However small, there is still a chance we will see new model official PCIe GPUs from AMD and/or NVIDIA built for Mac at some point before Mojave is released. That could be part of the hold up for official recommendations.
IF the mMP/7,1 has or supports standard PCIe slots (as most here hope it does) both AMD and NVIDIA will (likely) want to get their cards onto the latest Pro Mac machines, or at least offer them as upgrades. This can be done two ways: through installing PC cards and dealing with the residual issues, or made for Mac cards. The approach method and technical requirement ultimately comes down to how Apple is handling EFI in the next generation of MacPro (or the next box/cube/hub being called MacPro). The resulting implications for the 5,1 (and upgraded 4,1) are basically dependent on how the 7,1 is paving the path.
Since eGPU is now an official thing for Mac, and the RX580 (plus some other AMD) is officially supported by the OS, manufacturers are (at worst) prepping to get cards installed in external enclosures that are compatible with Mac to meet market demands. AMD is officially supported this way and I'm sure NVIDIA would like to be before they get shutout of the next generation of Mac completely.
NVIDIA is not releasing the next GPU platform (11XX cards) for awhile. Making the 10XX series (or at least 1080) work well with NVIDIA drivers, or making a Mac version of the GTX 1080 MIGHT be something they're considering. Again, all depends on if the 7,1 has PCIe slots and if the GTX 1080 will still be the top of the line GeForce card at that time the 7,1 comes to market.
I'm sure AMD and NVIDIA are keeping a close eye and (at least one) likely know where things with the 7,1 are heading. Beyond that, if you believe Apple is going to make desktop class GPUs on their own in the future, then none of this matters. You'll either buy into that system or you will not. I think that would result as part of a larger exit from the platform for many Professionals (if OpenCL/GL abandonment doesn't already).
Why, there are plenty of cards out now that should be fully supported, why bother with cards that dont exist concentrate on cards people can actually buy now!
TBH I dont think Nvidia or AMD care. The mac pro platform is minuscule and apple has made it difficult for them. Neither will be scrambling at all.
At the same time Apple hasnt had a proper pro machine for a decade, how many pros are still in the Apple camp that need a high end workstation? Honestly... its all nostalgia, too late. Apple really has done one over on itself.
I work for a large media corporation in the UK and they got rid of production macs 3 years ago for Dell workstations that are up-gradable, can have 6 drives with 2 NVME, twin CPU and graphics cards all internally. CC works better on the PC because they can be tailored to specific applications rather than having to deal with what apples deems necessary. High sierra was a bust on launch for all those customers which had quite a ripple through the community as most who upgraded had weeks of issues with compatibility.
This and the state of the Macbook Pro... pro customers have been given the bird.
Im sorry but I cant see more than 1% of mac users buying an EGPU they are beyond niche apart from the heaviest of users. The fact they perform at 90% of a PCI card and cost another £3-400 to buy an enclosure, it makes no financial sense at all. Even with an external GPU its for acceleration it doesn't need and EFI bootloader as the internal graphics cards deal with it.
It shows how much of a niche that this is, Apple hasnt got its own first party hardware and there are very very few options still although it was launched over a year ago.
The EGPU is a work around for a problem created by apple.
Apple is stripping the gaming community out of the mac too so there goes the small amount that game too.
The whole situation is just crazy, cant believe apple have let it get to this point and how long its taking them to come up with even the slightest turn around.
