When you purchase a new Mac, you’re likely given the option to choose one of two graphics cards. If you have an ATI card, then you’re out of luck. However, if you have a Nvidia card, then your Mac is likely equipped with one. To determine which graphics card is installed in your Mac, first open System Preferences and select the Graphics tab. If your Mac has an ATI card, then the first item on the list will be “Graphics.” If your Mac has a Nvidia card, then the second item on the list will be “Graphics.” If both items on the list are empty or have different names (e.g., “Graphics” and “Intel Graphics”), then your graphics card is not installed and should be checked for installation in System Preferences again.
To display graphics on your screen, your Mac uses a graphics card, often called a Graphics Processing Unit (or GPU), which can be integrated into your Mac or on a discrete card. The GPU determines how quickly your Mac can render graphics in games and other apps. Here’s how to check which GPU your Mac has.
First, click the “Apple” menu in the upper-left corner of your screen and select “About This Mac.”
In the “About This Mac” window that opens, you’ll see slightly different information, depending on whether you have a Mac with an Intel CPU or one with Apple Silicon (such as the M1 chip).
If you have a Mac with an Intel CPU, you’ll see a roundup of your Mac’s specifications, including what graphics card or cards your Mac has. You’ll find the information under “Graphics” in the list. In this example, the GPU is “Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB.”
If you have a Mac with Apple Silicon (such as the “M1” chip), you might only see the “Chip” listing, with no special line for “Graphics.” That’s because the GPU and CPU come integrated on the M1 chip. So in this case, “Apple M1” is technically the designation for both the CPU and GPU on our example Mac.
On either Intel or Apple Silicon Macs, you can get more detail on your graphics hardware by clicking “System Report” in the “About This Mac” window.
In the “System Information” app that appears, expand the “Hardware” section in the sidebar and click “Graphics/Displays.” You’ll see a detailed view of exactly what GPU or GPUs your Mac uses listed under “Chipset Model.” For example, here’s an Intel Mac with a single “Intel HD Graphics 6000” GPU.
On a Mac with Apple Silicon, you’ll see the GPU listed under “Chipset Model.” As mentioned before, the CPU and GPU are the same chip in this case, the “Apple M1.”
When you’re done, close “System Information,” and you’ll walk away knowing more about your Mac than you started, which is always a good thing!
RELATED: What Is a GPU? Graphics Processing Units Explained
