Thenew MacBook Prosunveiled Tuesday may look identical to Apple ’s previous pot of pro laptop computer , but there are a few notable under - the - exhaust hood upgrades . Chief among them are the new graphics found throughout the line that should make these MacBook Pros significantly faster at graphics - intensive tasks , while also increase battery life .
The13 - in modelsoffer only integrate artwork , which portion out up to 256 megabyte of main memory . This was also the case with the mid-2009 13 - column inch models . However , with this late good deal of MacBook Pros , Apple has interchange the Nvidia GeForce 9400 M with the more powerful GeForce 320 M , which has three times as many processing cores—48 — as the 9400M. We have n’t been able-bodied to test these systems ourselves yet , but Apple lay claim that this new graphics processor can run up to 80 percentage quicker than the integrated graphics found in its previous batch of 13 - inch laptops . Equally impressive is the company ’s title of increased vigour efficiency , with the 320 M using up to 40 percent less index than the 9400M. That should aid earmark the new 13 - inch MacBook Pro to melt for as long as 10 hour on a single battery charge , according to Apple ’s figures on rated shelling sprightliness .
All 15- and 17 - in MacBook Pros now offer both incorporate and distinct graphics — antecedently , the entry - horizontal surface 15 - in MacBook Pro had only integrated graphics . The new good example use Intel HD incorporate graphics for general - use software , like iTunes , Mail , and Safari , but can automatically swop to the dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT330 M artwork for tasks involve more horsepower . Apple claim that the GeForce GT330 M can run as much as doubly as tight as the integrated GeForce 320 M art found in the unexampled 13 - in MacBook Pros . The new graphics in the 15- and 17inch models also apply 30 percent less energy than their predecessors , helping the young those systems get up to between eight and nine hours of function from a single stamp battery bike .
The Automatic Graphics Switching setting in the Energy Saver preference pane.
New to these duple - artwork portable is an automatic shift engineering developed by Apple . The engineering looks for frameworks needed by single apps at launch ( such as OpenGL and Core Animation ) to decide when to seamlessly alternate from its energy - sip integrate graphics to the higher - powered discrete nontextual matter processor . antecedently , a user had to decide which graphics to employ , and switch between them need sign out and back into OS X.
Checking your e - mail , surfing the Web , or even watching 720p HD video in iTunes all oeuvre just alright using the integrated Intel HD graphic . Launch Aperture , however , and the MacBook Pro will mechanically swap to the GeForce consecrate computer graphic for all of your workplace ( that includes other apps you may have exposed along with the app that trip the electric switch ) until you quit the graphics - intensive app .
You no longer have ( or are able ) to decide whether to use depleted powerfulness graphics to play a diagrammatically demanding biz likeCall of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare ( ) . However , you may turn off automatic computer graphic flip — these unexampled models admit an Automatic Graphics Switching checkbox in the Energy Saver predilection pane of glass that ’s selected by default . Turning it off forces the MacBook Pro into discrete graphics - only modality . ( There ’s no way to enjoin the computer to use only the integrated artwork system ) .
The Automatic Graphics Switching setting in the Energy Saver preference pane.
The Automatic Graphics Switching setting in the Energy Saver taste pane .
Though similar , Apple says its auto - flip technology is unlike thanNvidia ’s Optimusgraphics switching engineering , which puzzle out on Windows system and face for Call from applications using DirectX or CUDA , for example , to activate the switch . Optimus also uses software profiles to see whether the app requires or would benefit from using the distinct nontextual matter . According toNvidia ’s Optimus whitepaper , the profiles live on Nvidia server and are “ mechanically pushed to the remnant user , ” though users can reverse off these updates via the Nvidia Control Panel .
We ’re just starting our initial Macworld research laboratory tests of these fresh MacBook Pros . Check back for Speedmark 6 upshot and our full follow-up of all six new systems presently .
[ James Galbraith is Macworld ’s research lab director . ]
