Updating Graphics Card for MacBook Pro

That's not how those work. An "eGPU" is costly and difficult to set up. For what you'd spend on that, you would be much better off selling or returning your Mac and buying a dedicated Windows machine.

Macbooks aren't meant for gaming anyway, in general no Mac is.

I talked to Apple Support not too long ago and was told that my actual gaming graphics card ( i have Intel HD 3000 Graphics Chipset & AMD Raedeon 6770M HD Graphics Card) is, in fact, interchangeable and available to upgrade. They said it was just held in by plastic clips. The chipset isnt removable though i think.

Oh yeah for sure. Honestly for any upgrade i wouldn't take it to Apple. They're not fully in the gaming world yet. I think if your warranty is up, you should take it to someone that knows what they're doing and that possibly has their own warranty system. I'd love to upgrade mine even just a little bit because while mine runs good, is not quite there and i think just a little boost would help my games run a bit smoother. I think nVidia would be a good idea. I mean AMD is great and i would just the same upgrade to another AMD but most games seem to be optimized for nVidia

what you can do is get an application that helps CPU power, which is very important in gaming. thse applicatipns work by limiting CPU other things that are being prossesed, for example dock, or other aps that are open. if this doesent work, well, there is not alot of updates avalable for any macbooks.

Upgrading your graphics card obviously isnt possible (as said above) unless you do it externally, but you can EASILY upgrade your RAM. This will help a lot with speed and less lag. It just wont help with graphics as much. So you could play fast if you do that just not be able to play in HD. The external card isnt a bad idea either, but ram could help a lot too. 🙂

I'm using Late 2011 Macbook Pro running on Intel Core i7 2.8 GHz dual-core, Intel HD 3000 384 MB, and 6GB RAM. I'm playing GTA IV with medium settings on bootcamp and it's running about 10-35 fps. If you are using i5, that's the problem. I already tested this with my own Macbook Pro vs Acer Aspire V5 and the Macbook Pro won but Acer Aspire V5 has Intel HD 4000, but it using Intel Core i5. Set the graphics in your game properly, don't set it into high option, try the low one. If it works, use the medium one. Use the Laptop cooling pad/cooler fan to prevent your Macbook Pro from overheat and to improve it's performance.

Keep in mind that Macbook Pro isn't made for gaming, it's made for business, work, and design. You are lucky though because it will be easier doing work on Mac than on PC, and you're still in college, right?🙂

They make a device called a bison box that you plug a graphics card of your choice into then plug it into the thunderbolt port. And the laptop uses the external graphics instesd of the integrated graphics.

you are responding to a post made nearly two years ago.

Thanks EHowell!