The 13-inch MacBook Pro has absolutely no GPU options, all you get is the on-die Intel HD Graphics 3000. I don't expect this move will have a noticeable impact on GPU performance. In this case one of the x4 ports is used for Thunderbolt, leaving 4 unused lanes and a x8 for the GPU. The controller can be split into two x8s or 1 x8 and 2 x4. Remember Sandy Bridge has a x16 PCIe controller on-die. The new GPUs now only use a x8 connection to the SNB CPU compared to the x16 from last year's models. The 6750M is paired with 1GB of GDDR5 and thus has no problems smoothly driving a 27-inch 2560 x 1440 panel.
With only a 256MB frame buffer the 6490M is insufficient for high performance at larger resolutions (courtesy of an external display). The difference between the two GPUs amounts to compute horsepower, memory bandwidth and available frame buffer. The entry level 15 uses a Radeon HD 6490M while the upgraded 15 and the 17 both use a Radeon HD 6750M. This round they both use AMD hardware and the options are below: The max frequency is somewhere between 1.2-1.3GHz depending on the processor SKU.īeing basically desktop replacements, the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros also include a discrete GPU. The GPU can also turbo up depending on available TDP. What does the 3000 offer you? Twelve scalar execution units (EUs) running at a base clock speed of 650MHz. There are actually two versions of Intel's HD Graphics available on Sandy Bridge, but all current mobile versions of SNB come with the 3000 model. Note that the GPU core is integrated on-die. The entire MacBook Pro lineup gets Sandy Bridge CPUs and as a result they all get Intel's new HD Graphics 3000. This year is the year of the CPU however. Apple went to great lengths to use the best of the entry level GPUs and paid no mind to the fact that the 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini and MacBook Air all used much older Core 2 Duo CPUs while the competition was busy shipping Core i3/5/7s.
If you had asked me last year I would've told you that Apple clearly values GPU performance more than CPU performance-and I wouldn't be far off the mark.
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