Apple Begins Exclusively Selling 'Blackmagic eGPU' for $699, Aimed at New MacBook Pros

[atropos]

Just wondering if that eGPU's graphic card is swappable...hmm... if no, whats the point of buying a eGPU LOL

 

[killawat]

Just wondering if that eGPU's graphic card is swappable...hmm... if no, whats the point of buying a eGPU LOL

It is not swappable, officially, unfortunately.

 

[Anarchy99]

Just wondering if that eGPU's graphic card is swappable...hmm... if no, whats the point of buying a eGPU LOL

id be surprised if it wasn't (unofficially of course)
Every other manufacturer of of a eGPU I can think of is, it makes customers happy and it's cheaper for the companies because next year or the year after when they need to roll out a new one they only need to change one part

 

[atropos]

It is not swappable, officially, unfortunately.

I suspected it by the IO layout, and think wait a second, it doesn't look like a swappable....

 

[jw2002]

What developer would want to purchase this, given that it is incompatible with NVIDIA? This is niche hardware at best.

 

[Anarchy99]

I suspected it by the IO layout, and think wait a second, it doesn't look like a swappable....

good point, maybe we'll get lucky and its a standard gpu with a extender for the HDMI port to the custom IO on the back. (yeah i doubt it)
if not there are cheaper & better eGPUs dont reward companies for stuff like that

 

[gregorypierce]

At least as of right now, eGPU technology on macOS is not geared toward gaming. It is geared toward using GPUs for compute power, for example when rendering video in Final Cut Pro. It is certainly useless for you but not for everyone.

Then why is Apple doing all this stuff with VR and the like?

 

[Gudd]

For some reason Apple seems to be utterly fixated on laptop + 1 external screen. The further we go, the more barriers they put up. Like Display Port daisy changing only mirror screens even though thats a software thing not a hardware thing. And now this "official" partnership has a single HDMI output which strikes me as pretty absurd for an eGPU although as has been pointed out all the LG 5K users will be happy.

I spent the entirety of last weekend backing up my 2017 MBP, wiping it and restoring it to first Sierra and then 10.13.3 so that I could use my MBP for work where I have a DisplayLink triple display dock and 3 x 1920x1080 monitors which is pretty much the sweet spot for my development work.

So now I'm stuck at 10.13.3 until somebody realises that 1 or even 2 external displays is not enough for everyone.
[doublepost=1531480322][/doublepost]Oh, PS: why have all eGPUs got the TB3 connection on the BACK? Especially when they usually supply a short (0.5m) cable to keep costs down? Does everyone want to have the back of the eGPU facing you all day? I know I'd prefer to not see the back of it. If they put the 1 TB3 socket on the front where you are likely to need it to connect to your laptop then that would be great thanks.

 

[gnomeisland]

But will adapters interfere with my refresh rate? Hmmmm?

Can't say for certain about the refresh rates because the product is not yet released and I'm not totally versed in the versions of freesync. If there's a reasonable expectation that this card would work in the way you want via DisplayPort than it will likely work just fine over the TB3 port because . . . ThunderBolt 3 is DisplayPort (or USB 3.0 or ThunderBolt 2/3). The adapter itself should have no logic or change the signal in anyway, it is only changing the physical plug to match that of regular DisplayPort cables.

But don't take my word for it. Research it! Here's a link to the Thunderbolt Technology Community to get you started:

https://thunderbolttechnology.net/tech/faq

 

[mBox]

Will this make me better at Fortnite

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I think the new HDMI 2.1 supports 4k freezync, Now even it was capped if it could do 4k at 75 that would be pretty good, sure no cap would be better
[doublepost=1531422315][/doublepost]I wonder if eGPUs can use low end or mid end MacBooks, that way you save on money, and you can just run these to run games on giant external monitors. This is assuming 8th gen comes to the MacBook

Eh... I dunno about that. You could be 100% right that 75fps/hz is fine, but I like seeing that cushion of my GPU being able to hit 120 plus. As for using eGPUs on low/mid grade, I think as long as you've got a TB3 port to connect the enclosure to the laptop, you're gold (USB3.1 with USB-C won't cut the mustard for bandwidth).
[doublepost=1531488198][/doublepost]

I'm pretty sure you can put an Nvidia GPU into the enclosure. If not, then just buy an eGPU enclosure by itself without the GPU.

The enclosure Apple is selling does not appear to be the type you can plonk whatever card you want into. That being said, buying a different enclosure and a 580 was what I was getting at, even if I didn't actually say it.
[doublepost=1531488303][/doublepost]

You are just trolling. eGPU is an incredible handy tech for PROs, high end users and gamers too. Power, dedicated GPU, connectivity with one cable. I get 6x performance thanks to eGPU.
[doublepost=1531434106][/doublepost]
It runs quite similar ut has better performance in Metal and OpenCL. Also macOS drivers are very good, compared to Nvidia. Yes eGPU box cost quite a lot, but it is like having PCI express eternal, you need ventilation, power delivery and also gives you many port and connectivity. It is not for everyone, but calling trash a really great solution is ap roof you don't understand its use our you are close minded "Nvidia only" which is not true since more than a year. And even if you are blind Nvidia fan, sadly you should blame them.
[doublepost=1531434188][/doublepost]

I was slightly trolling. I don't dispute what you state here, as that's my end goal as well; to be able to seriously game on a MBP, with a single cable running from the closed laptop to a box that a big, fast monitor and all of my required peripherals are connected to.

However, I also have grown quite fond of what I'll distill down to "monitors that sync their refresh rate to a GPU's frame rate." Which is why, given what I've been able to discern online, I need to be able to connect a monitor via Display Port in order to use "monitors that sync their refresh rate to a GPU's frame rate" at their full potential, be it Nvidia with G-Sync or AMD with FreeSync. Now that I've entered the world where screen tearing is non-existent, I will not go backwards.

I am not an Nvida fanboi; I just buy what works and right now, that's still Nvidia (on the PC side, at least). I want AMD to make a card that beats Nvidia's current offerings. They just have not yet. A Radeon Pro 580 8gb can't hold a candle to my GTX 1080 Ti 11gb. And yes, that makes me sad.

That's why I say this Black Magic eGPU box is just a cheap parlor trick.

 

[MacBH928]

If I use this, will it turn my macbook hot with fans running crazy?
Will the USB-C port get damaged if it gets constant use over prolonged time?

 

[Anarchy99]

If I use this, will it turn my macbook hot with fans running crazy?
Will the USB-C port get damaged if it gets constant use over prolonged time?

If anything your computer might run cooler, it won’t be utilizing it’s internal GPU as much because it’s utilizing the EGP yo if anything your computer might run cooler, it won’t be utilizing it’s internal GPU as much because it’s utilizing the EGPU
With all of my E GPUs I’ve never noticed the computer turning its fans on more than normal

The port designed Be used it won’t wear out
The closest thing I could think of is constantly plugging and unplugging the device will eventually make the cable fit looser.
Us can/ thunderbolt 3 connectors are rated for what is it minimum 10,000 plug in plug outs

But realistically that won’t be a problem if you’re not abusing the device
It’s the same with any other physical connection and you don’t hear most people complaining about that


TLDR:
Neither of those scenarios will happen you’re fine

 

[MacBH928]

If anything your computer might run cooler, it won’t be utilizing it’s internal GPU as much because it’s utilizing the EGP yo if anything your computer might run cooler, it won’t be utilizing it’s internal GPU as much because it’s utilizing the EGPU
With all of my E GPUs I’ve never noticed the computer turning its fans on more than normal

The port designed Be used it won’t wear out
The closest thing I could think of is constantly plugging and unplugging the device will eventually make the cable fit looser.
Us can/ thunderbolt 3 connectors are rated for what is it minimum 10,000 plug in plug outs

But realistically that won’t be a problem if you’re not abusing the device
It’s the same with any other physical connection and you don’t hear most people complaining about that


TLDR:
Neither of those scenarios will happen you’re fine

yes but most other ports never had to send and receive so much data at high rates as using eGPU, its something new. Will it work with bootcamp Windows?

 

[Anarchy99]

yes but most other ports never had to send and receive so much data at high rates as using eGPU, its something new. Will it work with bootcamp Windows?

the port is designed to send that data

Yes it will work in windows . (It may not officially be supported) but so far there hasn’t been a single egpu that has not worked in windows

All the eGPUs I’ve tried. Including the two different ones I own windows just treats it like Any other PCIe based device
On some older thunderbolt one PCs you needed an additional driver from Intel but yeah the PC doesn’t know any better It just sees your MacBook as a PC with the GPU in its pcie slot

 

[DeepIn2U]

You can use the MBP screen.

I wonder if it works under bootcamp for gaming

Windows under bootcamp will love you the best performance, like val said below performance directly on the MBP is the least out of all options. I’m hoping Mojave will remedy that.

If Apple really wants "to widen the eGPU market," then it needs to equip all Macs with 4 PCI-e lanes for TB3--especially the MacBook line!

BECAUSE

The greatest beneficiaries of eGPUs are ultraportable users, not users whose laptops already have dGPUs built in.

HOW?

To do it correctly, the MB would need 4 PCI-e lanes for TB3 and a separate port with separate PCI-e lanes for (at least) one separate USB-C port

BUT

This would require Apple not gimping their lineup on the basis of market segmentation (=wishful thinking).

SO

Why hasn't Apple included TB3 on all of its portable computers?

We will know Apple's true intentions--whether to "widen the eGPU market" or to milk unsuspecting customers--based on the next update to the MB lineup.

PERFORMANCE

I am also curious how this will perform when using the eGPU alongside the USB ports. Tests on extant eGPUs show that the use of ports on an eGPU lowers the performance of the dGPU in the enclosure because the bandwidth for the graphics card in the enclosure gets siphoned off for the other ports being used. Currently, eGPUs tested with an NVidia GeForce 1080ti only attain performance on par with an NVidia GeForce 1050 due to current TB3 bandwidth limitations (which only reaches ~32 Gb/s due to PCI-e 3.0 limitations, not 40Gb/s).

IMO, the best performance and price on an eGPU is achieved with the Razor Core X, which is strictly an eGPU with no additional ports.

Edit: if you need ports buy a (TB3 or USB-C) hub and attach it to a separate port.

The battery on the 13” went up 18% slightly from 54.5 49.2 to 58Wh. The 15” battery went up 10% from 76 to 83.6 Wh.

Not sure if they’re using the “terraced” battery you’re referring to, we’ll have to wait for the teardowns

(Edited to correct the TB battery capacity. 54.5 is for the non-TB.)

crazy how dell is cheaper than apple. i would never in a million years expected that!

No, I can't, because having a Dell means I have Windows. The top 3 reasons I buy a Mac is that it runs macOS and not Windows.

 

[joevt]

I wonder if it will work for dual LG 5K displays. Probably will need to use two, given that each one has two TB3 ports, one in and one out. Very pricy solution to accelerate two LG 5K displays at $1400 plus tax!

You would need a Radeon Pro 580 with four DisplayPorts connected to two Thunderbolt 3 controllers. Some eGPU's have two Thunderbolt 3 controllers. We have no idea how this eGPU is wired. I don't know if it's even possible to use the DisplayPort inputs of Thunderbolt 3 controllers in downstream (not your computer) Thunderbolt devices (it hasn't been done yet, unless the Blackmagic does it?). Can a Radeon Pro 580 have four DisplayPorts?

This enclosure is actually pretty incredible because it looks like they've routed some DisplayPort lines to the Thunderbolt 3 ports on the hub, meaning that, for the first time, users can easily accelerate 5k USB-C displays like the LG Ultrafine via eGPU. This is huge.

This is outstanding!! Have been waiting since the start of the year for an egpu to support the LG 5K displays. Will buy one now!! What a great deal! No other egpu enclosure have dual TB3 ports (one connected to the graphics card) hopefully in time card manufacturers get with times and drop the display port connection and adopt TB3!!

Can't you connect an LG UltraFine 5K to any Thunderbolt 3 device that has two Thunderbolt 3 ports?

Nowhere does it say that the Radeon's video outputs are connected to the Thunderbolt 3 controller of the eGPU. If they are not, then video is coming from your computer's dGPU or iGPU, and this eGPU is just for computation (like the second AMD graphics card in a Mac Pro 2013).

 

[killawat]

Can't you connect an LG UltraFine 5K to any Thunderbolt 3 device that has two Thunderbolt 3 ports?

Nowhere does it say that the Radeon's video outputs are connected to the Thunderbolt 3 controller of the eGPU. If they are not, then video is coming from your computer's dGPU or iGPU, and this eGPU is just for computation (like the second AMD graphics card in a Mac Pro 2013).

Ok ok we don't know 100% for sure if the DisplayPort lanes are hooked up to directly to the TB3 controller on the eGPU but the capabilities strongly suggest that it does. It says in multiple places that you can run up to two displays at once with no limitation. So HDMI 2.0 is 4k max and DisplayPort is 1.4 which is 8k output max but for the sake of the ultra fine we will say 5k max.

You can't drive a 4k Display + a 5k display through a single thunderbolt 3 connection unless it's an eGPU on the other end. Add 4 USB 3.0 ports in the mix and it's worser still.

Thats why the ultra fine itself is limited to USB 2.0 ports on the rear.

 

[Xgm541]

it like all other thunderolt 3 e-gpus that work with mac will work with any thunderbolt mac 2011+ if you use the thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter.
[doublepost=1531444341][/doublepost]

yes it will, you will need the apple thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter like any other Thunderbolt3 e-gpu.
both nvidia and AMD cards work as for the bandwidth constraint on thunderbolt 2 for example gaming its about double what it is on thunderbolt 3 (compared the native gpu in a desktop eg. cheesegrater or hackintosh) on internal display.

on a external display Thunderbolt2 & Thunderbolt3 are close to identical performers heck Thunderbolt1 is only slightly worse externally (TB1 on internal display is unusable though)
outside of gaming ive had no issues with CUDA support on Thunderbolt1 or Thunderbolt2 devices.

currently talking to you on a 2015 MBP with a gtx1080


so much misinformation on these forums about e-GPU's, if your curious i'd recommend checking out the eGPU.IO forums, i imagine people will post about this specific eGPU soon, but even see other people's senerios now will give you a idea in the meantime

I actually really appreciate your reply. I do know other eGPUs work on TB2, however on this manufacturer's website it very clearly states that it's TB3 and requires a TB3 Mac. I would not be surprised if Apple implemented some sort of software limitation that prevents the enclosure from working on TB2.

Do you find your egpu setup is clunky? A lot of the guides seem like the setups are finicky. Do you have a specific enclosure you recommend?

Again, I appreciate you replying.

 

[Rockadile]

I actually really appreciate your reply. I do know other eGPUs work on TB2, however on this manufacturer's website it very clearly states that it's TB3 and requires a TB3 Mac. I would not be surprised if Apple implemented some sort of software limitation that prevents the enclosure from working on TB2.

Do you find your egpu setup is clunky? A lot of the guides seem like the setups are finicky. Do you have a specific enclosure you recommend?

Again, I appreciate you replying.

Apple blocked off TB1/TB2 eGPU support in High Sierra so officially blackmagic is not wrong to say only TB3.

 

[joevt]

Ok ok we don't know 100% for sure if the DisplayPort lanes are hooked up to directly to the TB3 controller on the eGPU but the capabilities strongly suggest that it does. It says in multiple places that you can run up to two displays at once with no limitation. So HDMI 2.0 is 4k max and DisplayPort is 1.4 which is 8k output max but for the sake of the ultra fine we will say 5k max.

You can't drive a 4k Display + a 5k display through a single thunderbolt 3 connection unless it's an eGPU on the other end. Add 4 USB 3.0 ports in the mix and it's worser still.

Thats why the ultra fine itself is limited to USB 2.0 ports on the rear.

Any Thunderbolt device with two Thunderbolt ports can drive two displays. One display is connected to a Thunderbolt port. The other display is connected to a HDMI or DisplayPort. If the Thunderbolt device does not have a HDMI or DisplayPort, then you can use a Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort or Dual HDMI adapter.

The Blackmagic eGPU can't support DisplayPort 1.4 unless it uses a Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller. They do not mention DisplayPort 1.4 support anywhere or what Thunderbolt 3 controller it uses. They do not say that you can connect an LG 5K display (which actually uses two 2560x2880 DisplayPort signals over Thunderbolt 3) and a 4K display at the same time. They do say the HDMI port is for "monitoring" - I don't know if that means extended desktop or just some kind of mirroring.

The 5K display uses USB 3.0 because it has a USB 3.0 controller connected to the Thunderbolt 3 controller in the display. The 4K display uses USB 2.0 because it uses all 4 super speed lines in a USB-C cable for DisplayPort 1.2 alt mode so only the USB 2.0 data lines of the USB-C cable remain.

I do know other eGPUs work on TB2, however on this manufacturer's website it very clearly states that it's TB3 and requires a TB3 Mac. I would not be surprised if Apple implemented some sort of software limitation that prevents the enclosure from working on TB2.

Apple blocked TB1/TB2 for all eGPU's. I don't think they would add anything extra for this eGPU. eGPU.io website has work arounds for this block which should also be applicable to this eGPU.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

I just want to point out and give proper kudos to...Apple. Nothing fancy. No hurrahs. Really, the only hint at new MBPs? The commercial they dropped weeks ago. Then here we are. BOOM. New MBPs!. Enjoy!

YouTuber's frantically trying to get their units to make videos for review. Meanwhile, because I go to this site every morning, I see some blurb about new features in MBPs? Then I dive deeper and see there are new ones RELEASED. I add to cart and the very next day it arrives. Yet, I make no YouTube video. I simply enjoy.

 

[gpociej]

It missing one thing...
Ethernet port (maybe even 10GB/s).

 

[joevt]

The Blackmagic eGPU can't support DisplayPort 1.4 unless it uses a Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller. They do not mention DisplayPort 1.4 support anywhere or what Thunderbolt 3 controller it uses. They do not say that you can connect an LG 5K display (which actually uses two 2560x2880 DisplayPort signals over Thunderbolt 3) and a 4K display at the same time. They do say the HDMI port is for "monitoring" - I don't know if that means extended desktop or just some kind of mirroring.

The people at eGPU.io have one and are taking it apart. So far the screen shots show it is Titan Ridge. The full capabilities are yet to be determined (because Blackmagic's tech specs page is nearly useless).
https://egpu.io/forums/thunderbolt-...-egpu-radeon-pro-580-thunderbolt-3-enclosure/

It missing one thing...
Ethernet port (maybe even 10GB/s).

You have three options: 10 GbE, 1 GbE, or 0 GbE as dongles or no dongle. If they included ethernet then they would be taking away an option. Dongles are annoying. But if you have a big dongle that is the eGPU, then what's another?

An ethernet controller would require a PCIe switch (expensive) in the eGPU, or another Thunderbolt 3 controller in the eGPU, or fewer PCIe lanes for the GPU in the eGPU. The USB controller is actually built into the Thunderbolt 3 controller (I think this is a new feature of the JHL7440 which seems to have an extra USB port in addition to the Thunderbolt 3 ports - hopefully the people at eGPU.io can confirm the chips). I suppose they could have changed one of the USB ports of the USB hub to use an internal USB to Ethernet adapter but it couldn't be 10 GbE because the USB hub only supports 5 Gbps (does anyone make a 10 Gbps USB hub?).

 

[dukebound85]

You can use the MBP screen.

Really? Because with othe egpu you can’t.....
[doublepost=1531580599][/doublepost]

85w power delivery, is this a joke? That’s not anywhere NEAR enough. Even midrange GPUs require 110-120w, let alone the real high end. Why would you spend so much money on this, only to stick low power ATI crap in there?

You don’t get it.... it’s the power over thunderbolt so you can charge your laptop via thunderbolt.


I mean you do see the ac plug insert right on the enclosure for power to the card right?
[doublepost=1531580667][/doublepost]

Will this work at all with a 2015 MBP? The throttling issues with the M370X are insane and even being limited by TB2 will be better than that.

edit: answer is "no".

Answer is YES if you get the script from egpu.io
[doublepost=1531581012][/doublepost]

it like all other thunderolt 3 e-gpus that work with mac will work with any thunderbolt mac 2011+ if you use the thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter.
[doublepost=1531444341][/doublepost]

yes it will, you will need the apple thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter like any other Thunderbolt3 e-gpu.
both nvidia and AMD cards work as for the bandwidth constraint on thunderbolt 2 for example gaming its about double what it is on thunderbolt 3 (compared the native gpu in a desktop eg. cheesegrater or hackintosh) on internal display.

on a external display Thunderbolt2 & Thunderbolt3 are close to identical performers heck Thunderbolt1 is only slightly worse externally (TB1 on internal display is unusable though)
outside of gaming ive had no issues with CUDA support on Thunderbolt1 or Thunderbolt2 devices.

currently talking to you on a 2015 MBP with a gtx1080


so much misinformation on these forums about e-GPU's, if your curious i'd recommend checking out the eGPU.IO forums, i imagine people will post about this specific eGPU soon, but even see other people's senerios now will give you a idea in the meantime

The adapter is not all that is needed. You need a script to enable the functionality. Apple killed egpu support for tb1and 2 devices