This review only relates to MacBook Pro machines which have dual display adapters fitted. I’m not entirely sure which set of MBPs that is, except that mine is one of those with a 9400M/9600GT fitted. For years I’ve done various things on it from time to time such as writing an email and then deciding I want to play Eve Online for a while (or WarZone 2100) and then finishing up and coming back to browsing the web. Of course under standard OSX one must logout in between these different usage scenarios if one wants to take advantage of the higher graphics performance of the 9600GT for the games but like the idea of a bit of battery life if you should decide to take the machine off the wall for a while.
Enter gfxCardStatus by Cody Krieger. This nifty little utility does what everyone expected OSX should do for you. It provides the ability to switch between the 9400M or the 9600GT, without logging out, without having to close any of your apps and without losing your workflow. Where were Apple? This is something that should have been provided as a standard feature – but fortunately Cody Krieger has rescued us.
I can’t tell you how great this little application is. It’s simple to install (as most OSX apps are of course) and it does exactly what it says it will, flawlessly on my MacBook Pro. It provides a little menu item up the top of the screen which shows an i for the internal video card (in my case the 9400M – in the case of newer MacBooks I’m led to believe this is an Intel chipset video card?) which when you click it, you get a menu that looks like the one on the right. Pressing the Switch GPUs option will turn your screen blue for a few moments while Cody works his magic and then everything will come back as it was and the menu will now show a small d in place of the i. (I assume that’s for ‘discreet graphics’?).
Dec 20, 2016. Keep in check your Mac and apps with gfxCardStatus. MacBook Pro users rely on their laptops for power as they do heavy apps and work. Be wary of the apps you use and battery with gfxCardStatus.This app is an unobtrusive menu bar app that lets you see which apps are eating on the battery life of your Mac. Dec 29, 2017.
The preferences screen couldn’t be simpler, but gives you just enough power to do what you need. Power being the operative word here and this again is something that I’m amazed Apple didn’t just build into OSX. Perhaps they were too lazy. I digress, power – with gfxCardStatus you can finally tell your MacBook Pro to run the low power (and less speedy) card when on battery, and the full screaming, juice sucking guzzler when on the wall. Perfect!
If I had to fault the app, the only thing I’d like it to be able to do is hotkey the GPU switching – but really, that’s such a minor issue I’m not going to let it detract me from the overall score of 5/5 for the app.
One feature that would be awesome – though I doubt it’d ever come to pass, would be to be able to set which GPU would be used for certain applications. For example, in my usage scenarios, I just about always want to use the 9400M, except when I’m playing Eve Online or WarZone 2100. If there was a way to automatically switch to the 9600 when I click their icon to start them, that’d just about be the sauce on the awesomeness that is gfxCardStatus.
Our Score, 10 out of 10 for this application – if you’ve a Mac with multiple graphics cards, this is an absolute must have application.
Summary
Positives: Unobtrusive, easy, power saving
Negatives: nil
Website: http://gfx.io
User Review0(0 votes)
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If you are reading this, there is a good chance it is because your 2011 Macbook Pro bit the dust big time, just like mine did. I paid over $3000 for it, and whilst it is 6 years old now I have grown incredibly fond of it, and I really wanted to revive it.
The problem stems from the Graphics Card. There are actually two graphics processors in these machines, the Discrete Card which is an ATI Radeon (This is the one that fails) and an Integrated one, which is an Intel Chip integrated into the motherboard. The reason Apple included two graphics processors is that the ATI Radeon is super fast, which is great for the gaming experience and video, and when you are working on spreadsheets or sending emails, the integrated Intel processor uses way less power and considerably increases battery life. The truth of the matter is, if you aren’t a gamer, the Integrated Intel Graphics Processor is just fine, and thankfully this chip is what allows you to get your machine up and running again.
![]() Graphic Card Status
**THIS IS HAS WORKED FOR ME – I HOPE IT WORKS FOR YOU, BUT I CANT GUARANTEE IT**
This is not a guaranteed permanent fix – But it has been working for me, and hopefully you experience similar results.
My machine kept crashing not long after it would boot, which made it impossible to work on, until I found out that if you don’t have it plugged in to the power, it should boot using the integrated graphics. When its plugged in the power hungry faulty card is used, so disconnect from power.
Once you get it booted go into system preferences and look for “Energy Options”
Open Energy Saver
Make sure the option for “Automatic Graphic Switching” is checked. This will allow your computer to use the integrated card so you can work on it some more.
Now, hopefully, your Macbook will be stable enough to allow you to do some work on it. Next, there is a nice little free program called GFX Card Status, that allows you to switch between the graphics cards. DON’T download the latest version as it wont work. You need to download Version 2.0.1
Now that you have downloaded it, open it and run it. What you are looking for is a letter in your menu. It may be “D”, it may be “I”.
GFX Card Status Icon
If you see the letter, can click on it, and open up the program GREAT! If you see the letter appear, and it disappears once you put your mouse on it, or shortly after you open it, don’t worry, that happened to me as well. The way I got it to stay in the menu bar and not disappear was to actually download and run version 1.7. For some reason just attempting to run 1.7 opens 2.0.1 and makes it stick.
Now that you have it going, you can delete 1.7, but you need to keep version 2.0.1 on your desktop forever now. Small price to pay to have your Macbook Pro back right! Now click on the letter to open up GFX Card Status.
Select “Integrated Only” like I have in the above picture. Once that is selected open up the preferences panel. Make sure you have “Integrated” selected for both battery and power options.
GFX Card Status Preferences
Now, hopefully, your Macbook Pro will work again and be reasonably stable. I have been using this fix for over a week now and it hasn’t skipped a beat. I had one start up where it looked like the screen had crashed but I let it go and it righted itself, and hasn’t done it again since.
Some Observations:
1 – Even though I have checked “Load gfxCardStatus at startup” in the preferences multiple times, the check mark always disappears, but the program still loads at startup every time – Awesome! Just leave it.
2 – Even though we have selected Integrated for everything, for some reason it shows a “d” in the menu bar (indicating dynamic or discrete). Don’t worry about it even though it appears wrong. If your computer works, thats the main thing.
3 – When you click the Apple icon in the top left and then select “About This Mac”, it will say “Intel HD Graphics”. All reference to the Radeon Card is gone.
4 – If you go back in to preferences, and then Energy Saver, the “Automatic Graphic Switching” option is now unchecked. DO NOT RECHECK IT. I think this is saying that switching is turned off and the Intel Card is now permanently selected. This is DEFINITELY what you want!
![]() Gfx Card Status Mac Download Windows 10**UPDATE**
I have found a few more solutions since writing this article:
1: SteveSchow has updated GFXcardstatus to work with OSX Sierra – You can view the App page on Github HERE, or download his 2.4.3i version directly HERE. I have installed it and am using it on my 2011 MBP now to write this update. So far so good.
Gfx Card Status 1.8.1
2: There are some methods surfacing about how to disable the discrete card permanently. Steveschow writes:
“Here is some interesting stuff that has come up recently. I’m afraid to try it, but it might be a way to force integrated mode all the time, completely and totally, absolutely no discrete, without using gfxCardStatus. Use at your own risk and let us know if it works
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/force-2011-macbook-pro-8-2-with-failed-amd-gpu-to-always-use-intel-integrated-gpu-efi-variable-fix.2037591/page-5#post-24511780“
Like Steveschow says – Use at your own risk!Gfx Card DriverDid any of this work for you? Have you had a different experience? Please let me know about it in the comments – GOOD LUCK!Comments are closed.
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December 2020
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