Apple Releases Retina MacBook Pro SMC Update to Address Gaming Frame Rates and Fan Issues

Apple today released MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update 1.1, addressing an issue with frame rates while playing graphics-heavy games and fixing several other bugs.

About MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update v1.1

This update resolves a rare issue where users may experience slow frame rates when playing graphics-intensive games on the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It also includes bug fixes for Power Nap, wake from sleep and fan control.

retina_macbook_pro_hand
Retina MacBook Pro owners will no doubt be testing the update to see whether the fan control bug fixes mentioned in the release notes address the widespread complaints with fan speed spikes under relatively low loads.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
ipad blue prime day

iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition

Wednesday December 10, 2025 12:22 pm PST by
The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup. Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and...
studio display purple

Apple Studio Display 2 Code Hints at 120Hz ProMotion, HDR, A19 Chip

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:19 am PST by
Apple's next-generation Studio Display is expected to arrive early next year, and a new report allegedly provides a couple more details on the external monitor's capabilities. According to internal Apple code seen by Macworld, the new external display will feature a variable refresh rate capable of up to 120Hz – aka ProMotion – as well as support for HDR content. The current Studio...

Top Rated Comments

Josheh Avatar
166 months ago
Nah, this machine has been laggy/underpowered for the screen. It needs a 2GB GPU in it to be a 'Pro' machine and able to power that screen correctly. I won't even touch it for video/graphic work. It's just not up to par yet.

exactly, this is why I avoid 1st gen hardware from apple


retina 15" = weak GPU, weak CPU, riddled with bugs


gen 2 retina 15" will be glorious

You know, I read up a lot and saw a lot of people complaining about various problems. I dove in anyway and haven't had near the issues that others have had. Actually, I haven't had any issues really. I'm not sure where you guys are getting your opinions, if they're based on people complaining, or if they're first hand experiences. Let me share mine with you though, my first hand experience.

I purchased the Retina model because I thought it'd be great for photography. I do photography, web design, photoshop, and 3d work on this computer. It's amazing and has worked great in all of those capacities. I use it while mobile, and I also connect it into a couple of monitors and use it as a work station. It has performed well, about as well as a highend laptop might. It may not perform as well as my workstation at work, but well, that's a workstation. It's beefy, it's got the room to be beefy, it's not trying to compact itself into a portable fashion.

I'm sorry that you feel the Macbook Retina is so crappy of a product, but some of us have found it to be successful. I enjoy this computer and have no regrets. I've had no issues that made me think this product is beta, or whatever.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hungry&Foolish Avatar
166 months ago
exactly, this is why I avoid 1st gen hardware from apple


retina 15" = weak GPU, weak CPU, riddled with bugs


gen 2 retina 15" will be glorious

that's a myth.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
york2600 Avatar
166 months ago
My Retina has been flawless, but here goes nothing
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
schmidp Avatar
166 months ago
I just downloaded it. Everything went flawless, except for one thing. Restarting. The fans blasted as the computer started up again, lasted a second or two but other than that, it was fine.

This is the expected behaviour. The fans run on full power to protect your components during the update.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nilk Avatar
166 months ago
exactly, this is why I avoid 1st gen hardware from apple

retina 15" = weak GPU, weak CPU, riddled with bugs

gen 2 retina 15" will be glorious
1st gen Retina 15" is already glorious. I run 3 displays (one is a Apple TB display) off of that "weak GPU" and don't have any noticeable performance issues.

As for CPU, the rMBP I have Geekbenches 10788, and the 2013 model does 12547. How is that weak? A top end 27" iMac does slightly better (12878), and other than that it's only 6+ core Mac Pros that do better -- so only desktop machines do better.

That said, I say it's better to wait for future revisions unless you are forced to buy something now, but that's more because there is still a good amount of software that isn't Retina-ready and less about the hardware.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maxosx Avatar
166 months ago
Kudos To Apple

I have one of the affected late 2012 (Jan 2013) 15" MBP retina SanDisk SSD equipped models.

This was for some of us, a very frequent daily issue. Mine spun up the fans on & off hourly.

Kudos to Apple for taking this seriously and doing an excellent job of fixing it.

I've been testing mine over & over for an hour. I am now 100% certain it's fixed, as the iTunes "song" that we identified as one of many triggers to cause the fans to roar, no longer does it.

Now _this_ is a stellar example of Apple showing us they can still operate as efficiently as Apple Computer Inc. did when at its peak.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)