How can I fix constantly resetting HD 4000 GPU?

Question

Problem: My MacBook Pro started showing graphic issues. For a little bit more than two years the system was running without any major issues, but now it is almost unusable. Last month a few of those hiccups started to occur, but in the last few days they happen more frequently (today over 50 times).

The graphic issues manifest in stuttering user interface, which usually means that the monitor freezes and temporarily becomes unresponsive. Sometimes the a second occurring freeze after 10 sec results in an application crash, sometimes the applications run a little bit longer. Sometimes the stutters throw me back to the log-in screen or restart the computer.

This behavior occurs in applications such as Safari, Preview, QuickTime, VLC and Heroes of the Storm. It's also impossible to play videos.

What I already tried: The extended Apple Diagnostics tool didn't show any errors. I've reset PRAM and SMC. I also reinstalled the Combo Update 10.10.4 and I even reinstalled the OS from the Recovery Utility. The error persists. I have attached the beginning of one of the console logs which is related to the freezes.

Any other ideas on what I can try?

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System Details: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) OS X 10.10.4 Intel Core i5 2,6 Ghz 8 GB RAM Intel HD Graphics 4000

Console Log:

Event: GPU Reset
Data/Time: Sun Jul 5 18:23:08 2015

Application: com.apple.WebKit

Path:

OS Version: Mac OS X Version 10.10.4 (Build 14E46)

Graphics Hardware: Intel HD Graphics 4000

Signature: 8013

Report Data:

=========================================================================== Intel GPU Hang Summary version 1.0.0

===========================================================================

-- Summary of Status for ALL Rings --

MAIN Ring is hung in a batch buffer <-- ROOT CAUSE!

MEDIA Ring is idle

BLT Ring is waiting on a semaphore

[.....]

Answer 1

If your issue appeared with 10.10.3, I am 98% certain it is a bug in OS X Yosemite, introduced with the 10.10.3 update and related to Intel HD 4000 GPUs. Welcome aboard. The kernel panics are totally erratic, some users have also graphics glitches like you describe. The only common feature is having an Intel HD 4000 GPU.

However, your case seems more severe than that and could also be caused by a dying GPU.

On MacBook Pros with dual GPU you can avoid the problem by disabling Automatic Graphics Switching (System Preferences > Energy Saver).

Please contribute to the thread in the apple discussion forum and file a bug report (with link to the thread).

Answer 2

Try disabling either the GPU or the integrated graphics card driver: http://blog.b-nm.at/2015/08/03/macbook-pro-gpu-problems-gpureset-freezing/