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Comment by nnq | Hacker News Reader

> to have the nvidia card kick in triggered by the OS somehow when really needed would be the non-plus ultra, but come on, this is science fiction

Can't smth simple & obvious like the macbook pro GPUs work fine, eg. Intel graphics for everything when on battery, dedicated graphics for everything when the power cable is plugged in?

This covers like, everyones uses cases, right?! I mean, you almost never plug into an external monitor without having the power cable plugged in to... and who tf games on battery?

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If only that were what the MBPs actually did. The real rule is, dGPU when plugged in, iGPU when on battery, _unless of course Chrome feels like forcing the GPU on for no good reason, which it will do multiple times per day_ (any app _can_ do this, but in my experience it's mostly only Chrome, and sometimes electron nonsense, that does).

Any where I can read on forcing to use the iGPU on MBPs when plugged in at compile time to be used for the runtime of an application? I figure there are some speed ups/power savings i can get when running an emulator when i'm not too concerned about fps (and way more concerned about lag between from usb input).

[edit] nvm, I can use this: https://github.com/codykrieger/gfxCardStatus

In the X1 Extreme, the hdmi port is wired directly to the Nvidia card, so if you want to use an external monitor, you need to enable the card. This causes all manner of nightmares.

Gnome also used to forget monitor layouts and resolutions habitually, so plugging in a monitor didn't guarantee you'd get the same thing you got the last time, and when you plugged it out, your laptop screen could go funny.

I really don't have time or inclination to mess with this to make it work properly.

Actually the MBP is a poor example imho. If your dGPU dies, like it used to in the past and needed resoldering by a specialized shop or replacement of the whole logic board, you lose your external monitor capabilities. Maybe they improved that situation nowadays.

No. Different GPUs support different features (especially NVidia who still can't just use MESA like all the reasonable people) and have different hardware characteristics, so you can't just move applications back and forth on a whim.

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