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macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2010
429
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I haven't forgot, and I'm still waiting for a Thunderbolt eGPU to come out so I can make my 13'' MBP better. :cool:
 
It's under development by several companies; the promise is good, but I would imagine the implementation to be more challenging than it appears.
 
It's under development by several companies; the promise is good, but I would imagine the implementation to be more challenging than it appears.

I wonder if any will be able to use the laptop's display rather than an external display...
 
I heard power limitations wouldn't allow for graphics cards over 75W (I think).
Nonetheless, it would be an upgrade over the HD3000. I wish Quick Sync worked on OS X, it would make video editing a lot easier for me.
 
There would be no limitations in power. Such a GPU would need an external power source anyway. TB wouldn't deliver enough power for even the slowest GPU.

Since no such option aside from the Sony Z2 has come up yet, I think there is some driver problems which probably means not just any company can deliver such a thing. It is the only reason I can think off why this external TB GPU case is still not on the market after being announced ages ago.
Or the external PCIe controller is the problem.

Considering how long it takes, there is no roadmap. Some day it will just be there. But that some day might still be a long way of or tomorrow.

If Apple creates a retina 27" TB display, they could add a serious GPU into the mix. I somehow doubt that as it would really only be necessary for gaming.
Hopefully some company like Asus or Toshiba delivers something universal soon. It may need a decent amount of available Windows notebooks with Thunderbolt before they will release such a thing.
I guess only one of the big companies can quickly deliver such a thing and the little ones that only put together parts like Promise cannot do it. Yet the big ones like Asus, MSI, Sony, Acer aren't in the business of making Mac peripherals. When they also sell notebooks that can profit from it they will deliver. Possible also universal ones that work on all notebooks (Or not who knows).
 
If Apple creates a retina 27" TB display, they could add a serious GPU into the mix. I somehow doubt that as it would really only be necessary for gaming.
Hopefully some company like Asus or Toshiba delivers something universal soon. It may need a decent amount of available Windows notebooks with Thunderbolt before they will release such a thing.
I guess only one of the big companies can quickly deliver such a thing and the little ones that only put together parts like Promise cannot do it. Yet the big ones like Asus, MSI, Sony, Acer aren't in the business of making Mac peripherals. When they also sell notebooks that can profit from it they will deliver. Possible also universal ones that work on all notebooks (Or not who knows).

IMO this is the most likely scenario for an external GPU at this point. A company releases a nice monitor with built-in thunderbolt GPU.

The external adapters themselves are too expensive to produce at this point, especially when it comes to providing power to a video card. But tie it in with a high quality monitor and charge a premium, and I could see many professionals picking up a product like that.
 
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