![]() ![]() gfxCardStatus is useful for the switching abilities it provides you with, but it can also be helpful for determining which of the apps you are running is causing your MacBook Pro to switch GPUs and override the setting if you disagree. The app can be used on MacBook Pro 2008 onwards, but the big news in the latest version of the program is the addition of support for the retina display of newer MacBook Pros. ![]() ![]() If you want to save a little battery when you are away from a power source, you might want to switch to the integrated GPU, while if you want to ensure that you are getting the best graphical performance, switching to the discrete GPU is just a couple of clicks away. Manual switching is a great feature of the app, and it is something that can be done on the fly without the need for a restart or log out. One of two icons appears in the menu bar indicating whether you are using the integrated or discrete GPU – expect to see an i or a d accordingly.Should you find that these small icons are not obvious enough for you, there’s support for Growl notifications so you can be alerted when GPU switching takes place. Used as an information tool, gfxCardStatus is incredibly unobtrusive, but in addition to letting you know which GPU is in use, you are also given the option of manually switching. I had to reboot my Mac following the Twitterrific stall, but otherwise nothing else was harmed.If you have a MacBook Pro with a dual GPU, gfxCardStatus is a handy tool that enables you to quickly see which of them is in use and also to switch between them at will. Restarting Bus圜al fixed the problem, and it turns out the program offers an optional setting to not use Core Animation. In my testing, Bus圜al 1.6, for example, wouldn’t advance the month correctly, and Twitterrific froze my machine. The former is simply a shortcut for disabling the aforementioned Automatic Graphics Switching setting the latter actually forces apps to use limited resources, as if the apps were running on a Mac, such as the 13-inch MacBook Pro, with only an integrated GPU.īefore using the Integrated Only option, though, make sure you quit all applications listed under Dependencies, as some programs don’t take kindly to having the expected GPU pulled out from under them. If you’re especially worried about battery life, gfxCardStatus lets you force the issue by choosing Discrete Only or Integrated Only from the utility’s menu. But the most valuable part of gfxCardStatus to me is that its menu lists which specific running apps are dependencies, or using discrete graphics, so I can quit them when I need to eke out more time from the battery’s charge. Growl notification whenever the GPU changes.īy watching for these changes, you can get a better idea of which tasks cause your MacBook Pro to use the power-hungry GPU. You can also configure gfxCardStatus to display a The menu’s icon reveals, at a glance, which GPU is in use: i for integrated or d for discrete. The solution is gfxCardStatus, which runs as a systemwide menu. The Energy Saver pane of System Preferences lets you disable the Automatic Graphics Switching option, but doing so actually forces the computer to use the discrete GPU, an option that drains the battery even faster. The only way to make sure you’re using the integrated GPU is to quit applications that rely on the discrete GPU, since OS X doesn’t let you choose to stick to the latter. So even if you’re working from battery power and trying to minimize battery usage (by turning down screen brightness, for example), you may still be using discrete-graphics-card cycles-and, thus, more energy. The problem is, some applications you wouldn’t think need a lot of graphics power actually rely on features such as OS X’s Core Animation that require the discrete graphics card. Some quick background: All 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models from 2010 and later, as well as 20 models outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce 9400M/9600M GT, dynamically switch between a low-power (and lower-performance) integrated Intel graphics chip and a power-hungrier (and better-performance) discrete Nvidia or AMD graphics card, based on the needs of running applications. ![]()
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