Windows 8 on Macbook Pro video driver questions

Quick questions...on the new Macbook Pros, are you able to install Nvidia's regular drivers from Nvidia.com (and/or Intel's regular drivers). Most notebooks with Nvidia GPUs have let you do that the past few years, and I'm pretty sure that includes Apple's hardware, but I wanted to check before I bought one to use mostly as a Windows machine.

For that matter, and weirdness using it for Windows only? Hopefully you can shut off Wifi and bluetooth at a hardware level, install normal drivers, etc.

 

Wow. I love my MacBook Pro but I don't know if I would buy it if I mostly use Windows. I can't speak for the 2013 models but the mid 2012 models use the nVidia driver just fine. That's what I run on mine. You don't have to concern yourself with the Intel driver. The graphics are not switchable in Windows Bootcamp. It stays on discrete GPU at all times when running Windows. That's why Windows doesn't get the 7+ hours of battery life you can get in OSX.

 

Not a good idea. The trackpad doesn't work the same in Windows as it does in OS X, and there's the aforementioned battery life hit related to the lack of GPU switching.

Not possible.

 

I installed Windows on my 2010 Unibody MacBook so I could play games over Christmas break. The drivers from nVIDIA installed without a hitch and definitely made Black Ops run smoother.

 

Sometimes the drivers work, sometimes they don't. There was a time with my old 2009 MBP that the nVidia drivers worked, then they removed the hardware ID from the drivers for the MBPs and they stopped working but could be hacked to work.

Note that firmware updates (which are usually important) are only able to be installed under OS X.

 

Thanks...dang, why would they remove them?

I asked this somewhere else and was told the new 2013 Macbook Pro did NOT work with Nvidia's notebook drivers, but the 2013 27" iMac DID. (Besides the Macbook Pro, I'm also considering an iMac at this point, as I figure the 21" model is cheaper than a Macbook Pro equivalent, and actually fits in where I have a notebook okay anyway).

Ugh, no idea if I should risk it :-/

 

If you buy direct from Apple, either online or in their retail store, you have a 14-day, no questions asked return policy. That should be more than enough time for you to take a "test drive" and see if either the MBP or iMac is right for you.

 

Just a side note: you should not buy any Apple computer if you plan on running Windows the majority of the time. Apple computers are built for running OS X. Yes, they can run Windows but the drivers can be problematic and you can find much less expensive Windows systems, with more powerful hardware, with similar build quality. The MacBook lines with dedicated graphics offer a sub-par experience when running Windows since the graphics can't be switched. The 15" MBPr models achieve their 8 hours of battery life only when running OS X and that's due to the use of the Intel IGP option most of the time. The Nvidia GPU will fire up only when required. Daily use, HD video playback, etc. can all be handled just fine with the power saving Intel IGP. That isn't possible when running Windows as the Nvidia GPU will run no matter what, you can't access the Intel IGP at all. That means that the 8 hour battery life is drastically cut down to about 5 hours if you're lucky.

This isn't as noticeable on MacBooks just with Intel IGPs put they too experience a shortage in battery life compared to OS X. The new advantages of OS X Mavericks offer increased battery life as is. My 2012 15" MBP went from going 5-6 hours on a single charge (it's rated for 7) to easily surpassing 7 hours with Mavericks. You'll be missing out on that.

The problem definitely won't affect Apple desktops but, if you want an all-in-one solution just to run Windows, there are less expensive options with better hardware. The rule of thumb is this: buy Apple hardware to run Apple software (i.e. OS X). If you want to run Windows the majority of the time, look elsewhere. The amount of people who mainly run Windows on Apple products are few and far between. They may say that "oh, it isn't that bad, you can live with it" but Apple systems run much, much better with OS X. They have optimal drivers under OS X, Apple has added improvements for modern systems, etc.

 

Also worth noting is heat. Because you're all nVidia all the time, you're creating much more heat in an already hot, cramped, and poorly cooled system. I didn't realize this and cooked my forst 2 MBP's (Thanks AppleCare). They basically told me after that, the system COULD do it, but they couldn't support it, and the thermal platform wasn't designed for it.