My Early 2011 MacBook Pro has been having some video issues. Bad ones. Black bars, fuzzy and shaking images, crazy resolutions. These are all the signs of a failing video card. But the symptoms didn't happen all the time, the machine would be solid one moment and then bonkers then next.
What is happening is the sign of a feature in action: automatic graphics switching between video subsystems. Most MacBook Pros since 2010 sport two GPUs: the integrated Intel video and the discrete GPU. The switching technology examines the framework of the application being called upon and whether its performance will be improved by using the higher-performing GPU, then the system will switch to the better one for the document, app and content task at hand.
Of course, this can mean a strain on battery life: The more-powerful GPU consumes more power. Apple admits this in a Support Note, since the switch may not reverse itself if the graphics programs are kept open.
Via: ZDNet
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