Many 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks have two graphics processors (GPU)—a discrete GPU and an integrated GPU. The discrete GPU provides substantial graphics performance but uses more energy. The integrated GPU optimizes battery life by using less energy.

AMD Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 for Apple MAC Pro PCIe x16 Mini-DisplayPort HDMI DVI GPU Graphics Video Card 4K & 5K Resolution Support Want to breath new life into an old Mac (Early 2009 4,1 in my case) this is it. This graphics card was purchased for use on an early 2009 Mac Pro (4,1) running OS X 10.10.5 with a 2.93 Ghz processor which had previously been upgraded from 8 to 16 GB of RAM and an SSD for the startup drive. The original graphics cards were two NVIDIA GeForce GT 120's driving three 1920 x.

Check if the discrete or integrated GPU is in use

To see which graphics cards are in use, choose Apple () menu > About this Mac. The graphics cards currently in use appear next to Graphics. Learn which integrated GPUs your Mac might have.

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Check if an app is using the dedicated GPU

Radeon Graphic Card

To see if an app is using the higher-performance discrete GPU, open Activity Monitor and click the Energy tab. If you don't see the Requires High Perf GPU column, your computer only has one graphics processor.

In this example, iMovie and Final Cut Pro are using the higher-performance discrete GPU:

Learn more

Here are a few examples of apps and accessories that use the higher-performance discrete GPU:

• iMovie
• Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign
• An external display

Learn how to use an external graphics processor (eGPU) with your Mac.

Learn how to set the graphics performance on your MacBook Pro or MacBook Pro with Retina display computer.