Retina MacBook Pro Pushes the Limits of its Graphics Capabilities

[Fortimir]

Great display with a crap poor video card. Im surprised they let this ship like this.

You just summarized all Apple offerings ever.

The 650M is the highest-end graphics card that would meet size, energy, and heat criteria for this build-out. The 680, for example, is an energy-sucking furnace. As others have mentioned elsewhere, they really should call it the 660M, because it's been tweaked and overclocked to its limit out of the box, as well.

It's far from a crap poor video card. It's a massively graphics-intensive display. It will play many of the top 3D games out right now at full to near-full settings and resolution.

 

[derbothaus]

Why not?

Not enough PCI lanes in Thunderbolt right now. Maybe OK for node based GPGPU but not really real time screen usage. Would be like as fast as an AGP 4X card.

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The 650M is the highest-end graphics card that would meet size, energy, and heat criteria for this build-out. The 680, for example, is an energy-sucking furnace. As others have mentioned elsewhere, they really should call it the 660M, because it's been tweaked and overclocked to its limit out of the box, as well.

It's far from a crap poor video card. It's a massively graphics-intensive display. It will play many of the top 3D games out right now at full to near-full settings and resolution.

So TDP being what it is they should have waited or engineered a better cooling system. And really a 650M can play games at 2880x1880 at high settings? Clearly your joking. My 5870 is faster and starts chocking at 1920.

 

[Shrink]

I'm just trying to figure out why MR is posting a week old review from Anandtech. This isn't news... or rumors...

Possibly because not all of us have the time (or inclination) to read Anandtech or all of the other tech info sites.

My life does not depend on instantaneous knowledge of all things technological. The fact that this information appeared elsewhere is not, for me at least, a tragedy.

Sorry for being such an out-of-it old fart, but I appreciate MR providing me information, even if it is more than moments old.

 

[pubwvj]

I warned of this... More pixels takes more processing to drive. That in turn limits the available processing for real work and is going to burn more battery. Not good.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Then again, if the user experience is that poor, (is it? I haven't tested it out yet) then maybe they should have waited 6 months maybe and had a conference just for the rMBP.

It isn't.

 

[CodeBreaker]

Hmmm, I'm so confused. But this post is moving me more towards the higher end 15" non retina MBP.

 

[nikhsub1]

So Apple released tech that wasn't ready yet. Awesome.

They always do this... look at the first iPad, it is horribly slow and will be obsolete with iOS 6. You need mega GPU to push around that many pixels - it's not Apple's fault per se, they obviously can't put something more in the rMBP at this point.

 

[BC2009]

I NEED a dedicated GPU also. I'm not sure. I may try using my current laptop or maybe my ipad 3 and just bring my desktop to college. I really wanted to leave it at home though.

Get a Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover (smart cover keyboard) for your iPad for note-taking in class and then bring your desktop along. I'm not sure what the need is for a dedicated GPU (gaming?) but I think you won't have to wait more than 1 year for an improvement on this front and if the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover helps curb your laptop needs for that year then you are only investing $100 and you can pickup the next generation of MBPR next year.

If you really need for dedicated GPU is gaming, then a desktop is going to do better on that front anyway. I went through most of college using the dorm room computers until my senior year when I bought a Mac clone with a bonus I made from an intern job (yes it has been many years since college).

Anyway, if the Air is not for you then try to avoid spending a large chunk of money until next year. Personally, I think the Air is the perfect college student machine. The MBRP is something I would use in my software engineering work, but is overkill for many tasks.

[ASIDE]
The best advice I can give to any college student is to try to avoid spending money if you can (unless, of course, you are loaded). The less debt you leave college with the better. I wish somebody had told me that, but it was a lesson I had to learn the hard way by paying off all my credit card debt after college. Another piece of advice -- if you sign up for a credit card on campus, use it sparingly to build credit by only carrying debt for short periods (one to six months) and never push the card's limits.
[/ASIDE]

 

[Aodhan]

I am devoted to Apple, but I am not deluded. That's why I went with the mid 2012 non-retina.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Yep. Time will solve these issues.

A 13" Air with Retina display is probably still a ways off, but what I'm looking forward to.

This is the first time in 6 years I've not jumped on the latest and greatest Mac notebook release.

Looks like I made a good call to wait for this one.

 

[Ryth]

This is why I feel like waiting for the 2nd revision really is a good idea.

Agree...and I don't think a 1GB dedicated GPU is enough either...reason I didn't get one.

I think this is the test batch honestly.

Now, I'd get an iMac Retina if they came out.

 

[RamGuy]

What kind of misleading article is this? Did the Macrumours article author even read the Anandtech review?

The GPU has an easy time with its part of the process but the CPU’s workload is borderline too much for a single core to handle. Throw a more complex website at it and things get bad quickly. Facebook combines a lot of compressed images with text - every single image is decompressed on the CPU before being handed off to the GPU. Combine that with other elements that are processed on the CPU and you get a recipe for choppy scrolling.


Of course the GPU will struggle with graphical demanding task, especially if you are running in scaled 1920x1200 etc... But the part which macrumours are referring too is pretty much CPU bottlenecked and not GPU limited.

 

[wizard]

Nothing will become available to help the onboard GPU.

I'm really curious to see when external GPUS via thunderbolt will become available.

TB simply isn't fast enough for this to be viable.

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So Apple released tech that wasn't ready yet. Awesome.

If anything the machine is more than ready, it is a true break through.

 

[Allegrotechie]

Hmm... This is a little bit frustrating. I NEED a laptop for college this year (current is a 08 MBP on its last legs). I'm most likely going for the MBPR simply because it's barely cheaper to get the MBP with the specs I want. Frustrating knowing Apple decided to ship with hardware that isn't ready./sigh.

Well, I have the base model and I play COD 4, Diablo 3. I use Apature 3 and i don't have any problems. So maybe that problem is just for some people. Never does mine stutter or freeze or lag. I love it! I would recommend you get it! If you really don't want to, get the Air, but if you have the money, get the rMBP.

 

[1083296]

and everyone down voted me on the press day because I said the second revision of a new product is always worth waiting for.....

 

[brutusvimes]

This is characteristic of the current generation of Apple products. After all, the iPad, featuring a beautiful retina display, is both hotter and heavier than its predecessor as well.

There's nothing inherently bad about this, and you can see why Apple is pushing out these features now to stay ahead of the competition. But it requires the machinery to work to the max to push all these pixels. Hopefully, the next generation will have an easier time coping and finding a better balance between presentation and graphic capabilities.

 

[2crazy]

Another early adopt fail

Who let the trolls in?

 

[alexkywalker]

That's... disappointing

I was really excited about the Retina display for graphic applications but given those limitations I am thankful I held off buying one of those just yet.

 

[apolloa]

I played with a Retina MB Pro for the first time yesterday, I have to say it's damn fast! But that's the SSD etc. I also thought the screen looked like my iPhone 4 in it's clarity etc, which is fantastic! But I have been worried about the resolution being pushed by the 650gt, I thought it was enough, but obviously this report states otherwise.
I would say wait for next years model in this case, the new case design is great and I would rather have that then make it thicker again to accommodate a more powerful GPU like a 675gtx.

 

[wizard]

You guys really should wait for Mountain Lion.

Except for the fact that it's a hardware problem.

It isn't. ML should address these issues just fine.

 

[gagaliya]

At the higher scaled resolutions, since the GPU has to render as much as 9.2MP, even UI performance can be sluggish. There’s simply nothing that can be done at this point

I have a brilliant idea... How about upgrading to a better gpu than this piece of crap?

 

[Thunderhawks]

and everyone down voted me on the press day because I said the second revision of a new product is always worth waiting for.....

Same here

Will replace my current MBP with an October 2011 MBP and wait until Apple Care expires on that one.

By then we should be on Version 2.5 or 3 around the corner.

We'll have repair records, heating info, battery info etc.etc.

 

[cyberlocke]

How does this report jive with an earlier article?

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/2...n-run-three-external-displays-simultaneously/

 

[vampyr]

I think Anandtech missed the point on the article.

Apple has ALWAYS been pushing the limits of their hardware. I think that's what makes Apple so innovative.
We wouldn't have the technology we have today if it wasn't for software pushing the limits of hardware.

Fortunately, Apple's latest invention will once again make other manufacturers take note and we are one full step closer to making those images on our screen seem even more life like.

Way to go Apple! Keep pushing the limits!

 

[kmanmx]

Maybe this will shut up the people clamoring for retina on the new iMac.

This problem very likely would not exist on a new iMac. An iMac is plugged into AC power, Apple can put any GPU in their they like with little concern over power consumption. Higher end GPU's can and do cope with resolutions in excess of 4K fine on the desktop.

My GPU uses 1% at 1920x1080 on desktop use. Even at 10x the pixel count, it would likely never get above 15% usage.