A what is the difference between VR hardware and gaming hardware? With an external GPU enclosure you can game at 1080p at 60fps on a thin and light laptop. The only bottleneck is the CPU inside the laptop.
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Apple Offers External GPU Enclosure to Developers As Valve Opens Door to VR Mac Gaming
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A what is the difference between VR hardware and gaming hardware? With an external GPU enclosure you can game at 1080p at 60fps on a thin and light laptop. The only bottleneck is the CPU inside the laptop.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/products/10series/laptops/max-q/
why the need for an external GPU at all? If Nvidia can provide hardware to run a GTX1080 in a slim light laptop, why can't apple put it in the MacBook pro 15
why the need for an external GPU at all? If Nvidia can provide hardware to run a GTX1080 in a slim light laptop, why can't apple put it in the MacBook pro 15
Careful - you're not right about the 18 core i9. It won't be out until late this year at the earliest. The Intel chipset that supports those processors is an absolute mess - learn more here: I have some things to say - Core i9 & X299
Here's a Max-Q laptop:
It undeniably targets a completely different market segment.
Not quite the point, if it is possible to place a GTX1080 in a slim light laptop, why cant apple produce a cutting edge MacBook pro 15 without the need for an external box and a mid range AMD 580 plonked inside? Think you need to have another look at the Max-Q spec, that looks like a standard high end gaming laptop, the image below is of a MAX-Q laptop complete with GTX1080 inside, bit of a difference no, however I still wouldn't want one on my desk, however if a MacBook Pro had "PRO" hardware inside, I would happily return to Apple and buy one.
[doublepost=1496749571][/doublepost]
Whether it is or isn't, we are being peddled Kaby Lake "upgrades" and clunky external GPU cases with mid range AMD 580 GPU's, all within the same chassis until they can get their act together and work out a new design! As I said, massively underwhelmed.
Because nobody in their right mind would use that on their lap unless they want roast some nuts to go with their covfefe.
You could always do what apple has come up with, buy a large desk, price it so it is within apple margins, then you can call it an external "Pro" device and then the issue is solved.
That's why I bought an MSI laptop with GTX1060 in it. It's about the size and weight of my old 17" MBP, but is VR capable and I can play games while on a train (using an Xbox One controller)
I really wonder why Apple is sticking with AMD...
For example, in the same price/performance bracket the competition is Nvidia's 1060 and the power numbers are scary...
Radeon goes to 200W versus GeForce 120W
And the Nvidia card performs a little bit better, while offering CUDA too.
While I realise that Apple is a proponent of OpenCL, the power consumption and thermal difference that exists should have been enough to tilt the balance from one to the other.
If the iMac manages to dissipate the RX580 200W they could have dissipated the heat of GTX 1070 or 1080 card, top of the line GPUs.
The Conspiracy nut in me wonders if Apple isn't keeping AMD, so the threshold for an in house GPU solution, would be easier to reach.
For example, in the same price/performance bracket the competition is Nvidia's 1060 and the power numbers are scary...
Radeon goes to 200W versus GeForce 120W
And the Nvidia card performs a little bit better, while offering CUDA too.
While I realise that Apple is a proponent of OpenCL, the power consumption and thermal difference that exists should have been enough to tilt the balance from one to the other.
If the iMac manages to dissipate the RX580 200W they could have dissipated the heat of GTX 1070 or 1080 card, top of the line GPUs.
The Conspiracy nut in me wonders if Apple isn't keeping AMD, so the threshold for an in house GPU solution, would be easier to reach.
Ah, you do realise, the new core i9X is just an underpriced xeon, right?
Also, skylake SP was just out last month. How is it old.
Those laptops mite be thin but not as thin as the MBP, and how about the battery life?
Apple hasn't been much of a proponent of OpenCL since 2011. Their OpenCL implementation is still stuck at version 1.2 (and apparently terribly broken), while the most recent specification is 2.2.
AMD Radeon cards provide performance boost in FCPX. Adding the Sonnet Breakaway Box + RX 580 to a nMP brings BruceX benchmark down to about 16s. Metal games in macOS also take advantage of an eGPU. F1 2016 for example goes from 21FPS (D500s) to 48FPS with this eGPU.
You don't have to buy Apple Metal 2 Dev Kit. Polaris 10 GPUs with PCI ID 67DF will work (RX 470/480/570/580). Thunderbolt 3 enclosures with Texas Instrument TPS65983 (TI83) controller works with 10.12 High Sierra. Read this guide for the available enclosures and specs.
It's getting close to plug and play. Upon plugging the eGPU to a Thunderbolt Mac, macOS notifies it has detected an external graphics card and asks you to log out in order to initialize the drivers. This is far from perfect atm but a very good step in the right direction.
You misunderstand me, I want to go to an apple store and buy a new Pro setup, I want to return to the eco system and have gorgeous minimalist devices around the house, I don't however want to pay full over priced apple pricing for technology that is mid range at best. That is why I am underwhelmed. $5000 for an imac Pro! What do you think the pricing will be on the new Mac Pro if that is the starting point.
more details of supported cards and hardware here
https://egpu.io/forums/thunderbolt-enclosures/apple-metal-2-external-graphics-development-kit/
[doublepost=1496752682][/doublepost]I am actually stoked about this
https://egpu.io/forums/thunderbolt-enclosures/apple-metal-2-external-graphics-development-kit/
[doublepost=1496752682][/doublepost]I am actually stoked about this
Once the eGPU boxes/cases are OFFICIALLY supported in macOS, you'll be able to use whatever GPU you want to use in a box like the Akitio Node, Bizon Box, Mantiz, Sonnet, or any of the other manufacturers that decide to release compatible enclosures. NVIDIA releases Mac drivers and are supporting their latest cards. This is all about OFFICIAL customization options for Pro users and it's a good thing they're finally listening.
Hopefully this will allow the current consumer alternatives to work better. I don't think it makes much sense to get this as a consumer especially with Vega coming very shortly. Apple is obviously waiting on vega for their imac pro so why rush bringing this out now without even mentioning vega support.
So what are you saying, the Sonnet enclosure that is part of the dev kit is a temporary piece until an Apple-made one is ready?
A post in that link seems to indicate that external eGPU devices are supported with Thunderbolt 2 running the Beta, I have a 2015 rMBP that has the ports, SDXC slot, storage and RAM I use/need but obviously I could do with some beefier graphics....
The UK pricing is shocking by the way, 599 USD in no way works out at £799, even if you account the worst currency fluctuations in 25 years it is still over priced by £100!
External GPU support is a long time coming. It's great for a laptop - when at home - you've got your biffy eGPU - the benefits of a desktop PC but still mobile without eGPU. Cheaper than buying a desktop PC and a laptop.
In the future, I'm sure there will be support for this in bootcamp so Mac users can play windows games, which are often much better than the Mac version, or simply, unavailable on a Mac.
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It was a valid comment too. No Mac was able to run a ( official supported ) VR set up, which was pretty sad up until yesterday.
Along with all the criticism, looks like Apple took the hint... But if Apple want to behave like a baby and try to "punish" Facebook / Oculus by not supporting their VR solution, thats up to them..
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Apple is and never will be interested in games. They are not looking to help gamers make the ultimate game machine nor are they looking to even compete with any PC offerings. They are just entering the VR market with the minimum specs required. That will be satisfactory for 95% of all developers in this space to at least consider Mac over PC. Mission accomplished.