is that the switching is all handled automatically by Mac OS X without any user intervention (though there is actually a System Preference to deactivate it, if you choose). 'Apple's approach in the new 15' and 17' MacBook Pros differs from Optimus in two key ways.

And we have also said repeatedly that its functionality should have been included in the first place, including in the original review of the rMBP as well as the very article you are commenting on.įrom my article where I explain the differences between the system in OS X and Optimus:

#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA HOW TO#

letting the user decide how to switch graphics instead of OS X when an override can provide a specific advantage. I guess you can blame Apple for having such good power management that our expectations were too high, perhaps.įurthermore, I'd argue that gfxCardStatus is pretty much a perfect fix for the issues as described-i.e. Our complaint in the original review was that we weren't getting MORE than advertised, as we are accustomed to with EVERY Apple laptop we have ever tested up until now. So we were already getting the advertised battery life, which doesn't make an absolute claim. When we used gfxCardStatus to eliminate the problem caused by Twitter and other apps that do not need a discrete GPU to function normally, we consistently got MORE than 8 hours. The testing we did showed that with discrete graphics running ALL THE TIME, even when it DIDN'T NEED TO, we could get 6.5 hours. Under High Sierra (didn't work under Catalina) disabling the GT 650M by that nvram-variable playing with the power preferences.Click to expand.The advertised battery life is 'up to' 7 hours of wireless web use. As one can imagine, it's literally 'hit or miss', and as soon as i reboot, i have a black screen again.

The only situations where i got everything working:īoot with external display, open gfxCardStatus, disconnect external display and then try to blindly click on 'use HD4000'. But i couldn't find much on the web for the A1286 model: Where is the U8900 on that board? Is it the same procedure as for the retina models? For the retina-model there was a common problem that the U8900 chip needed resoldering. Sometimes i even get video on the internal screen when i disable the 650M by software-mod but it's very inconsistent. It has a black screen, external video works though and i already replaced the whole display assembly.

#GFXCARDSTATUS 2012 RETINA PRO#

Hey people, i have a Macbook Pro 15 mid-2012 (A1286), so non retina here.

Gfxcardstatus 2012 retina