MacBook Pro - Always in High Performance GPU Mode?

Question

MacBook Pro - Always in High Performance GPU Mode?

I have a late-2013 MacBook Pro Retina with i7 and 16 GB RAM. I am running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.

I have noticed that in the Energy page of Activity Monitor, all processes are showing either "-" or "No" for "Requires High Perf GPU". Yet at the bottom of the page is says "Graphics Card: High Perf". I think that my battery life is suffering as a result of this.

I have reset the SMC. This had no effect.

How can I find the offending process that is causing the GPU to run in this mode? There appears to be no setting that I can change to force the built-in graphics.

Thanks.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 23, 2017 6:02 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Oct 23, 2017 8:02 AM in response to Matthew Hocker

Hi,

You could install gfxCardStatus (https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete/dedicated GPU, although it will have reduced graphics performance when performing demanding graphics tasks.

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Answer 2

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Oct 23, 2017 12:13 PM in response to Matthew Hocker

Yes, I believe it would. There's a real easy way to find out....

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2017 11:32 AM in response to tjk

Unfortunately, that doesn't really solve the root cause of the problem. Something is telling MacOS to stay on "discrete" mode. I'm trying to figure out what that is, or at least how to get closer to the issue.

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