Why does my Macbook Pro lag so much?

[letmethink95]

I seem to have all the system requirements but I'm always lagging.

Processor  2.5 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory  4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics  Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB

Software  OS X 10.8.5 (12F45)

I'm not good with all this technical stuff so I'm not sure what else to put on here.

I also have a Windows 8 laptop and it works fine with no lag at all.

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi LetMe,

Your PC laptop may have a better graphics subsystem than the Mac's integrated Intel HD 4000 and so might produce faster framerates at any particular SL graphics quality setting. Beyond that, SL Viewers for Mac do not take advantage of the latest versions of OpenGL, and so usually do not perform as well as on Windows machines of similar capability.

There may also be viewer settings differences between the two laptops. Make sure the Mac's draw distance isn't too high (I usually run at 128m) and that you've not enabled intensive things like "Advanced Lighthing" in Preferences->Graphics.

SL wants a good network connection and it's possible the two laptops are configured differently. Because I find them to be faster and more reliable than my ISP's recommended DNS servers, I use Google's DNS at

8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Here are instructions for changing DNS if you use Airport routers...

http://www.macinstruct.com/node/447

And here are instructions for changing DNS if your laptop connects directly to your cable modem...

http://www.plus.net/support/software/dns/changing_dns_mac.shtml

I don't recommend making such changes until you've checked viewer settings to make sure you aren't asking the Mac to do more than it's integrated graphics adapter can handle.

If you want to give us more information about the two laptops, come back and edit your question via "Options" over there on the right. We might have better insight into your lag issues if we learn more about your computers and network connection.

Good luck!

[KarenMichelle Lane]

Madelaine's answer is spot on.

The Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB graphics subsystem is designed to make a great image on the Mac Retina display and play movie & video streams well. However, it is a poor performer in the 3-D rendering space.