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innerimager · Sep 24, 2009, 10:16 AM

Just got a 15 inch Macbook Pro. First I have to say- I've had most every Mac since the SE, always very impressed.... but this one in THE ONE. I absolutely love the keyboard, the track-mouse, the screen (I do a lot of photography and got the Matte). So on to my question. I selected "better performance" figuring I'd keep the higher end graphic card in line all the time. I found the battery life was about 2 hours, just surfing the web! I'm currently comparing it to "better battery" with the same screen brightness, it looks like it will be 5+ hours. So...is this what others see? Is this normal that the 9600 graphic card chews up the battery even without doing any graphic intensive work? thanks...Peter

Simon · Sep 24, 2009, 04:21 PM

Real battery life you measured or just what the menu bar widget says?

The latter depends highly on proper calibration. And even then it can be way off depending on what you're doing.

Without putting a lot of load on the system expect to see a ~1h difference on battery life for 9400M vs. 9600M.

innerimager · Sep 24, 2009, 04:30 PM

Hi Simon- It was real. I had left the computer on, came back and it was on reserve battery, around 10% in something like 2 hours.

Simon · Sep 24, 2009, 04:49 PM

But did you then let the battery run down or did you trust the 10% figure and proceed to charge?

EndlessMac · Sep 24, 2009, 04:58 PM

I agree with Simon. The battery meter is more of an estimate and it's horribly inaccurate if you don't calibrate your battery. The best way to know if your battery is truly drained is by using it until your laptop is forced to go into sleep mode because it's too low on power to operate further.

innerimager · Sep 24, 2009, 05:49 PM

In fact I did not let the battery run out but recharged. I'll take this into account. In the meantime, if I am not doing any graphic intensive tasks, is there any benefit to using the 9600 card? thanks...Peter

EndlessMac · Sep 24, 2009, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by innerimager

In the meantime, if I am not doing any graphic intensive tasks, is there any benefit to using the 9600 card? thanks...Peter

No there shouldn't be any benefits. Most people actually don't need the 9600 GPU card since the 9400 is much better than most other integrated graphics. I believe Apple introduced the dual cards because they were trying to solve the complaints about short battery life. Without the dual card setup you will forced to use the 9600 card all the time which eats up battery life. Even professionals don't use their computers for intense graphics work all the time so the dual cards are a nice feature. Although Apple really should make it possible to switch cards without having to reboot the computer.

If you really want to know if you are benefiting from the 9600, I would recommend using it for about a week doing what you normally do and then switch back to the 9400 and see if you notice much of a difference. This test would be a lot easier and more convenient if you were able to switch cards on the fly without having to reboot...

innerimager · Sep 24, 2009, 06:21 PM

I do professional photo editing... sometimes. Mostly the laptop will be used for tasks that don't require the highest end graphics. I suspect I'll leave it on 9400 unless I'm on a shoot, away from my tower, and need to process on the road. Then I will use the 9600. Also, if I end up with an external monitor, like that sweet looking 24", I suspect the 9600 will be better, especially using Aperture. Thanks for the help folks. best....Peter

Simon · Sep 24, 2009, 11:52 PM

Originally Posted by EndlessMac

Although Apple really should make it possible to switch cards without having to reboot the computer.

IIRC you have to log out only, not reboot.

Simon · Sep 25, 2009, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by innerimager

I do professional photo editing... sometimes. Mostly the laptop will be used for tasks that don't require the highest end graphics. I suspect I'll leave it on 9400 unless I'm on a shoot, away from my tower, and need to process on the road. Then I will use the 9600. Also, if I end up with an external monitor, like that sweet looking 24", I suspect the 9600 will be better, especially using Aperture. Thanks for the help folks. best....Peter

Right now, Aperture sounds like the only reason you would want to switch to the 9600M. In other situations, including even the external monitor or PS (if you use it) the 9400M will be just fine for you. More battery life, negligible performance difference.

Eventually this will change (OpenCL/GCD)... But right now it's simple.

innerimager · Sep 25, 2009, 05:49 AM

Thanks Simon