MacBook Pro Retina with Haswell-GT3 CPU Spotted
A report from MacRumors indicates that the next Apple MacBook Pro (Retina) might not have a dedicated graphics card.
While the MacBook air refresh of 2013 has already taken place, and they already feature Intel's new Haswell processors, the MacBook Pro (Retina) lineup still has to be refreshed. The folks over at MacRumors have published a screenshot of GeekBench, and it shows some interesting details.
For starters, it appears that one of the units will feature an Intel Core i7-4950HQ. This CPU will run at 2.4 GHz and has four cores, but with hyperthreading features 8 threads. Most notably though, this CPU features the GT3 iGPU, which features twice the number of graphics processing cores as the lower-power units. It features 40 processing cores and is otherwise known as the "Iris" 5200 graphics part. That said, while it might be a nice development to have more powerful Intel graphics for power-saving reasons, the GeekBench screenshot makes no mention of a dedicated GPU, which if correct, means that the next generation of MacBook Pros might have to settle with only the internal graphics on the Intel Haswell CPU. The current generation of MacBook Pro Retinas feature an Nvidia GT650M graphics card, which would still be much more powerful than the Intel Iris graphics part.

Apple is generally using that to differentiate the two.
Ha, getting a Mac for the price, never though I'd say that.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6993/intel-iris-pro-5200-graphics-review-core-i74950hq-tested
The performance is impressive, especially considering the 47W TDP of the total package. However Iris Pro isn't quite good enough to challenge the GT650M in current gen Retina Mac Book Pros. It's close, but I wonder if Apple is willing to sacrifice a little GPU performance in its top-end notebook, even if it means greatly improved battery life.
Same here.
Gaming probably accounts for less than 1% of the total time I have used my laptops and most of those times were little more than logging in to check raid schedules on my WoW characters and market while away from home.
Not to mention, they all use Nvidia's Optimus tech to switch between power.
Less cost in the device, less complexity, and Tom's (and other sites) have done enough news spots on the new 4th Gen Core chips that it sounds like you'd have to get a tower to really justify wanting to exceed the 5000 series graphics core in the new Haswells.
Nothing wrong with this. You won't be rendering on a normal card like a 650M anyway; the 650M is weaker than its desktop equivalent. the HD4000 from the 3rd Gen Core chips crunch through a few games more than adequately for Mainstream gaming and video display.
Tom's results have shown that the 4600s are better, and the 5xxx are even better.
Not a big deal.