Replacement rMBP still has issue! Questions for those who don't have the ghosting!

[sofianito]

It lags a little bit with certain UI animations when running on the iGPU, but no worse than either of my prior two MacBook Pros did. And when I force it to run on the 650M, it's as smooth as can be. The very slight lag when using the integrated GPU doesn't bug me in the least.

I did these tests on the rMBP base model @Applestore and the animation lags occur in both gpu, although it is less noticeable with the overclocked 650M.

I did the same tests on the cMBP hires AG@Applestore and no lags were observed neither with HD4k nor with non-overclocked 650M.

The kiosk app were installed on both models, so results are not biased...

 

[terraphantm]

I did these tests on the rMBP base model @Applestore and the animation lags occur in both gpu, although it is less noticeable with the overclocked 650M.

I did the same tests on the cMBP hires AG@Applestore and no lags were observed neither with HD4k nor with non-overclocked 650M.

The kiosk app were installed on both models, so results are not biased...

I'm not sure if it's really worth accepting such a drastic downgrade for what's an entirely cosmetic issue. The UI performance will not effect the ability to do CPU intensive tasks, and when you're doing anything GPU intensive, you'd probably be on the discrete GPU anyway.

 

[Pentad]

Not every GPU is always created alike. Due to the binning process and all, each individual GPU will vary. Of coarse, same branded parts will have similar performance levels (in this case GPUs branded as the GT 650M). However, if the part came out as a good batch, but was binned down during fab to make it into a GT 650M, then it will perform marginally better than other defective binned down parts. This makes a bit of difference. In terms of performance, it can mean the difference between ghosting or not.

However, there is also the screen side to take into account. Response time is important as well. Having it under 5ms guarantees no ghosting due to screen faults.

However, which side is the one at fault here? Tough to say, but my bet would be both sides equally.

This post says one thing really well: You have no idea what you are talking about.


-P

 

[sofianito]

I'm not sure if it's really worth accepting such a drastic downgrade for what's an entirely cosmetic issue. The UI performance will not effect the ability to do CPU intensive tasks, and when you're doing anything GPU intensive, you'd probably be on the discrete GPU anyway.

Cosmetic?? Are you kidding? It is indeed an annoying issue...

The difference between Apple and the rest of competitors is that the fomer builds an OS tailored to its hardware and vice-versa. This is a big added value and advantage for Apple. So they better optimize their algorithms and fix this issue in next ML update, else it would be considered that Apple failed to size its hardware accordingly...

 

[iBug2]

Cosmetic?? Are you kidding? It is indeed an annoying issue...

The difference between Apple and the rest of competitors is that the fomer builds an OS tailored to its hardware and vice-versa. This is a big added value and advantage for Apple. So they better optimize their algorithms and fix this issue in next ML update, else it would be considered that Apple failed to size its hardware accordingly...

I have purchased rMBP over my 2009 17" MBP and the machine is faster and more smooth on all UI operations compared to the 17" (Things like resizing, calling up expose, dashboard etc). I don't know how "fluid" were the 2011 models though. But I use the machine at the intended retina resolution and not on the secondary resolutions which do indeed bring on some burden on the GPU.

 

[kfscoll]

I have purchased rMBP over my 2009 17" MBP and the machine is faster and more smooth on all UI operations compared to the 17" (Things like resizing, calling up expose, dashboard etc). I don't know how "fluid" were the 2011 models though. But I use the machine at the intended retina resolution and not on the secondary resolutions which do indeed bring on some burden on the GPU.

This is my experience as well. I know that UI animations and webpage scrolling was much worse under Lion and the first thing that I did when I got my rMBP was install Mountain Lion so I haven't seen Lion's performance first-hand. Apple markedly improved the graphics subsystem in ML and it's sure to only get better since we're still only on the first point release. It's really a complete non-issue for me especially since I always have the option of enabling the discrete GPU if I want a completely lag-free experience. As I said before, my rMBP under ML performs just as my other, older MacBook Pro laptops do as far as UI smoothness goes (for reference, my laptops were a mid-2009 MBP with 2.66 C2D/9400M GT/9600M GT and an early-2011 MBP with 2.3GHz i7/HD 3000/AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1GB).

 

[theuserjohnny]

I got my replacement and its LG and it had the problem. My local Apple store actually had another one in stock (the maxed out one) and I exchanged it... it was also an LG and I also returned it because it had the problem after using it for undre an hour.

 

[terraphantm]

Cosmetic?? Are you kidding? It is indeed an annoying issue...

The difference between Apple and the rest of competitors is that the fomer builds an OS tailored to its hardware and vice-versa. This is a big added value and advantage for Apple. So they better optimize their algorithms and fix this issue in next ML update, else it would be considered that Apple failed to size its hardware accordingly...

It's just a few animations skipping frames under stressful conditions while the iGPU is running. It doesn't hinder one's ability to work. All of the "professional" applications everyone seems to use will work at the same speed (and if they're retina optimzed, you'll be able to increase your productivity by virtue of the increased resolution). And when you're doing real work, you're likely to be on the discrete GPU anyway. So it is a purely cosmetic issue. The laptop is so good in every other aspect that I can live with it. If you'd rather accept a serious downgrade (non-IPS display with a significantly lower resolution) just to make an animation a little prettier, that's your choice.

And I personally never had an Apple product that was 100% smooth under every single circumstance - in fact, my hackintoshes over the year have always felt faster than any MBP or iMac I've used - undoubtedly because of the GPU. Apple's always used underpowered GPUs in everything but the mac pros (and even those are underpowered for the price)

 

[DcoalStrat]

I have just gone through THREE Retina MacBook Pros and finally just got my money back. ALL had LG screens.

The first had a dead pixel right in the middle of the screen, yet besides that, everything else seemed ok.

The second had very bad uneven brightness. The right side of the screen was noticeably darker than the left.

The third had uneven brightness, ghosting and image retention.

I finally gave up and just got my money back. I did get them all from Best Buy (yeah I know) so I dunno if Best Buy gets the worst Macs from Apple or what.

Now I am looking to just get a normal 15 MacBook Pro, does anyone know the safest configuration to get that has the best screens? As in Hi-res Glossy or Hi-res anti-glare?

I go with Hi-res Glossy and it is amazing display it is not retina quality but close enough. Matte kinda wash out. But if you care about glare then Matte is way to go. I don't want to start a Glossy vs Matte war.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

There are surely some reasons they overclocked the rMBP's gpu and not the cMBP's one... and one of these reasons is likely related to retina display...

Yes, for intensive graphical tasks, running that many pixels smoothly likely does require the over clock. For stuff like browsing though, the integrated HD4000 can deal with 2880x1800.

 

[iaymnu]

I feel your pain. I got my money back after three attempts myself. All three had faulty LG screens. The first was the base $2199 model, the second two were the higher end $2799 model. All had faulty screens.

I kept exchanging until they said no.
Took them 4 times to say this is my last but I was lucky to get a Samsung panel on my maxed out rMBP on the last lottery.

 

[Libertine Lush]

It's really a complete non-issue for me especially since I always have the option of enabling the discrete GPU if I want a completely lag-free experience. As I said before, my rMBP under ML performs just as my other, older MacBook Pro laptops do as far as UI smoothness goes (for reference, my laptops were a mid-2009 MBP with 2.66 C2D/9400M GT/9600M GT and an early-2011 MBP with 2.3GHz i7/HD 3000/AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1GB).

So no matter what you're doing (Mission Control, scrolling and zooming on media-heavy sites, swapping Full Screens/Spaces), as long as you set it to the 650M, there's never any choppiness? And do you use Safari or Chrome (the other Retina-supporting browser that I've read is only a tad bit slower than Safari now)? Thanks.

 

[SoupyFlow]

I kept exchanging until they said no.
Took them 4 times to say this is my last but I was lucky to get a Samsung panel on my maxed out rMBP on the last lottery.

Haha nice! So each time you exchanged, did you actually find an issue with the screen or did you just see it was LG and take it right back?

Was this at an Apple Store?

 

[RealEyes]

I have the LG screen, no ghosting through week 1.

 

[kfscoll]

So no matter what you're doing (Mission Control, scrolling and zooming on media-heavy sites, swapping Full Screens/Spaces), as long as you set it to the 650M, there's never any choppiness? And do you use Safari or Chrome (the other Retina-supporting browser that I've read is only a tad bit slower than Safari now)? Thanks.

I haven't gone to every possible website out there, but yes, in my experience, there's no choppiness with the 650M. The issue has been blown way out of proportion IMHO.

I don't use Chrome unless there's a website the Safari pukes on, so I can't speak to its performance.