Owners: how bad are the lag issues on the Retina MB Pro?

gwelmarten said:

Hi
Just considering buying a MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
A question for the owners of this: on MacRumors, we read this, discussing how the retina MBP is pushing it's graphics limits.
How much of a problem are you finding this? Is it noticeable?
Also, for the brain boxes:
If the graphics card and onboard graphics on the CPU are working full pelt, does this imply that the life of these CPU sections / chips will be decreased?

All in all, what I am asking is, is this enough of a reason for you to advise be to buy the non-retina model rather than the retina one?

Sam

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There are a ton of threads on this exact topic, with dozens of replies.

In short: it bothers some people, some people don't even notice it.

gwelmarten said:

Hi
Just considering buying a MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
A question for the owners of this: on MacRumors, we read this, discussing how the retina MBP is pushing it's graphics limits.
How much of a problem are you finding this? Is it noticeable?
Also, for the brain boxes:
If the graphics card and onboard graphics on the CPU are working full pelt, does this imply that the life of these CPU sections / chips will be decreased?

All in all, what I am asking is, is this enough of a reason for you to advise be to buy the non-retina model rather than the retina one?

Sam

Click to expand...

There are already numerous threads about this. Did you even bother searching? The most recent one is this:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1397436/

Ahh great yet another thread asking the same questions over and over again.

gwelmarten said:

Hi
Just considering buying a MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
A question for the owners of this: on MacRumors, we read this, discussing how the retina MBP is pushing it's graphics limits.
How much of a problem are you finding this? Is it noticeable?
Also, for the brain boxes:
If the graphics card and onboard graphics on the CPU are working full pelt, does this imply that the life of these CPU sections / chips will be decreased?

All in all, what I am asking is, is this enough of a reason for you to advise be to buy the non-retina model rather than the retina one?

Sam

Click to expand...

The general response seems to be that everything is fixed in Mountain Lion.

Dwhite78 said:

There are a ton of threads on this exact topic, with dozens of replies.

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And this is the single most annoying reply I know. As if it was such an enormous bother opening this thread and reading it. One thing is entertaining the newbies, another thing is that more discussion hardly hurts the level of thinking in here.

Anyway ... my reply: My rMBP has virtually no lag. It looks like there is a lot of variation. Maybe they´ve already worked on solving the issue?

P

gwelmarten said:

Fantastic! I didn't read that, so it's very good news. Thank you.

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everything is NOT fixed in mountain lion. the only people claiming that are the ones purposely ignoring UI lag because they don't mind it.

gwelmarten said:

Hi
Just considering buying a MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
All in all, what I am asking is, is this enough of a reason for you to advise be to buy the non-retina model rather than the retina one?

Sam

Click to expand...

Absolutely not. I took a quite a bit of effort for me to even emulate the "lag" issue. Yes, there are certain conditions in which you can make scrolling "stutter" a little in Safari. The retina display is awesome. I'm migrating from a 17" and I was very concerned about losing the screen real estate when I ordered the MBPr. Now that I'm using it, I like the experience on the retina so much more than the 17" that it's difficult to communicate how impressive it is.

Don't believe the fear mongers. The retina display will blow you away.

I've been hammering the machine (32gb page outs for example).

Can't say I've noticed any lag - but I've not been looking for it either.

Pagga said:

And this is the single most annoying reply I know. As if it was such an enormous bother opening this thread and reading it. One thing is entertaining the newbies, another thing is that more discussion hardly hurts the level of thinking in here.

Anyway ... my reply: My rMBP has virtually no lag. It looks like there is a lot of variation. Maybe they´ve already worked on solving the issue?

P

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Um, I love how you selectively quoted me. I said that by way of stating, there might be more threads with useful information. And the I further stated an answer to his question. Good job!

Dwhite78 said:

Um, I love how you selectively quoted me. I said that by way of stating, there might be more threads with useful information. And the I further stated an answer to his question. Good job!

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A quote is almost by definition selective. But I admit it was you and not your answer I was after.

Some people will always find something to complain about. I haven't had any problems with my retina. Had some problems with a couple of programs but I found workarounds for them.

Love the retina! Nothing's perfect but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Haha, I use a Logitech mouse when surfing on my retina so no glide scrolling for me.

Greg M said:

Some people will always find something to complain about. I haven't had any problems with my retina. Had some problems with a couple of programs but I found workarounds for them.

Love the retina! Nothing's perfect but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

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Did not answer the question.

Jiten said:

Haha, I use a Logitech mouse when surfing on my retina so no glide scrolling for me.

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You did not answer the question either.

DVD9 said:

Did not answer the question.







You did not answer the question either.

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Oh your answer was useful, wasn't it?

I did answer one of his questions. Obviously if I was able to find workarounds for the programs that I use then why wouldn't I recommend the retina?

As for the other question about wear and tear on the CPU and graphics I wouldn't think that it would be a problem. People have been over clocking GPU's and CPU's for years to play very demanding games with little to no problems. Apple has shown over time that they tend to setup their computers on the conservative side of pushing the hardware. My retina runs fairly cool most of the time but like other MBP's it can get hot when pushed.

There is some lag on some heavy picture sites when using the intel 4000, but I really don't care about it. With the discrete card it doesn't lag at all (or I just do not notice it).

Minimising/maximising/expose are all pretty laggy even on Mountain Lion, compared to a non-retina MBP. That said, this may still be fixed before the ML GM.

rikbrown said:

Minimising/maximising/expose are all pretty laggy even on Mountain Lion, compared to a non-retina MBP. That said, this may still be fixed before the ML GM.

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I've not experienced any of these.

Greg M said:

I've not experienced any of these.

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Really? Open an app, let's say Contacts, and press the green maximise button. Are you telling me that's perfectly smooth (i.e. "as butter")? Now open a few browser windows or something and do expose, are you telling me that animation is perfectly smooth too? Try putting a browser window into full screen. Again, not butter smooth.

Greg M said:

I've not experienced any of these.

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It's all relative. Some of us care how smooth the UI is, others don't. For those that do, keep in mind unless the final release of ML fixes it, your UI will run in the 20-30fps range vs. solid 60 fps on the current mac hardware. (Yes my 2011 MBA 13 is MUCH SMOOTHER overall than my rMBP at this point.) For example, my wife is perfectly fine playing WoW at 20-30 fps with low graphic settings on her MBA 13. For me, it doesn't feel smooth unless it's pegged at a solid 60 fps on my gaming desktop with a GTX 670. I'm choosing to live with it for now as the screen is really really really good. For the OP, go to the Apple store and do your usual web surfing. I know ML is smoother, but so far I've seen it only bumps up the UI fps in the teens in Lion to 20-30 fps which IMHO still laggy for me.

As someone who is posting from one now, I can confirm that there is lag. With that said, it's an extremely potent machine and performs most tasks superbly. There's just the weird lag in the GUI & certain applications (Safari, iTunes in particular) as a draw back. The Safari lag I find somewhat confusing, as I can really go crazy with the scrolling on this very forum and, as I have it open at present, The Guardian's website, yet a Google search page is a much jerkier affair. I'm only using Lion, so the reports (and videos) of the improvements served up by Mountain Lion DP4 are very welcome.

I'm sure it's largely a software optimisation issue; I mean, if we are to look at the benchmarks, both stock rMPBs outdo the high end stock 27" 2011 iMac and blitz the base 27"er. They may be destroyed in terms of pixel density, but the disparity in core resolution isn't so great that these more powerful machines should be unable to scroll Facebook smoothly or render the 'About This Mac' tabs smoothly. Of course, if I'm wildly off base with that interpretation, I shall gladly stand corrected.

One thing I will say is that there is something of an improvement when forcing the use of the discrete GPU - If connected to the mains (as I will be most of the time), do I stand to diminish the machine's well-being by opting for that more often than not?

magbarn said:

It's all relative. Some of us care how smooth the UI is, others don't. For those that do, keep in mind unless the final release of ML fixes it, your UI will run in the 20-30fps range vs. solid 60 fps on the current mac hardware. (Yes my 2011 MBA 13 is MUCH SMOOTHER overall than my rMBP at this point.) For example, my wife is perfectly fine playing WoW at 20-30 fps with low graphic settings on her MBA 13. For me, it doesn't feel smooth unless it's pegged at a solid 60 fps on my gaming desktop with a GTX 670. I'm choosing to live with it for now as the screen is really really really good. For the OP, go to the Apple store and do your usual web surfing. I know ML is smoother, but so far I've seen it only bumps up the UI fps in the teens in Lion to 20-30 fps which IMHO still laggy for me.

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Exactly.

rikbrown said:

Really? Open an app, let's say Contacts, and press the green maximise button. Are you telling me that's perfectly smooth (i.e. "as butter")? Now open a few browser windows or something and do expose, are you telling me that animation is perfectly smooth too?

It isn't.

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Contacts isn't buttery smooth but what difference does that make? That's petty and has no bearing on usability!

I have many safari windows open and they go fullscreen smoothly. Expose is very smooth with safari and other programs open.

Greg M said:

Contacts isn't buttery smooth but what difference does that make? That's petty and has no bearing on usability!

I have many safari windows open and they go fullscreen smoothly. Expose is very smooth with safari and other programs open.

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Contacts was one example, it happens with a lot of other applications.

Greg M said:

Contacts isn't buttery smooth but what difference does that make? That's petty and has no bearing on usability!

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Ok, let's focus on Contacts (and the other apps, that like it, are laggy) - why shouldn't it be smooth? It matters because this laptop cost me almost £2000, but the UI is more laggy than the MacBook I had 3 years ago. A smooth, consistent, experience is one of the many reasons people pick Apple laptops over PCs.

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FranksWildYears said:

I'm sure it's largely a software optimisation issue; I mean, if we are to look at the benchmarks, both stock rMPBs outdo the high end stock 27" 2011 iMac and blitz the base 27"er. They may be destroyed in terms of pixel density, but the disparity in core resolution isn't so great that these more powerful machines should be unable to scroll Facebook smoothly or render the 'About This Mac' tabs smoothly. Of course, if I'm wildly off base with that interpretation, I shall gladly stand corrected

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I think it is software too, the machine is a beast! - I'm hoping Apple optimise this some more before GM of 10.8, or in 10.8.1.