MacOS – 2013 MacBookPro with Nvidia GPU and recent macOS

drivergpumacos

I own an early 2013 15'' MacBook Pro (MacBookPro10,1), and I've been running every macOS update till Mojave, included. The mac has two GPUs, which get selected automatically depending on the running apps:

  • Intel HD Graphics 4000 (integrated)
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (discrete)

Recently I've been reading about the fact that macOS Mojave has dropped any support for Nvidia GPUs, and digging further I've found out that users have been reporting issues with my model specifically. Apparently, since High Sierra there have been issues with the GeForce GT 650M and macOS, with GUI slow downs and crashes. I've found plenty of posts of people complaining about the lack of support and drivers from Apple.

Personally I have not observed any of these issues, but now I wonder. I know for sure that I've been using the discrete GPU often (I track my energy usage), but maybe I've just not noticed the slowdowns.

I've inspected the version of the Nvidia drivers (system report > software > extensions), and it says:

GeForce:

  Version:          12.0.24
  Last Modified:    12/10/2018, 05:10
  Bundle ID:        com.apple.GeForce
  Notarised:        Yes
  Loaded:           Yes
  Get Info String:  GeForce 12.0.24 355.11.10.50.10.103
  Obtained from:    Apple
  Kind:             Intel
  Architectures:    x86_64
  64-Bit (Intel):   Yes
  Location:         /System/Library/Extensions/GeForce.kext
  Kext Version:     12.0.0
  Load Address:     18446743521870100000
  Loadable:         Yes
  Dependencies:     Satisfied
  Signed by:        Software Signing, Apple Code Signing Certification Authority, Apple Root CA

They seem to have been updated one year ago (with Mojave?), but that doesn't fit with what I've been reading about the total lack of support.

Does anyone know what's the current state of the game for my MacBook Pro model?

Best Answer

What you've been reading about are the third party nVidia Web Drivers, which nVidia created (primarily) for Mac Pro users installing new graphics cards in their towers. The nVidia Web Drivers do not work in Mojave or newer, leaving users of those GPUs stuck on High Sierra.

Your nVidia GPU is natively supported by Mac OS, and will continue to work in Mojave / Catalina.