17" i5 MBP GPU Switching Observations
I noticed that you can see which GPU is active in System Profiler and started watching which one the system was using.
Some really strange observations...
Launching Tweetie, even when it is the only application open, makes the computer use the 330M. As soon as I quit it, it switches back to the Intel unless of course Aperture or something like that is open..
Right now with Firefox and a few tabs, Mail, Adium, Terminal, Calendar, Address Book, Word, Power Point, Excel and system profiler open (Just started launching random stuff to test), I am on the Intel. The second I launch Tweetie - 330M.
I am also noticing more weird instances of switching to the 330m, and in my opinion unnecessarily.
For instance, in Firefox, I can have a bunch of tabs open (Right now - Facebook, Macrumors, TUAW, Gizmodo, Engadget) but as soon as I go to my iGoogle page the 330m kicks in. As soon as I close it's tab, the Intel goes back on. My 2007 white Macbook was able to handle iGoogle without a problem, is it really necessary to use a discrete GPU for Google??... NO
It's also interesting to watch the battery while doing this. Right now, at 96% it says 7:22 remaining, upon opening a tab with Google, it goes down to about 6:00 remaining whether the tab is in the foreground or not.
Note - I am only referring to iGoogle - the classic Google page does not force the use of the 330m.
And my next observation may be even more annoying!
It also seems like I am getting 'stuck' on the 330m after a bit of usage. I noticed that after closing Aperture (on battery), I am still using the 330m. Figured it may be some other application requiring it so I quit everything that was running, including System Profiler and then relaunched just System Profiler, and I am still on the 330m.
Right now the only way I can get back over to the Intel GPU is by logging out (I think) or rebooting.
I hope other users are willing to look at their systems and see if what I am observing is 'normal', because I doubt I am the only one experiencing it. This all comes at a sacrifice to battery life and Apple really needs to address it quickly...
I hope that someone comes up with a way of giving the user more control over which card is active, be it Apple or someone else.
17" 2.53 i5 Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)