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Dedicated GPU vs Iris Pro

M

macman4789

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 12, 2007
369
33
Hey guys,

I've been looking at the 15" MBP with Iris Pro graphics and wondered how good it actually is for my needs. I'm hoping the answer will be a positive one but just wanted to check with the more knowledgeable people.

I will be using it mostly for day to say stuff but in addition some photo editing and iMovie stuff. Now and again I may be doing some video decoding. So how good is the Iris Pro shared graphics and how will it cope with the stuff I throw at it? I'm just making sure it's not worth upgrading to a dedicated GPU.

Thanks for any input
 
I think for your stated needs, the Iris Pro is up to snuff. The next MBP I get will be iGPU only. No more discrete GPU. I run Lightroom, PS, Office apps etc. I don't push my machine terribly hard but I think the integrated gpu will handle my PS/Lightroom needs well.
 
My current rmbp is using intel iris pro for GPU only. Iris pro is great gpu and It can do all the task I want especially video editing or photography. It offer an additional eDRAM cache of 128MB and so might offer performance identical to a dedicated GeForce GT 640M or a Radeon HD 7730M. My previous macbook pro early 2011 had discreet gpu issue and I am done with dgpu since I realize current igpu are capable doing all the task except for gaming.
 
The other thing to keep in mind, is Apple's track record with dGPUs. That's my main reason to avoid the dGPU. The 2008, 2010, 2011 MBPs all have dGPU failures. Stick with something that has a better chance of not being defective.
 
maflynn said:
The other thing to keep in mind, is Apple's track record with dGPUs. That's my main reason to avoid the dGPU. The 2008, 2010, 2011 MBPs all have dGPU failures. Stick with something that has a better chance of not being defective.
Click to expand...

I gave up on dgpu because It's not reliable after 2-3 years use. I was victim of radeongate but right now I am sticking with igpu.
 
My 2.7GHz early 2013 15" MacBook Pro has a 650M discrete GPU, but I wish it had Iris Pro and only Iris Pro graphics. I hope that the next time I buy a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro Apple will have completely eliminated discrete GPUs from the MacBook Pro product line -- almost there now.
 
Loving the Iris Pro only, even when it comes to gaming. Pro level performance with great battery life without constant dGPU switching and graphics glitches.

The dGPU is only worth it if your line work requires every once of GPU performance it can get.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. So how powerful is the Iris Pro compared to the dedicated GPU? I get the impression there isn't a lot of difference?

I'm just conscious I want the Iris Pro to last I.e. Be good enough to cope still in a few years....
 
macman4789 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. So how powerful is the Iris Pro compared to the dedicated GPU? I get the impression there isn't a lot of difference?

I'm just conscious I want the Iris Pro to last I.e. Be good enough to cope still in a few years....
Click to expand...

Iris Pro is only fast comparing with 2-3 years-old dGPUs like the 750M and 650M. The fair comparison would be with something like the 9XX series from Nvidia. Also, from a software perspective, a Nvidia GPU is capable of running both OpenCL and CUDA applications.

Although there was a Nvidiagate in previous Macbooks, the Radeongate seems to be a broader issue. Radeon and AMD stuff are known from overheating, since Athlon desktop and Turion mobile CPUs. I had a Toshiba Turion/Radeon laptop which I had to send for a reballing. It costed me around $300, the price of a logic board replacement by Apple.

I wouldn't avoid dGPUs because of Radeongate. Radeongate is an issue more related to AMD GPUs. Nvidia ones suffer less from this problem as far as I know. I'm not blindly defending Nvidia, but in short, I think it's good take the following facts into account:

- Nvidia mobile GPUs fail less than AMD mobile GPUs;
- Outdated GPUs perform nearly the same as Iris Pro, but Iris Pro is not capable of beating current AMD and Nvidia GPUs.
 
There has been Nvidiagate and Radeongate; not heard of an Intelgate in recent memory. Based on that track, I would say that Iris Pro has a good chance of lasting your intended span of use.
 
Everyone here is bashing the dGPU while I actually have problem with the integrated graphics from intel! If I enable graphics switching, the screen will turn off whenever it wants and turn back on and again off. I never get constant image. When I turn it off, meaning that the computer uses the dGPU, the system has no issue at all! I'm happy with my nvidia dGPU thought ATI is awful. It's a card for cheap computers and not sure why apple would use it!
 
sebseb said:
If I enable graphics switching, the screen will turn off whenever it wants and turn back on and again off. I never get constant image.
Click to expand...
Did you bring this back to apple for replacement/repair? That's not right and while anything can be defective. Integrated GPUs, mean the graphic processing circuity is on the same die as the cpu, so its hard to have something like that being defective.

With the dGPU, Apple's track record is horrible. With dGPU, they don't usually fail in year 1, but 2 to 3 for those who have the affected models. I'm holding my break figuratively, since my 2012 model is coming up on 3 years.
 
The dGPU can drive 3 external screens. The iGPU, 2. That's one of the actual capability differences between them.
 
Lightroom can't utilize a dGPU and photoshop is basically the same for photo editing ...so anything above the iris will give you 0 performance increase in regards to GPU
 
brdeveloper said:
Iris Pro is only fast comparing with 2-3 years-old dGPUs like the 750M and 650M. The fair comparison would be with something like the 9XX series from Nvidia.
Click to expand...

No, it wouldn't. The Iris Pro was released a few months later than the 750m.
 
Thanks for the input guys, so it's pretty fair to say the Iris Pro will more than cope with my needs over the next 3-4 years?
 
maflynn said:
Did you bring this back to apple for replacement/repair? That's not right and while anything can be defective. Integrated GPUs, mean the graphic processing circuity is on the same die as the cpu, so its hard to have something like that being defective.

With the dGPU, Apple's track record is horrible. With dGPU, they don't usually fail in year 1, but 2 to 3 for those who have the affected models. I'm holding my break figuratively, since my 2012 model is coming up on 3 years.
Click to expand...

I saw on Apple's website that if owners of 15" 2010 model have this issue, they will replace the logic board or repair it free of charge. But it must be within 3 years of purchase and mine started to have this issue after it's 3rd year!

But yeah I think apple still needs to work on their switching graphics technic and improve it.
 
lionkin said:
My current rmbp is using intel iris pro for GPU only. Iris pro is great gpu and It can do all the task I want especially video editing or photography. It offer an additional eDRAM cache of 128MB and so might offer performance identical to a dedicated GeForce GT 640M or a Radeon HD 7730M. My previous macbook pro early 2011 had discreet gpu issue and I am done with dgpu since I realize current igpu are capable doing all the task except for gaming.
Click to expand...

I'm exactly in the same boat. My 2011 Macbook pro has the gpu design flaw.

My 2006 imac died due to a bad gpu (nvidia geforce), all other components were just fine.

My friend's 2008 macbook pro died because of a faulty gpu.

And i read that the 2013 gt750 also overheats. I doubt it will last long. The apple forums already have threads on it. My friend has this model and his machine actually freezes when too much is going on.

I always use the laptop connected to a 27" led cinema display. This means the dedicated gpu must work all the time.

It is so sad that Apple quality control had come to this. I can actually AFFORD the 2013 top model with the gt750 (great deal in b&h), but I will probably choose to buy the cheaper model because I'm afraid the top model will not last very long. And yes - this is apple's fault. The gpu's are just fine. Lenovo make laptops with two nvidia gpu's in SLI. Apple simply doesn't know how to build good thermal envelopes due to their OCD with thinness. They also suck at applying thermal paste on their CPUs and GPUs.
 
Last edited:
maflynn said:
The 2008, 2010, 2011 MBPs all have dGPU failures.
Click to expand...
Wth iGPU's becoming more and more powerful, I wonder if in the future we will see an increasing number of problems with internal GPUs as well.
 
odedia said:
I'm exactly in the same boat. My 2011 Macbook pro has the gpu design flaw.

My 2006 imac died due to a bad gpu (nvidia geforce), all other components were just fine.

My friend's 2008 macbook pro died because of a faulty gpu.

And i read that the 2013 gt750 also overheats. I doubt it will last long. The apple forums already have threads on it. My friend has this model and his machine actually freezes when too much is going on.

I always use the laptop connected to a 27" led cinema display. This means the dedicated gpu must work all the time.

It is so sad that Apple quality control had come to this. I can actually AFFORD the 2013 top model with the gt750 (great deal in b&h), but I will probably choose to buy the cheaper model because I'm afraid the top model will not last very long. And yes - this is apple's fault. The gpu's are just fine. Lenovo make laptops with two nvidia gpu's in SLI. Apple simply doesn't know how to build good thermal envelopes due to their OCD with thinness. They also suck at applying thermal paste on their CPUs and GPUs.
Click to expand...

"The gpu's are just fine. Lenovo make laptops with two nvidia gpu's in SLI. Apple simply doesn't know how to build good thermal envelopes due to their OCD with thinness. They also suck at applying thermal paste on their CPUs and GPUs."

I was thinking the same think about thermal paste and envelopes. My previous laptop early 2011 when they replace the logic board and first month or less everything goes fine. After heavy usage on dgpu the heat cause the thermal paste weakens and gpu starts to fail.
 
brdeveloper said:
You're talking about 2013. In 2014, we could have at least 8XX dGPUs and Iris Pro on Late-2014 Retinas.
Click to expand...

I see your point, but you would still be comparing a 2013 igpu to a 2014 dgpu, which isn't particularly a "fair comparison". Next year should be interesting, if Intel actually manages to deliver Skylake on schedule. An 80% increase in EUs compared to the current Iris Pro might actually bring it very close to the current 850-860.
 
mcarling said:
I hope that the next time I buy a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro Apple will have completely eliminated discrete GPUs from the MacBook Pro product line -- almost there now.
Click to expand...

Wow that sounds terrible. I like Intel's new offerings a lot but I hope they always allow a dGPU as a custom to order option at the very least until Intel's chips are equal to current dGPU's, not those that are two or three years old. If you don't want a dGPU fine, but Apple only makes one notebook computer with a dGPU option and there are many of us that don't want to see that go away.
 
Neodym said:
Wth iGPU's becoming more and more powerful, I wonder if in the future we will see an increasing number of problems with internal GPUs as well.
Click to expand...

I think the opposite is going to occur. The problems resolve around how Apple is soldering the dGPU, it overheats and cooks itself to death.

I believe the day will come, maybe even this next generation, that apple will drop the dGPU from the line up. The broadwell iGPU is reported to be much faster then the Iris Pro, so if that is the case, why deal with the issues of a dGPU. I can see Apple making a case that its no longer needed.
 
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