Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

UI lag difference between 2.3ghz and 2.6ghz 15" retina

E

Eriatarka

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 22, 2012
6
0
Sorry if this has been discussed, I tried a search but couldnt find anything.

I'm about to buy a 15" Retina and am choosing between the 2.3ghz and 2.6ghz models. The extra 0.3ghz will be somewhat useful because I do a lot of simulation work, but its unlikely to be a big deal in practice. However what does concern me is that in the anandtech reviews of the retina macbooks, the writer speculates that the UI lag is caused by the CPU having to do work to help out the integrated GPU, and hence that having a higher clock speed should reduce the UI lag. Playing around with machines in store, I do notice that the lower clocked 13" retina macbook has substantially worse lag than the 15", which seems to be evidence for this.

However I havent seen this discussed elsewhere. Is the anandtech review right, that 2.6ghz will give a smoother UI experience?

Relevant pages, for reference:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6409/13inch-retina-macbook-pro-review/5
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/8
 
Eriatarka said:
Sorry if this has been discussed, I tried a search but couldnt find anything.

I'm about to buy a 15" Retina and am choosing between the 2.3ghz and 2.6ghz models. The extra 0.3ghz will be somewhat useful because I do a lot of simulation work, but its unlikely to be a big deal in practice. However what does concern me is that in the anandtech reviews of the retina macbooks, the writer speculates that the UI lag is caused by the CPU having to do work to help out the integrated GPU, and hence that having a higher clock speed should reduce the UI lag. Playing around with machines in store, I do notice that the lower clocked 13" retina macbook has substantially worse lag than the 15", which seems to be evidence for this.

However I havent seen this discussed elsewhere. Is the anandtech review right, that 2.6ghz will give a smoother UI experience?

Relevant pages, for reference:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6409/13inch-retina-macbook-pro-review/5
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/8
Click to expand...

The only two really problematic areas with UI lag (Safari and Mission Control) were addressed with the 10.8.3 update. The UI on my 2.3Ghz is as smooth as any other computer I have ever used, it just looks much nicer :)
 
I used a display model 15" in the store running 10.8.3 and there was still very noticable UI lag in safari. Its not deal breaking, but pages definitely don't scroll as smoothly as they do on a macbook air.
 
Don't worry it's all software related. If you buy it, install webkit version of safari at http://www.webkit.org/ It will be smooth like butter. The Mission Control lag is nonexistent on my rMBP since 10.8.3 and before that it's very rare. I think they have to fix the code for the animation with time for each application.
 
I have very noticeable lag throughout the system and hate my rMBP. I'm using the 2.6ghz one. 10.8.3 didn't do anything. A good test is to flip through the calendar. The animation is ridiculous compared to the smoothness on an iPad doing the same thing.
 
I've got the 2.7 Macbook retina, and I can tell you that the scrolling looks fine with HD4000, but it gets Really smooth when the Nvidia Card is on. You might not see a high change in smoothness with a 0.3ghz bump.

:)
 
The whole line of retina's lag. Its ridiculous, I sold mine and brought a cMBP with hi-res screen MUCH better.
 
I have the 15" MBPr 2.3 and until the latest update, had significant scroll lag. After the latest update, I don't see any lag at all. Everything is smooth as butter in Safari and otherwise. No issues seen anywhere.

...and then I just did the calendar page flip test and wow, that is quite jittery! Wasn't expecting that. :eek: All the same, I still love the display enough so that I can live with the jittery calendar page flips. That seems to be the only app where I'm seeing jittery scrolling performance so it doesn't bother me enough to move back to windows or a MBPc. Everything else is butter. :D
 
played around with them some more in the shop, Safari seemed equally laggy on both so I went for the base 2.4ghz model

However I've installed Chrome on it at home and its quite smooth (much better than Safari, although I'm in 10.8.2 and no webkit), so I guess it is just a software issue.

Thanks guys
 
Eriatarka said:
played around with them some more in the shop, Safari seemed equally laggy on both so I went for the base 2.4ghz model

However I've installed Chrome on it at home and its quite smooth (much better than Safari, although I'm in 10.8.2 and no webkit), so I guess it is just a software issue.

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

I'd still recommend installing the Nightly Webkit just so that you can at least experience how much smoother scrolling can be.

Using Chrome, go the main page of The Verge

And then install Webkit from here: http://www.webkit.org

And now compare.
 
mykem said:
I'd still recommend installing the Nightly Webkit just so that you can at least experience how much smoother scrolling can be.

Using Chrome, go the main page of The Verge

And then install Webkit from here: http://www.webkit.org

And now compare.
Click to expand...
Yeah this is even faster, I notice there is actually a few milliseconds delay in Chrome from the time I scroll up on the trackpad, to the time the screen starts moving. Quite annoying. Webkit fixes it, but I much prefer Chrome over Safari.

Ive also noticed bad lag in some third party applications even when just scrolling text, which is quite annoying. The main program I use for software development lags quite badly.
 
rikscha said:
Tell me you don't see a sloppy animation when flipping through months in the calendar app.
Click to expand...

We all have different tolerances to frame rates/lag, but this is the one instance where it's pretty terrible no matter what :(.

Other than that I don't notice anything too horrible.
 
rikscha said:
Tell me you don't see a sloppy animation when flipping through months in the calendar app.
Click to expand...

I am puzzled how a specific bug in a particular application can be considered representative for the overall experience. Yes, Calendar month flipping animation is very slow. As is App store resizing. I am sure there are more examples. But I have some difficulty believing that your sole use of the laptop consists of flipping the calendar all the time ;) To be honest, I didn't even know that feature existed in the Calendar in the first place.
 
My animation is smooth as silk.. I do have a 2.8GHz processor with 16G RAM if that makes any difference.
 
leman said:
Yes, Calendar month flipping animation is very slow. As is App store resizing. ... blah blah
Click to expand...

You are probably one of these crazy people who are using their rMBP to do work on; you are too busy getting things done on this excellent portable workstation to OCD on very specific animations in very specific apps... :eek:
 
rikscha said:
Tell me you don't see a sloppy animation when flipping through months in the calendar app.
Click to expand...

Are these animations something you have to switch on? When I click from month to month on the calendar the next month appears instantly...
 
tillsbury said:
Are these animations something you have to switch on? When I click from month to month on the calendar the next month appears instantly...
Click to expand...

It is not even showing the animation, this does happen as well in form of an instant switch. You should be able to drag the page and slowly turn it over.

The calendar is just an example, and if that animation isn't working smoothly on your Mac (i.e. it does on my Mac Mini), I find it difficult to believe that your Mac runs smoothly. I think some people are denying the quite apparent UI lag.

The calendar is only a simple way to "test" and make experiences on the machine comparable. We could of course upload videos to have a visual comparison but that would be too much effort.
 
rikscha said:
It is not even showing the animation, this does happen as well in form of an instant switch. You should be able to drag the page and slowly turn it over.

The calendar is just an example, and if that animation isn't working smoothly on your Mac (i.e. it does on my Mac Mini), I find it difficult to believe that your Mac runs smoothly. I think some people are denying the quite apparent UI lag.

The calendar is only a simple way to "test" and make experiences on the machine comparable. We could of course upload videos to have a visual comparison but that would be too much effort.
Click to expand...

Sorry I have to repeat this, but it's a tolerance level issue. UI lag is a frame rate discussion. Some people can deal with less than 30fps animation, others can't. So it's pointless to accuse people of denying there is lag, because those people don't see it as an issue.

On the other hand other people need 60fps everything or they won't be happy. You are seemingly in this group. Yes, flipping through the calendar app is not buttery smooth, and yes it does suck. Unfortunately for you it doesn't suck enough for people not to buy one and for it to be one of Apple's most popular products. So the best you can do is deal and let Apple continue to work on the UI experience. If 10.8.3 is any indication then you will see improvements of the software front, and the hardware will obviously get better and more capable.

If you can't wait, if you "hate" your retina MacBook then I don't see the point in torturing yourself with this issue. Just return it or sell it and then get a classic like peejack did.
 
Starbuckpga said:
Installed and what a complete pain the ass with the window always popping up and asking for access and etc. Within minutes it was deleted from my computer.
Click to expand...

I don't have any window popping up asking for anything from Webkit. I've been using Webkit since November when I purchased the retina. Also, some users in the Apple Support Communities have found a way to temporarily improve the UI lag.

-Downolad "Graphics Tools for Xcode - January 2013" (you probably need to have a developer account) from "https://developer.apple.com/downloads/index.action"
-Launch "Quartz Debug"

Maybe the following steps are useless, but it's what I did
-Tools -> Show Traking Rectangles
-Window -> FrameMeter
-I played a bit with the UI, switching desktop, moving windows, ...
-Quit Quartz Debug
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back