15-inch Macbook Pro and auto GPU switching: Apps behaving badly

The Early 2010 15-inch MacBook Pros have an impressive, according to Apple, 8-9 hour battery life. This long battery life is in part attributable to the integrated Intel graphics, which use way less juice than the more powerful Nvidia GPU.

In theory, applications which aren’t graphically intensive shouldn’t trigger the automatic switching of the Nvidia processor. I tested some applications, to see if they trigger the switch after being launched. While most of the results are predictable, some of them might raise a few eyebrows.

Note: To test if an app triggers the Nvidia graphics, I used the system_profiler command-line tool. Testing was performed on an early 2010 MacBook Pro with i7 processor. In most cases, the test consists of launching the application and putting it in document edition mode. For example, when testing the Pages application, I created a new document and then checked whether the computer had switched to the high performance GPU. This means that an app listed as “power friendly” might not be once you perform some more complex operations which trigger additional resource usage.

Disclaimer: All of this might be wrong.

Applications behaving nicely

  • Address Book
  • Adium
  • AppViz
  • Excel 2008
  • Grab
  • iCal
  • Interface Builder
  • iTunes playing a movie
  • iTunes playing music
  • Numbers ‘09
  • Pages ‘09
  • Powerpoint 2008
  • Preview
  • Quicktime playing H.264
  • Quicktime playing non-H.264
  • Safari (http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform)
  • Safari (http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash)
  • TextMate
  • Things
  • TweetDeck
  • Word 2008
  • XCode

Applications behaving badly

  • Garage Band
  • iMovie
  • iPhone Simulator
  • iPhoto
  • Keynote ‘09
  • Photoshop
  • VLC playing H.264
  • VLC playing non-H.264

Applications behaving badly, that should behave nicely

  • 1Password
  • Kiwi
  • OnTheJob
  • Tweetie

Please note that plugging in an external display triggers the Nvidia GPU.

The saddest part of it all is that some of the apps even trigger the GPU when they’re minimized in the tray!!!

What I want is a dropdown menu in the System Preferences that lets me choose between three settints: Always use Intel, Always use Nvidia, and Automatic switching. I don’t care if the transparency in Kiwi is 2 FPS slower when I scroll down. What I do care about is my laptop’s battery lasting half as long as it should.

You did some testing and want to share the results? Please do! Simply open the terminal and enter:

system_profiler | grep -A 50 ^Graphic

How to interpret the results:

The graphics adapter which is currently used will have this text under it:

Displays:
  Color LCD:
    Resolution: 1680 x 1050
    Yaddi yaddi yadda...

The one not used will have this text under it:

Displays:
  Display Connector:
    Status: No Display Connected
  Display Connector:
    Status: No Display Connected

Make sure you close all other running applications and that you run the test both before and after launching the application.

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How I fixed the iPad Case and Dock compatibility issue with scissors

It seems while Apple’s best designers were designing the iPad, their not-as-good ones were designing the iPad’s case.

Problem: When the iPad is in its protective case, it doesn’t dock properly. And the case fits your iPad super tightly, so there’s no way that you will remove it every time you need to charge it.

Solution: take your scissors and cut off a 73mm x 30mm rectangle off your case. The 73mm should be centred with the dock connector. The 30mm is measured from the the edge. On the bottom part, just cut following the existing opening as straight as you can.

Think three times, measure twice and cut once. Don’t do it unless you’re 100% confident that you can succeed. I’m not responsible if you accidentally or intentionally damage your phone, your case, your scissors, your dock, your hands, etc. Obviously, you can’t bring the case back for a refund once you do that!

If you found this useful, please encourage me by using this link to make your next iTunes purchase!

Good luck and enjoy your pad!

Back view

The superfluous material

The superfluous material

Fits like a glove

Yay!

Yay!

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No iPad Keyboard Dock on April 3rd

According to Apple’s online store, most iPad accessories won’t be available on launch day.

While the iPad Dock will be available on April 3rd, the Keyboard Dock won’t be available until “Late April”. If you wanted a Case to protect your iPad, you’ll need to wait until mid April.

Most surprisingly, the 10W USB Power Adapter won’t be shipping until May! Until then, looks like the only way to recharge your iPad will be by plugging it in your computer’s USB port.

As for the iPad Camera Connection Kit, no clue on when it will be available.

But there’s an upside to all that: it’ll save me money. I already have a Bluetooth keyboard lying around somewhere, so All I need is the 29$ iPad Dock and I’m ready to go!

EDITED March 31st:

While the 10W Power Supply won’t be available for sale as an accessory until May, there is one included with every iPad. So it is possible to recharge your iPad autonomously.

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No more iPad reservations for launch day: survival guide

Apple has apparently stopped taking reservations for iPad launch-day.

While this has fuelled many speculations regarding the iPad’s demand and availability, there is a simple explanation: the launch is seven days away. Apple has around 200 retail locations and they need to physically ship the devices to fulfill the pre-orders at each and every one of these stores.

If they have iPads to spare in addition to the pre-ordered ones, they need to allocate and ship those as well.

What to do if you don’t have a reservation? You may still be able to get an iPad on launch date:

Select Best Buy locations will apparently have some iPads for sale on April 3rd. One potentially unreliable commenter wrote on a blog that each location will only have 5 units of each of the 3 iPad models on hand on launch day. That’s 15 per store; if you want to get you hands on one, get there before opening.

★ Apple Store: at 3pm, all unsold reserved units will become available for to anyone.

Apple.com: buy one online for delivery on April 12.

★ Scalpers: if money is no object and you absolutely need an iPad on April 3rd, try Craigslist or even outside Apple retail locations. If you resort to this method, please also seek medical help for you addiction.

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iPad development and not living in the USA

Apple announced the release date for the iPad today. It will be available for sale on April 3d. That is, if you live in the United States. If, like me, you live in Canada, it will be available by the end of April.

Considering the secrecy surrounding the iPad and the geographical distribution of Apple retail outlets, I can understand why the initial release is only done on home soil. It also makes sense in terms of supply and demand. Apple wants to have enough iPads for everybody.

As a consumer, I don’t have a problem with apple releasing in the USA only. As a registered developer, it frustrates me profoundly.

Like many others developers, I am working on an iPad app. Like many others, I am stuck testing it on the tools available to me at the moment. Some privileged top tier developers already have access to the physical device and will be able to have their apps available on April 3rd. I’m fine with that. I understand that Apple wants to hand-pick a few top notch developers for their 0-day offerings. Really, I’m fine with that.

What I’m not fine with is that every developer outside of the United States will not have access to the iPad until approximately three weeks after american developers. That means that our submissions will be artificially delayed by three weeks as well. It basically translates into an unfair advantage for american developers and lost opportunities for the rest of us.

There are already two classes of developers: those who get to sign the secret NDAs and get invited to Cupertino, and those who don’t — please don’t create a third.

To fix this, Apple needs to make iPads available to all their developers come April third. This could be done via the online stores, or even from the retail locations which are located outside the US. If Apple is able to invent a magical and revolutionary product like the iPad, surely they can find a way to put one in our hands as well.

Please retweet.

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Why the App Store review process won’t get “fixed”

The classic argument for loosening App Store review is that Apple is harming their product more than they’re helping. By hand-cuffing developers they’re preventing bug fixes from going live, they’re making developers unhappy, etc — you know the story. And then, the argument continues, that hurts developers and customers both indirectly and directly.

Here’s the problem: the numbers disagree. There is no metric or indicator I’ve seen that demonstrates that the App Store review process is hurting Apple in any way. So from a business perspective why should Apple make any dramatic changes to its review process? All that does is add risk they can’t quantify. There’s a risk they know about, and it’s not yet harming the business. They’d be crazy to act on that risk in the name of adding an unknown (and potentially much larger) risk.

- Neil Mix

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Bike Gears for iPhone website revamped

I revamped my iPhone Bicycle Gear Calculator’s website. Check it out.

http://www.jpmartineau.com/iphone/bicycle-gear-calculator

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The Evolution of Convert’s User Interface

Anyone who’s ever designed a user interface knows that it’s an iterative process. The first design you lay out is almost certainly very different from the one you end up using. Many factors explain this:

- The user interface is directly affected by feature-set changes. Add a feature, you need to change the UI. Remove a feature, you need to change the UI as well.
- Because it’s visible and tangible, (You literally can touch it!), the UI is a likely victim of enthusiastic micromanagers.
There are also some good reasons to change the UI, like streamlining the design to improve usability.
So by the time a project is done, its UI has been through many iterations. Often, there is no record of these changes. The folks at Tap Tap Tap put this video together, from a bunch of screenshots. It shows the evolution of their Convert app’s UI.
From now on, I will be saving a screenshot of every design iteration in all of my projects.
  • The user interface is directly affected by feature-set changes. Add a feature, you need to change the UI. Remove a feature, you need to change the UI as well.
  • Because it’s visible and tangible, (you literally can touch it!), the UI is a likely victim of overenthusiastic micromanagers.

There are also some good reasons to change the UI, such as streamlining its design to improve usability.

So by the time a project is done, its UI has been through many iterations. Often, there is no record of these changes. What if you could go back and see every design decision you’ve taken, in sequence. Wouldn’t that be a useful record for a project’s post-mortem?

The folks at Tap Tap Tap put this video together, from a bunch of screenshots. It shows the evolution of their Convert app’s UI. It seems that the changes in their UI were done for the good reasons too: the end-result is strikingly elegant.

From now on, I’ll be saving a screenshot of every design iteration in all of my projects.

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