Will new MBP have graphic switching under windows?

[boonlar]

Current macbooks don't let you switch graphic cards under windows right? That's why the battery life sucks in windows right?

Do you think the new macbooks will let you?

From the rumors they sound awesome but I want it to run windows only so I don't want it to have crap battery life from using the discrete graphics all the time.

 

[Cr0nus]

there are other cheaper laptops that solely run windows

 

[snaky69]

Current macbooks don't let you switch graphic cards under windows right? That's why the battery life sucks in windows right?

Do you think the new macbooks will let you?

From the rumors they sound awesome but I want it to run windows only so I don't want it to have crap battery life from using the discrete graphics all the time.

Not that I'm here to tell you what to do with your money, but.

Buying a macbook pro to run windows on it 100% is utterly stupid. You want a good PC with great battery life? Get a lenovo thinkpad, quality build, great battery, awesome specs.

Out of curiosity why would you even consider a macbook pro if you're going to go windows only on it? Afraid to give OS X a try?

 

[Kissaragi]

you do have to be crazy to buy a mac to only run windows

 

[boonlar]

Not that I'm here to tell you what to do with your money, but.

Buying a macbook pro to run windows on it 100% is utterly stupid. You want a good PC with great battery life? Get a lenovo thinkpad, quality build, great battery, awesome specs.

Out of curiosity why would you even consider a macbook pro if you're going to go windows only on it? Afraid to give OS X a try?

I already have a macbook air but I'm going to sell it and get the new mbp.

The build quality on the mbp is pretty good and on par with lenovo and asus but it has a couple of advantages over both.


Lenovo is awesome but they use the worst screens in the industry. They also use the crappiest graphics chips. Lenovo = no go

Asus is awesome but they use crappy keyboards and the worst trackpads /trackpad buttons. Asus = no go

That leaves apple with the all around best machine albeit for a lot more $$$.

OSX is 'okay' but it lacks the little things I love in windows 7. Also the software I like is for windows.

Honestly apple should just market MBP as an OSX and windows machine instead of OSX plus the ability to run windows on the side.

 

[alust2013]

Honestly apple should just market MBP as an OSX and windows machine instead of OSX plus the ability to run windows on the side.

It's marketed like that because it doesn't perform nearly as well in windows. The battery life sucks, and it will regardless of discrete graphics or not. For example, my computer has integrated graphics only and the battery life is still less than half in windows. The trackpad is just awful in windows as well. So much so that I have to use it with a mouse at all times. Drivers are also a pain, and in general, Apple uses very average graphics cards in the MBP. Honestly, I think it's a huge waste of money to get a MBP to run windows only. I'd get an HP Envy, which will certainly better the MBP in windows battery life, and overall performance in windows.

 

[boonlar]

It's marketed like that because it doesn't perform nearly as well in windows. The battery life sucks, and it will regardless of discrete graphics or not. For example, my computer has integrated graphics only and the battery life is still less than half in windows. The trackpad is just awful in windows as well. So much so that I have to use it with a mouse at all times. Drivers are also a pain, and in general, Apple uses very average graphics cards in the MBP. Honestly, I think it's a huge waste of money to get a MBP to run windows only. I'd get an HP Envy, which will certainly better the MBP in windows battery life, and overall performance in windows.

Well it's apples fault for not making proper drivers. They could easily make windows run great on it and cut into the windows laptop market.

If switchable graphics were available in windows I'm betting the battery life would only be like 5% less than OSX.

 

[Funkymonk]

He likes windows better than osx, what's wrong with that?

he also wants the best hardware and the macbook pro provides that. You guys need to chill.

 

[alust2013]

Well it's apples fault for not making proper drivers. They could easily make windows run great on it and cut into the windows laptop market.

If switchable graphics were available in windows I'm betting the battery life would only be like 5% less than OSX.

My point was that windows itself causes the bad battery life. My computer doesn't have dedicated graphics at all and it still gets awful battery life in windows with the lower power integrated graphics

 

[altecXP]

My point was that windows itself causes the bad battery life. My computer doesn't have dedicated graphics at all and it still gets awful battery life in windows with the lower power integrated graphics

And you obviously dont know how drivers work. Apple makes the drivers that works with Windows power management. If those drivers were done correctly the MacBook should get at least 6-7hrs of battery if not more.

 

[hcho3]

Why the hell would apple want to focus so much on windows in the first place? Their focus and only focus is Mac OS. They support boot camp, but they don't want you to use window OS. If you wish to install windows, then you may do so, but don't expect too much love or support from apple.

 

[snaky69]

And you obviously dont know how drivers work. Apple makes the drivers that works with Windows power management. If those drivers were done correctly the MacBook should get at least 6-7hrs of battery if not more.

Apple did not write the drivers for the graphics card, nvidia did. Same goes for most other drivers.

 

[wdahab]

I'm another person who prefers Macbooks to run Windows exclusively. While it's been debated to death, I find that Apple's "there's one way to do it, and it's our way" style of designing software doesn't suit my taste. Sure, I can mess up my Windows 7 install, get it to crash, but at least I can make my own choices.

That said, MBPs are the best hardware you can buy for laptops. Period. Sure, I pay the Apple tax, but to get a .9 inch laptop, with high resolution, 16x10 screen, and large batteries, it's worth it. There are alternatives, but the build quality/weight/thickness/keyboard flimsiness make it not worth it.

I didn't upgrade to the last MBP because it wasn't enough of an update over my current laptop, and didn't have windows graphic switching. I'm hoping for Windows graphic switching too. I'm hoping that having the integrated gpu inside the CPU will make it more feasible (as opposed to having the integrated on a separate chip within the chipset.

But I'll find out in a couple of days. Either way, the battery life on the current MBPs is fine in Windows 7, regardless. I'm just hoping for better.

 

[haruhiko]

I'm another person who prefers Macbooks to run Windows exclusively. While it's been debated to death, I find that Apple's "there's one way to do it, and it's our way" style of designing software doesn't suit my taste. Sure, I can mess up my Windows 7 install, get it to crash, but at least I can make my own choices.

That said, MBPs are the best hardware you can buy for laptops. Period. Sure, I pay the Apple tax, but to get a .9 inch laptop, with high resolution, 16x10 screen, and large batteries, it's worth it. There are alternatives, but the build quality/weight/thickness/keyboard flimsiness make it not worth it.

I didn't upgrade to the last MBP because it wasn't enough of an update over my current laptop, and didn't have windows graphic switching. I'm hoping for Windows graphic switching too. I'm hoping that having the integrated gpu inside the CPU will make it more feasible (as opposed to having the integrated on a separate chip within the chipset.

But I'll find out in a couple of days. Either way, the battery life on the current MBPs is fine in Windows 7, regardless. I'm just hoping for better.

Maybe it's just me, but i think that Windows on a MacBook Pro is kinda absurd, due to the lack of support for the trackpad. But it's less odd to install Windows on an iMac. Windows 7 seems to deliver a much better job for larger screens and HDTVs, not to mention its much better multimedia capabilities (although VLC is catching up very quickly). I boot into Windows much more frequently on my Mac Mini and iMac but it's just a placeholder on my MBP for rare occasions which I can't find any alternatives in Mac OS X.