New Macbook Pro (Retina) Laggy

[theSeb]

I just bought a RMBP as my first apple product yesterday, very excited to make the switch.
This is bad news.
I really want to be happy with it. I want to be able to use it for years, but 3/4 of the posts on this board are bashing the new pro. It's depressing me.
I hope you fix the lag problem

Don't be surprised when you see sick people in a hospital. This is a hospital where people couldn't agree what the colour of the sky was even if you threatened them with bodily harm.

 

[cardinal]

It seems there is something wrong with your CPU usage. My friend just got his MBP w/ retina and so far he is saying the safari is amazing but chrome and firefox need font fixing

Chrome and Firefox do need updates, but that's a separate issue. CPU usage is fine. Make sure your friend is using scaling, as it's not laggy without scaling the display to 1920x1200 real estate mode.

 

[borisiii]

Remember in the keynote they mentioned that ML has new scrolling, something about core animation?

On that basis I would hold off any major criticism of RMBP scrolling until ML...

EDIT: skip to 56:00
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/126pihbedvcoihbefvbhjkbvsefbg/event/index.html

 

[theSeb]

How long has the computer been on since you bought it? Look at your Spotlight index in the top right corner. Is there a dot appearing and disappearing? You can click on it to confirm whether Spotlight is running.

 

[pogiboi]

Chrome and Firefox do need updates, but that's a separate issue. CPU usage is fine. Make sure your friend is using scaling, as it's not laggy without scaling the display to 1920x1200 real estate mode.

For those interested. Chrome Canary renders just like Safari, although performance isn't quite a s good.

 

[that1guyy]

Thanks for making this topic and telling us. This is an issue. Possibly apple will have another update to fix it? Maybe you have a defective model.

I'll keep an eye out on this thread. Keep us updated.

 

[cardinal]

How long has the computer been on since you bought it? Look at your Spotlight index in the top right corner. Is there a dot appearing and disappearing? You can click on it to confirm whether Spotlight is running.

Image

It hasn't been indexing. I did not transfer anything onto this computer so I'd imagine any initial indexing was done very quickly.

 

[Rudy69]

It hasn't been indexing. I did not transfer anything onto this computer so I'd imagine any initial indexing was done very quickly.

Force the nvidia gpu, it should fix the scrolling lag

 

[skywalkerr69]

You better get on the horn with them. That's BS

 

[Action]

Force the nvidia gpu, it should fix the scrolling lag

That is not an acceptable solution since it drains the battery.

 

[Rudy69]

That is not an acceptable solution since it drains the battery.

It's acceptable for a 1st gen product to have a few bugs on launch. If it's not fixed by fall then it's a bit ridiculous

 

[cardinal]

Force the nvidia gpu, it should fix the scrolling lag

Tried that, didn't help much if at all.

 

[Guilou]

So frustrated

Tried that, didn't help much if at all.

I really want to keep it , I have an appointment with apple techs tomorrow hope they can fix this issue. I will post the result.

 

[jcljk]

Tried that, didn't help much if at all.

hi Everyone.

I've just come back from Apple Store.

I have tested and compared side by side performance between Retina MBP 1GB Video card vs Standard MBP 15" with 512 MB Video Card.

Basically the Retina MBP will face heavy lag when you are trying to scroll up and down with a lot of pictures on the screen. This makes sense because the laptop is trying to render them in High Resolution display in few ms. I think this is not a Software issue and I don't believe Mountain Lion will not fix this laggy performance.

Standard MBP 15" appears to be very smooth even if there are many pictures on the screen.

Make sure before buying Retina MBP, you test them in Apple Store.
- Open Itunes, go to iTunes Store or App Store. Start scrolling up / down
- Open Safari, click on apple website with many pictures. Start scrolling up / down.

Compare them next to each other.. you will feel noticeable different.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

It's acceptable for a 1st gen product to have a few bugs on launch. If it's not fixed by fall then it's a bit ridiculous

It's "acceptable" for a 1st gen product?!?!?!

So you think it's OK to shell out $2700 to beta-test a product that should have already been beta-tested and optimized to oblivion before launch?

It's NOT ok to experience any lag whatsoever, regardless of whether you're running with the integrated or the dedicated GPU.

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I've just come back from Apple Store.

I have tested and compared side by side performance between Retina MBP 1GB Video card vs Standard MBP 15" with 512 MB Video Card.

Basically the Retina MBP will face heavy lag when you are trying to scroll up and down with a lot of pictures on the screen.

That is seriously messed up. I cannot believe Apple did not get that addressed before launching their beloved retina... what is the point of a gorgeous display that goes all clunky as soon as you scroll?

 

[jcljk]

It's "acceptable" for a 1st gen product?!?!?!

So you think it's OK to shell out $2700 to beta-test a product that should have already been beta-tested and optimized to oblivion before launch?

It's NOT ok to experience any lag whatsoever, regardless of whether you're running with the integrated or the dedicated GPU.

----------



That is seriously messed up. I cannot believe Apple did not get that addressed before launching their beloved retina... what is the point of a gorgeous display that goes all clunky as soon as you scroll?

do you have 13" MBA + 27" Cinema Display ? is it lag when you use full screen safari or full screen iTunes in Cinema Display?

 

[macduke]

I'm going to be ticked off if 1680 mode doesn't work well. I need that view so I can do my Photoshop website designs—otherwise I can't fit everything on the screen at once with all the toolbars. My original MBP was 1440 and my current one is 1680. I hope Apple figures out a way to make this work without having to scale everything so huge! You would think if a measly A5X in an iPad can run retina 2048x1536 then a quad 2.6GHz Core i7 + 650M should be able to handle 3360x2100 (1680 doubled).

Hopefully Apple will just release a graphics update to fix everything. Seems like they've been busy releasing fixes so far. Perhaps this was rushed a bit? Or kept secret from the larger OS X team? I hate how Apple can keep their teams in the dark like that and separated—but hopefully that's the issue here and they can simply pull in some more engineers now to get things working a little better. I'd imagine this could be a result of shoehorning retina support onto Lion while perhaps Mountain Lion has the more stable, built-in support? Gonna cross my fingers...

I'm not sure if I read every post by the OP, but it seems like it's mainly Safari causing issues? Hopefully it's isolated then. I don't want a retina CS6 grinding my new machine to a halt. I hope I didn't make the wrong choice on this machine being a beta tester for the next generation of Macbook Pros.

 

[jcljk]

I'm going to be ticked off if 1680 mode doesn't work well. I need that view so I can do my Photoshop website designs—otherwise I can't fit everything on the screen at once with all the toolbars. My original MBP was 1440 and my current one is 1680. I hope Apple figures out a way to make this work without having to scale everything so huge! You would think if a measly A5X in an iPad can run retina 2048x1536 then a quad 2.6GHz Core i7 + 650M should be able to handle 3360x2100 (1680 doubled).

Hopefully Apple will just release a graphics update to fix everything. Seems like they've been busy releasing fixes so far. Perhaps this was rushed a bit? Or kept secret from the larger OS X team? I hate how Apple can keep their teams in the dark like that and separated—but hopefully that's the issue here and they can simply pull in some more engineers now to get things working a little better. I'd imagine this could be a result of shoehorning retina support onto Lion while perhaps Mountain Lion has the more stable, built-in support? Gonna cross my fingers...

I'm not sure if I read every post by the OP, but it seems like it's mainly Safari causing issues? Hopefully it's isolated then. I don't want a retina CS6 grinding my new machine to a halt. I hope I didn't make the wrong choice on this machine being a beta tester for the next generation of Macbook Pros.

Apple tweaked the OS to support retina display. There are 5 modesI have tried all of the mode.. Same story... lagging.

how's your hi res MBP 1680x1050 ? is it lagging ?
i'm thinking of getting standard MBP with Hi Res Screen.

 

[DeeEss]

Have you unchecked the option "laggy scroll"

 

[macduke]

Apple tweaked the OS to support retina display. There are 5 modesI have tried all of the mode.. Same story... lagging.

how's your hi res MBP 1680x1050 ? is it lagging ?
i'm thinking of getting standard MBP with Hi Res Screen.

You have the current retina and you're going to ditch it for the older model? My hi-res isn't laggy. I find 1680 to be optimal for a 15" screen. So why would the lower res modes be laggy? From what I saw on the AnandTech article, the option for bigger text or whatever it was—the screenshots were actually smaller than 2880. So in theory they should run better, right? So by that metric if what you're saying is true, and the smaller-res modes are lagging too—then it probably isn't a performance issue but something else to do with these modes?

The plot thickens!

 

[theSeb]

Have you unchecked the option "laggy scroll"

If you can't find it in the preferences then open Terminal app, type in

set fast_mode = 1
hit enter
then type in
set laggy_scroll = 0
hit enter

That should do it

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You have the current retina and you're going to ditch it for the older model? My hi-res isn't laggy. I find 1680 to be optimal for a 15" screen. So why would the lower res modes be laggy? From what I saw on the AnandTech article, the option for bigger text or whatever it was—the screenshots were actually smaller than 2880. So in theory they should run better, right? So by that metric if what you're saying is true, and the smaller-res modes are lagging too—then it probably isn't a performance issue but something else to do with these modes?

The plot thickens!

I was wondering how long it would take for this forum to find issues in the new MBPs and it took less than expected.

I have to admit that I wasn't sure what would be the first issue though. I had my money on heat. Damn.

 

[drvelocity]

My Retina MBP is still on order so I'm not speaking from experience, but this sounds to me like something that was probably inevitable based on how slow graphics driver development has been from Apple/Nvidia/ATI in the past. But as another poster already mentioned, the Ipad 3 is capable of very smooth scrolling at similarly high resolutions. This laptop is capable of outputting to not just the retina display but two more 2560x1600 external displays - so it shouldn't be a matter of memory or the frame buffer being inadequate. IMO this is just a case where Apple will have to put a team of engineers on the graphics drivers to optimize graphics rendering, and I'd bet on seeing an update within 2-3 weeks.

At least they damn well better speed it up, because one of the reasons I'm switching from a Macbook Air is the choppy scrolling at times.

 

[beowulf70]

...should be all fixed in July then...

Your favourite software. As you’ve never seen it before.
We’ve updated Apple software to take advantage of the beautiful Retina display. OS X Lion apps — Safari, Mail, iCal, Address Book and more — as well as iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, Aperture and Final Cut Pro have already been optimised, and updates to the other Apple apps are coming soon."

 

[davidgnomo]

Have you unchecked the option "laggy scroll"

Thanks God, someone can still have fun in this thread ...

 

[jlblodgett]

hi Everyone.

I've just come back from Apple Store.

I have tested and compared side by side performance between Retina MBP 1GB Video card vs Standard MBP 15" with 512 MB Video Card.

Basically the Retina MBP will face heavy lag when you are trying to scroll up and down with a lot of pictures on the screen. This makes sense because the laptop is trying to render them in High Resolution display in few ms. I think this is not a Software issue and I don't believe Mountain Lion will not fix this laggy performance.

Standard MBP 15" appears to be very smooth even if there are many pictures on the screen.

Make sure before buying Retina MBP, you test them in Apple Store.
- Open Itunes, go to iTunes Store or App Store. Start scrolling up / down
- Open Safari, click on apple website with many pictures. Start scrolling up / down.

Compare them next to each other.. you will feel noticeable different.

Is that on the default setting? Or on the scaled setting?

That is disappointing, if true.