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rMBR 13" Late 2013 UI Lag

LucasG

LucasG

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 4, 2010
192
3
So I recently went to visit my parents to Orlando, FL and decided to buy one (not living in the US atm) and noticed it for a few days and thought an update might quickly fix it, but after more research it doesn't seem to be the case, or that simple. According to what I understand there are two types of screen, one by Samsung and the other by ... can't remember. I'd love to keep using retina resolution, I love it, looks really sharp, but would like to see my OS X running smooth.

Any ideas if I should try and exchange it or wait for an update that could fix it? I mean the Intel Iris isn't too bad of an integrated GPU to display properly these resolutions, even if it's more pixels?
 
LucasG said:
So I recently went to visit my parents to Orlando, FL and decided to buy one (not living in the US atm) and noticed it for a few days and thought an update might quickly fix it, but after more research it doesn't seem to be the case, or that simple. According to what I understand there are two types of screen, one by Samsung and the other by ... can't remember. I'd love to keep using retina resolution, I love it, looks really sharp, but would like to see my OS X running smooth.

Any ideas if I should try and exchange it or wait for an update that could fix it? I mean the Intel Iris isn't too bad of an integrated GPU to display properly these resolutions, even if it's more pixels?
Click to expand...

Well, what's the configuration? (cpu/RAM/ssd size)? And what is happening? There really isn't a UI lag for most people, for the most part, so I'm wondering if you have one with a problem. (my 13" Retina has never had any problems--it is the "middle" model with 2.4 ghz/256 SSD).
 
Got the i5 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD. 13-inch Late 2013.
 
You still haven't really described what's laggy. I have the 8gb/256gb ssd model and I have no complaints.
 
Yeah, can you be more specific? It is true that is the model that gives you the least room to play with (slower SSD, for one--most people here recommend the 2.4/8gb/256 configuration). On the other hand, I haven't heard of any problems with your model and the OS. On the 2012 model, some people did complain about scroll lag, but I don't think that's an issue with any of the late 2013 models (though I could be wrong about that).
 
The 13'' rMBP has UI lag - more so if you use the scaled resolutions.

It is hard to point out exactly where and how it happens, but the overall feeling is that the UI is not as snappy as e.g. on my 15'' from 2011, even though that one is using a HD 3000 GPU most of the time.

Note that this has nothing to do with the screen itself, i.e. whether it is a Samsung or a LG shouldn't matter.

I got used to it, most of the time it is not noticeable anyways. The 15'' seems to have less issues with UI lag, maybe that is worth a try if it bothers you too much on the 13''.
 
thundersteele said:
The 13'' rMBP has UI lag - more so if you use the scaled resolutions.

It is hard to point out exactly where and how it happens, but the overall feeling is that the UI is not as snappy as e.g. on my 15'' from 2011, even though that one is using a HD 3000 GPU most of the time.

Note that this has nothing to do with the screen itself, i.e. whether it is a Samsung or a LG shouldn't matter.

I got used to it, most of the time it is not noticeable anyways. The 15'' seems to have less issues with UI lag, maybe that is worth a try if it bothers you too much on the 13''.
Click to expand...
Well put! The mba doesnt have this problem.
Just get an app like switchresx to enable non-hdpi resolution. That will solve the lag.
 
Looks pretty typical to me. Just for kicks, I tried LaunchPad on my 15" rMBP and it does the same thing although maybe slightly less jagged as I opened and closed a LaunchPad folder.

To be fair interface lag is something Mac's have always had. For instance opening up the Utilities folder in Applications in the Finder on my nice shiny new rMBP still has a second or two of lag where Mac OS is loading the icon images. It has been like this through every generation of Mac I have ever owned - iMac G4, PowerBook G4, MBP 15" 2008, MBP 15" 2011, and rMBP 15".
 
TheIguana said:
Looks pretty typical to me. Just for kicks, I tried LaunchPad on my 15" rMBP and it does the same thing although maybe slightly less jagged as I opened and closed a LaunchPad folder.

To be fair interface lag is something Mac's have always had. For instance opening up the Utilities folder in Applications in the Finder on my nice shiny new rMBP still has a second or two of lag where Mac OS is loading the icon images. It has been like this through every generation of Mac I have ever owned - iMac G4, PowerBook G4, MBP 15" 2008, MBP 15" 2011, and rMBP 15".
Click to expand...

that simply is not true, retinas are laggy, for example in comparison to airs. my air does not have those little lags (launchpad, switching between spaces..), both retina MBs I had were little laggy.. so, question is, does OP care much about it? or is it just minor problem, a negligible trade-off for crisp screen? OP has to find the answer:)
 
majkom said:
that simply is not true, retinas are laggy, for example in comparison to airs. my air does not have those little lags (launchpad, switching between spaces..), both retina MBs I had were little laggy.. so, question is, does OP care much about it? or is it just minor problem, a negligible trade-off for crisp screen? OP has to find the answer:)
Click to expand...

I can only speak from my past experience but Mac OS has always had bit of lag to it - personally I don't find it something to panic about but for some people it is a big deal...

But in the infamous words of Douglas Adams:
 

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TheIguana said:
I can only speak from my past experience but Mac OS has always had bit of lag to it - personally I don't find it something to panic about but for some people it is a big deal...

But in the infamous words of Douglas Adams:
Click to expand...

Yeah...I don't notice it either, though I jumped right from a PowerPC mac to a rmbp, so everything seems fast by comparison. But when I switch back and forth between my wife's cmbp and my rmbp and my iMac at work I don't really notice any UI difference. I'll also say that I haven't noticed the Windows computers at work to be especially snappier, though we don't have the latest thing. I mean, the retina screen requires more graphics processing, so I can see where a well-speced Air might be a little faster (you know, fast SSD but regular screen). I'd have to agree with the "don't panic" sentiment, though!
 
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I mean, it does work snappier using non-retina resolution, but to be honest I love the Retina resolution, it's really crisp! Wish just the animation performance could be up to par with non-retina resolution.

But I guess I can live with it, there's still a lot on the web that doesn't have retina resolution (starting with the MacRumors smilies for example :D)

Thanks for the help! I'll keep calm ;)
 
The menus in the video are absolutely smooth — its called delayed animation and its a featurure of OS X (menu does not open immediately the instance you click on it). Launchpad is laggy, sure, but I bet so is iTunes and App Store. These applications are always laggy with OS X, its simply more pronounced with the retina due to increased amount of drawing work. And no GPU upgrade will fix that. Although, my early 2012 rMBP with HD4000 seems to be slightly smoother on the Launchpad thing — maybe you have some sort of setting that bogs Launchpad down?
 
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