Linux 4.6 Will Finally Bring GPU Switching For Pre-Retina MacBook Pros

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Linux 4.6 Will Finally Bring GPU Switching For Pre-Retina MacBook Pros

Support for GPU switching on pre-retina Apple MacBook Pro laptops manufactured from 2008 through 2013 will finally be supported by the mainline Linux 4.6 kernel...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Apple-GMUX-VGA-Switcher-4.6

[adramalech707]

The retina MacBook Pro (2012 - present) uses eDP and cannot switch AUX independently from the main link. The main obstacle there is link training, I'm currently working on this, it will be addressed in a future patch set.

I really hope this continues as it will foster more adoption of Linux with old mac hardware that might run just fine but leaves the window of OSX updates to render the machine next to useless.

[citrusfizz]

Is there a way to do this on a 2012 macbook currently without waiting for a new kernel? All attempts i have made haven't worked.

[reed1]

Then what about post retina ? I can switch between IGP and Nvidia but that requires restart

[adakite]

@reed1: Interesting. Which distro do you use? Are you using NV's blob? When not using Nvidia GPU, what is the "nominal" batterie life while doing not too demanding stuffs (office, browsing etc.) ? Thanks for your feedbacks. I'm searching for a developer laptop that offer CUDA/OpenCL support (so Nvidia is better for now as I do not consider HIP mature for now) but I also need a long battery life (I'm getting used to this nice feature with my many macbook pro and I realized that this will be tough to find beyond Apple's laptop, even if would use Windows...so maybe use a "old" macbook pro is something that I could consider and so feedbacks are more than welcome. Thanks

[lumpi]

Is there any info when Retina MacBooks Pros will be supported? I have a Macbook Pro 15 Retina 2012. The biggest issue why I still use OS X instead of Linux is GPU switching.