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rMBP 15, Iris Pro, Nvidia or Wait?!

augustya said:
Oh I didn't know this...can the Battery of the rMBP be replaced if taken to APPLE ?
Click to expand...

Of course! Look here: http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=Macnotebooks

It would be utterly stupid of them to design a notebook without the possibility of a battery replacement... batteries are consumable items after all. Only because iFixit and other third-party repair service agents don't know how to replace the battery efficiently does not mean that it cannot be replaced efficiently - if you have the proper tools and know how to do it.
 
yjchua95 said:
If you match the CPU, RAM and SSD on both the Iris-only and Iris+750M models, they're priced exactly the same. So the 750M is essentially a free upgrade.

The 750M in the rMBP and Haswell 21.5" iMac are the GDDR5 variants, so they outperform the GTX660M, according to notebookcheck.

I very much doubt whether Iris can handle NFS Rivals at medium settings smoothly.
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By all means if you need the extra 8gb ram/larger ssd and faster cpu, you do get the 750m with that which is a better chip. IF you don't need those things, then it comes down to $599 + tax more for the 750m which is a harder decision.

From notebookcheck.net in FPS (all games at "medium settings"):

NFS Rivals
660m : no data n/a
750m : 30 +28%
I.P. : 23.5

Assassins Creed 4
660m : 45.3 +19%
750m : 38.1 +34%
I.P. : 28.5

COD Ghosts
660m : 59.4 +14%
750m : 51.9 +29%
I.P. : 40.1

Arkham Origins:
660m : 118 +48%
750m : 80 +23%
I.P. : 65

Bioshock infinite
660m : 72.4 +26%
750m : 53.5 +33%
I.P. : 40.1

Crysis 3
660m : 39.8 +30%
750m : 30.6 -3%
I.P. : 31.4

Battlefield 4
660m : 53.4 +17%
750m : 45.6 +0%
I.P. : 45.5

DOTA 2
660m : 76.4 +36%
750m : 56.3 -29%
I.P. : 72.8

Company of Heroes 2
660m : 25.9 +13%
750m : 22.9 +6.5%
I.P. : 21.5


Out of the 9 games sampled above, the 660m is faster than the 750m 100% of the time, the 750m is faster than the iris pro 66.6% of the time. Where are you getting your facts for the 750m outperforming the 660m?

That said, when the 750m is faster than the iris pro, it's in the realm of 20-35% faster which can be significant.

As for your statement that about NFS Rivals, the answer is neither runs it very well at medium settings in my opinion.
 
teflonsheep said:
By all means if you need the extra 8gb ram/larger ssd and faster cpu, you do get the 750m with that which is a better chip. IF you don't need those things, then it comes down to $599 + tax more for the 750m which is a harder decision.

From notebookcheck.net in FPS (all games at "medium settings"):

NFS Rivals
660m : no data n/a
750m : 30 +28%
I.P. : 23.5

Assassins Creed 4
660m : 45.3 +19%
750m : 38.1 +34%
I.P. : 28.5

COD Ghosts
660m : 59.4 +14%
750m : 51.9 +29%
I.P. : 40.1

Arkham Origins:
660m : 118 +48%
750m : 80 +23%
I.P. : 65

Bioshock infinite
660m : 72.4 +26%
750m : 53.5 +33%
I.P. : 40.1

Crysis 3
660m : 39.8 +30%
750m : 30.6 -3%
I.P. : 31.4

Battlefield 4
660m : 53.4 +17%
750m : 45.6 +0%
I.P. : 45.5

DOTA 2
660m : 76.4 +36%
750m : 56.3 -29%
I.P. : 72.8

Company of Heroes 2
660m : 25.9 +13%
750m : 22.9 +6.5%
I.P. : 21.5


Out of the 9 games sampled above, the 660m is faster than the 750m 100% of the time, the 750m is faster than the iris pro 66.6% of the time. Where are you getting your facts for the 750m outperforming the 660m?

That said, when the 750m is faster than the iris pro, it's in the realm of 20-35% faster which can be significant.

As for your statement that about NFS Rivals, the answer is neither runs it very well at medium settings in my opinion.
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Wrong, as stated at the top of the page, the GT750M GDDR5 outperforms the GTX660M.

These benchmarks are for the regular GT750M, not the GDDR5 variant used in the rMBPs.

Additional note:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-755M.102020.0.html

Quoting from that link: 'The GT 755M performs slightly above a GDDR5 equipped GeForce GT 750M as only the clock rates are slightly higher.'

And quoting from http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-750M.90245.0.html : 'The very rare GDDR5 version even beats the GTX 660M.'

So it's safe to assume that the GT750M GDDR5 used in the rMBP performs almost identically to the benchmarks shown in the GT755M page.
 
leman said:
Battery can be replaced by Apple for a moderate fee. For the issues, there is a warranty. So far, Apple usually had extended recalls for the cases with faulty GPUs. And besides, these issues are not Apple exclusive. There is a chance of failure with any kind of product.



I don't really see how $650 will get you a computer that would serve you longer than a rMBP. A comparable CPU alone costs $300.
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I mean battery from the dgpu in action, not battery reduction due to life cycles, warranty replacement has nothing to do with in practice usage. Yes I can 'manage' graphics but don't think I should have to manage a basic part of management using a 3rd party app.

Also saying other manufacturers suffer from it is not a cause to simply accept. The alternative is Intel only, which is a very good option, albeit with zero savings in terms of initial cost, but may bear fruit with reliability in the long term.

I never stated the machine would cost £400/$650 and be a replacement for a MBP in any way. A render rig is just that, used for high end modelling, consists of overclocked CPU's, minimal OS features enabled (thinking windows here), 16/32GB RAM. Rough initial estimate maximum spend £900, so around 40% of the cost.

So down to 2 options:

rMBP 13 2.6Ghz 16GB 512GB
£1426
Then 6 months down the line, render rig £900.

or

rMBP 15 2.3Ghz Quad 16GB 512GB Intel only
£1868

In terms of workflow I'm slightly against having a 1 machine does all policy, it never seems to work out as each one has strengths, or have we got to the stage where a 15 will pick up and do everything.
 
Last edited:
yjchua95 said:
Wrong, as stated at the top of the page, the GT750M GDDR5 outperforms the GTX660M.

These benchmarks are for the regular GT750M, not the GDDR5 variant used in the rMBPs.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, but where are your numbers? Lets see 5-10 recent game framerates comparing the iris pro and the 750m from the same macbook pro.

That aside, my original point was simply that you could save $600+tax and still have a very capable gaming laptop.
 
Smeaton1724 said:
I mean battery from the dgpu in action, not battery reduction due to life cycles, warranty replacement has nothing to do with in practice usage. Yes I can 'manage' graphics but don't think I should have to manage a basic part of management using a 3rd party app.

[...]

In terms of workflow I'm slightly against having a 1 machine does all policy, it never seems to work out as each one has strengths, or have we got to the stage where a 15 will pick up and do everything.
Click to expand...

Ah, sorry for confusion. Yes, in this case I absolutely agree with you that going a cheaper rMBP + dedicated rendering system is the best way.
 
I took the 2.3 ghz/16gb/256 model (no dGPU).

After reading alot of reviews etc my conclusion is the following

gaming + 3D work= dGPU

rest= Iris pro.

don't think about 'the dGPU is for free'. For Apple nothing is 'free', it's more of a marketing model to attract also the cuda & gaming market.
 
mr.bee said:
I took the 2.3 ghz/16gb/256 model (no dGPU). don't think about 'the dGPU is for free'.
Click to expand...
That's an unpopular configuration that retails for $2299. Unpopular configurations are tough to find on ebay, craigslist or the apple refurb store, hence it's tough to find them priced below retail. The much more popular 2.3/16/512/dGPU configuration retails for $2599, but is routinely available new in sealed box on ebay and craigslist for $2250-2350 http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=ME294LL/A&_sop=10 and also at the apple refurb store for $2199. So from that perspective both the 512 SSD and dGPU are major free upgrades. Plus the resale value of the 2.3/16/512/dGPU will be significantly higher too.
 
Smeaton1724 said:
I mean battery from the dgpu in action, not battery reduction due to life cycles, warranty replacement has nothing to do with in practice usage. Yes I can 'manage' graphics but don't think I should have to manage a basic part of management using a 3rd party app.

Also saying other manufacturers suffer from it is not a cause to simply accept. The alternative is Intel only, which is a very good option, albeit with zero savings in terms of initial cost, but may bear fruit with reliability in the long term.

I never stated the machine would cost £400/$650 and be a replacement for a MBP in any way. A render rig is just that, used for high end modelling, consists of overclocked CPU's, minimal OS features enabled (thinking windows here), 16/32GB RAM. Rough initial estimate maximum spend £900, so around 40% of the cost.

So down to 2 options:

rMBP 13 2.6Ghz 16GB 512GB
£1426
Then 6 months down the line, render rig £900.

or

rMBP 15 2.3Ghz Quad 16GB 512GB Intel only
£1868

In terms of workflow I'm slightly against having a 1 machine does all policy, it never seems to work out as each one has strengths, or have we got to the stage where a 15 will pick up and do everything.
Click to expand...

Firstly do you know anyone that goes too university, education discount will help a lot and you get 3 years apple care.

If you render a lot I would personally go with option one, a desktop i7 will still be faster at rendering then a laptop, you don't have to worry about thermals as much and you can OC it a decent amount to have extra gains.
 
Have'nt had any Issues, but depend of your need !!

Smeaton1724 said:
Looking at getting a 15 inch retina macbook, I've heard there's issues in general with graphics switching which is putting me off the Nvidia equipped one.

I was thinking of specc'ing up the base model for the 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD but doing that I might aswell go the top model as I'll get a 2.3 Ghz vs the 2.0 - which does provide a decent spec bump.

Any advice from owners or other people also in the market?
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Have it since november and still never had any issues... I work on it every day for school (mecanical engineering). I chose the graphics model because I use it to do 3d CAD with Catia/SolidWork/NX the performance are great !!! BTW if you buy the regular rMBP with 16GB of ram, 512GB ssd and i7 2.3Ghz it will be the same price as the one with the Nvidia.

N.B: It's all about your need!? It think if your gonna buy a +/- 2500$ computer you wont to keep it for a while so concider that the ram can't be upgrape because it is weild so I think the 16Gb worth the price...

Sorry for my spelling english is not my mother tongue...
 
kathyricks said:
That's an unpopular configuration that retails for $2299. Unpopular configurations are tough to find on ebay, craigslist or the apple refurb store, hence it's tough to find them priced below retail. The much more popular 2.3/16/512/dGPU configuration retails for $2599, but is routinely available new in sealed box on ebay and craigslist for $2250-2350 http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=ME294LL/A&_sop=10 and also at the apple refurb store for $2199. So from that perspective both the 512 SSD and dGPU are major free upgrades. Plus the resale value of the 2.3/16/512/dGPU will be significantly higher too.
Click to expand...



again, I do not care for the extra dGPU and the extra storage. I do not want to spend more then what I've spent.

It's like this promotion: " if you only spend 20 cents more you'll get a liter of coke instead of half a liter".
Well I don't want to spend 20 cents more and I don't want to drink more. even though the more expensive option seems economically better to a lot of customers, it doesn't to me as it doesn't suit my needs.

simple, right?

also:
by the time the iris pro is outdated, the entire architecture of that rmbp line is outdated and I would like to have a new computer anyway.
 
mr.bee said:
again, I do not care for the extra dGPU and the extra storage. I do not want to spend more then what I've spent.

It's like this promotion: " if you only spend 20 cents more you'll get a liter of coke instead of half a liter".
Well I don't want to spend 20 cents more and I don't want to drink more. even though the more expensive option seems economically better to a lot of customers, it doesn't to me as it doesn't suit my needs.

simple, right?

also:
by the time the iris pro is outdated, the entire architecture of that rmbp line is outdated and I would like to have a new computer anyway.
Click to expand...


I'm not questioning your decision, but I think his point was that you actually would NOT have had to spend more at all.
 
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