10.8.3 Forcing Discrete Graphics With Dropbox and others

clintonfrombirmingham wrote:

It seems that the further into Mountain Lion we get, the more exposure the faulty NVIDIA mid-2010 MBP issues are showing up.

Keep in mind that the problem is with the "incomplete [Intel HD Graphics] driver" (to quote Apple), not the NVIDIA driver.

But for what it's worth, Apple believes it's addressed the issue and fixed the bug that allowed OpenGL apps to use the integrated GPU. Now all is hunky-dory—the way it's supposed to be.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

My MBP does not switch with Skype. (but I have

AMD Radeon HD 6750M:).

Has anybody tried the new version of Dropbox's app? (Looks like it was released a few days ago):

http://www.macworld.com/article/2030664/dropbox-2-0-revamps-menu-bar-interface.h tml

What stood out to me was this line: "a bug that enabled discrete graphics chips on Mac laptops has been fixed".

I'd like to second this: Dropbox 2.0.0 ran fine on 10.8.2, but 10.8.3 forces discrete graphics (mid-2010 17in i7 MBP). Don't know whether Apple or Dropbox is the culprit here, but I'd be happy to see a fix/work-around soon. Thanks!

In what deluted world is this called a "bug fix". I'd call it a regression.

same problem here: after upgrading to 10.8.3, Dropbox and Fantastical enforce the discrete GPU. Quite annoying, since there's no way to switch to integrated without quiting these applications.

Add Growl, Hyperdock Helper, and Sparrow to that list.

Apple's official statement (from their phone support) is that if Apple determines there's an issue, they will fix it. To me, that is far from a satisfactory response. The next line I got was to go to www.apple.com/feedback and submit feedback there.

I see that Dropbox's support forums are, now, flooded with complaints about this, too (I was happy to contribute). Hopefully, someone will have a fix sooner, rather than later.

Hi,

same problem here:

I just saw, that my 2010 MBP 15'' is using its Nvidia card because of Dropbox!

Updated to Dropbox v2.0 &10.8.3 yesterday, before that everything worked fine...

I've already send a bug report to Apple & submitted the bug to the dropbox forum.

I think it's not acceptable to power the discrete graphiccard all day long for these "simple" apps in the background!

Hopefully something will be changed...

BTW: Dictation also needs the Nvidia card 😠

For anyone submitting bug reports about this particular issue, my original Problem IDs are 12982714, 13082610, and 13119254. Feel free to include them in your reports.

I can confirm OS X 10.8.3 on my mid 2010 MBP that Dropbox 2.0, Memory Cleaner, and Growl were using discrete graphics. I've downgraded Dropbox and disabled the other apps from starting on start up; I miss Growl already. I never had Tweetbot or Reeder starting on start up so I can't confirm or deny if the discrete graphics was being used in 10.8.2 previously. I've left Apple feedback. I've also sent support tickets to the support teams of the respective applications.

2010 mid MBP 371 have the exactly same problem here

I'm, currently, running an older version of Dropbox (1.6.16), which runs just fine on Integrated graphics (I believe later 1.6.x releases will auto-update to 2.0, this one won't). Fortunately, you can still download and install previous versions of Dropbox using the links on the Release Notes page. I like to keep Dropbox open 24/7. Discrete graphics is not an option. I won't be updating Dropbox until someone (don't care who) addresses this issue.

I don't use any of the other applications mentioned in this thread, so I can't, personally, comment on them.

Other than the Dropbox debacle, I have had no issues with 10.8.3.