Extend battery life for latest MacBook Pros with gfxCardStatus
Jul 04, '12 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: wfolta
Jul 04, '12 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: wfolta
When your MacBook Pro switches from integrated Intel graphics to the dedicated GPU, power consumption goes up considerably. Which API calls or program attributes trigger this switch is not totally clear, and programs that you least expect might be draining your battery.
Cody Krieger’s free gfxCardStatus will tell you when a switch occurs and lists which programs are causing this. (It also lets you manually toggle the mode.)
I found out, for instance, that EagleFiler and Twitter both triggered the GPU, significantly reducing the time I could run on battery. (EagleFiler's author is investigating this.) Neither program is particularly graphics intensive, so I'd never have suspected that leaving them up (and hidden) would be draining my battery prematurely.
[kirkmc adds: Since I now have a new MacBook Pro with Retina display (wow, that display is nice!), this hint comes at just the right time. This utility has been around a while, yet it's never shown up here as a hint. Jeff Carlson reviewed it for Macworld last year, so you can read more about it there. One thing I can say about the new MacBook Pro is that the battery life is orders of magnitude better than my late 2010 MacBook Air, and with this utility, I'll be able to use it even longer.]
Cody Krieger’s free gfxCardStatus will tell you when a switch occurs and lists which programs are causing this. (It also lets you manually toggle the mode.)
I found out, for instance, that EagleFiler and Twitter both triggered the GPU, significantly reducing the time I could run on battery. (EagleFiler's author is investigating this.) Neither program is particularly graphics intensive, so I'd never have suspected that leaving them up (and hidden) would be draining my battery prematurely.
[kirkmc adds: Since I now have a new MacBook Pro with Retina display (wow, that display is nice!), this hint comes at just the right time. This utility has been around a while, yet it's never shown up here as a hint. Jeff Carlson reviewed it for Macworld last year, so you can read more about it there. One thing I can say about the new MacBook Pro is that the battery life is orders of magnitude better than my late 2010 MacBook Air, and with this utility, I'll be able to use it even longer.]
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