what is the graphics card in macbook pro

Placing it here for anyone who ever finds this via Google. but this order seems consistent on my machine. they rely on specific data appearing in a particular order in the system_profile plist. I have no idea how fragile these scripts are.

Using the basic idea presented in the other two answers, I wrote the following scripts to determine if you are using the 'correct' video card (Correct = 'on battery and using the 9400' or 'on ac adapter and using the 9600') Scripts are below to parse the resulting plist and display the result. I should be able to script something that figures it out from there.ĮDIT2: The key is getting the output from system_profier in the xml format (using the -xml switch). BUT will show 'display not connected' for the display attached to the inactive card. The MBP shows information for BOTH video cards, regardless of which is active. I'm also capable of writing my own tool if anyone happens to know where in the API I would look for this information.ĮDIT: The answers below concerning system_profiler are definitely a step in the right direction. I could use that as part of my GeekTool setup. As far as I can tell, you have to open the Energy Saver System Preference to see which one is active.ĭoes anyone know of a tool that will display (in the menu bar, on the desktop, whatever) my current video card status? Especially good would be a terminal command that would report which one was active. This can end up with a dead battery while on an airplane pretty quickly. The problem is, I often forget which one I am running. When this checkmark is removed, the computer will use the discrete graphics at all times.There is a big difference in both performance and power consumption between the two video cards in a MacBook Pro. You can the setting by opening System Preferences > Energy Saver, and removing the checkmark from the 'Automatic graphics switching' checkbox. This way you can test whether or not the problem goes away when using the discrete graphics. However, you can definitely configure your MacBook Pro to use the discrete graphics.

Unless you have an external monitor connected to the MacBook Pro, the integrated graphics should handle this fine. The integrated graphics should be plenty powerful to play ordinary YouTube videos or play a DVD, which are the tasks you describe in your linked question. The integrated graphics uses less energy than the discrete GPU, so in order to maximize battery life, it is used whenever possible. MacBook Pro has come in models with both an integrated and a discrete graphics processing unit for many years now.

What is the graphics card in macbook pro