how to disable graphics card in macbook pro 2016

#HOW TO DISABLE GRAPHICS CARD IN MACBOOK PRO 2016 FREE#

This can increase performance when plugged in and increase battery life when unplugged. There are preferences which allow you to tell it to set the graphics card to the less battery hungry integrated graphics when your computer is unplugged or to automatically turn on the more powerful discrete graphics card when you are plugged into power. The drop down menu gives options including selection of the Intel only, AMD or NVIDIA only or Dynamic Switching, which is the default for the MacBook Pro and lets the computer decide automatically. In addition, if you would like to manually switch the computer between the two, you simply click the menu icon. The app will run in the background and any time the computer switches it will give you an onscreen notification (see above and below).

#HOW TO DISABLE GRAPHICS CARD IN MACBOOK PRO 2016 FREE#

It is a free app which you can get from the developer’s website. gfxcardstatus is a lightweight utility that runs in your menu bar and tells you exactly when that happens with on-screen notification. It is nice to know when the higher powered discrete graphics card is being used. The benefit is higher power when needed, but lower power consumption on the integrated graphics for ordinary tasks. Integrated graphics are for ordinary applications like Microsoft Word and a Twitter client. From an automotive analogy think of dynamic switching graphics as switching to four-wheel drive when driving off-road and two-wheel drive for driving around town. A high-powered gaming card is for more intense applications like Photoshop or Call of Duty. Having dynamic switching graphics is like being able to open the computer and put in a different graphics card for different scenarios, except you don’t have to dissect your MacBook Pro. The difference between integrated and discrete graphics is power – both consumption and horsepower to get work done. When your system needs a lot of graphics processing power for things like video encoding, picture editing or especially gaming, the computer switches from lowered powered integrated graphics to higher powered discrete graphics. The MacBook Pro has what is called switchable or dynamic switching graphics. If you ever want to know which graphics card your Apple MacBook Pro is using, then gfxcardstatus is the perfect utility.

How to disable graphics card in macbook pro 2016