Apple's $1,199 Blackmagic eGPU Pro Now Available for Purchase, Delivers Mid-January

[nwcs]

The collaboration part was the price.

You assume anyway. We really don’t know.
[doublepost=1545349111][/doublepost]

Apple computers, iPhones, iPods and other Apple products are developed in collaboration with Foxconn and other Chinese companies in China.

And they are labeled Apple products. This is not.
[doublepost=1545349166][/doublepost]

Apple worked with Blackmagic to produce this. The rants are justified.

How is it justified? Apple works with companies that make apps, too. So are they responsible for the pricing of said apps? If the apps are unpopular do you blame Apple?
[doublepost=1545349237][/doublepost]

So far (most) people are ranting about an extremely overpriced piece of hardware, no matter who builds it.

But they lay the blame on Apple. I have no opinion on if this product is good or bad or a good value. Although it seems to offer some things that others do not.
[doublepost=1545349330][/doublepost]

I think most people realise Blackmagic's eGPU is not an Apple product. It is, however, an Apple recommended product. Just like that Apple recommended LG monitor. Giving that recommendation to an overpriced and underpowered for the money eGPU invites the criticism. Criticism which has been focus on Apple and Blackmagic.

Criticism is even more justified since, again like the LG Monitor, it was developed in collaboration with Apple. Kind of a "in for penny, in for a pound" situation dontcha think?

I see where you’re going but I won’t make that leap. Technical assistance can mean anything. Apple wanted a eGPU to show off and offered help to Black Magic. Everything else is really speculation.

 

[Zdigital2015]

Is this thing even upgradable or will it be a worthless brick in a few years?

Given that we are 19 days away from CES 2019 and AMD possibly unveiling the RX3060/3070/3080 GPU lineup that may make the Vega 56/64 obselete overnight, it won’t take years at this rate.

 

[Glockworkorange]

It is at least something for pros. Luckily BlackMagic are hardware geniuses.

But why am I still running 2010 Mac Pros just so that we can use nVidia cards is beyond crazy. Apple just seems lost when it comes to the people who make content - it is as if they are fighting against us.

The rotting, festering ecosystem that is Apple.

And no Tim, we can't run a render farm on an Apple Watch or a HomePod.

We can, of course, use a sad emoji to express how we feel you are treating Pros.

You mean you can’t run a render farm on an iPad Pro and A12X Bionic? /s
[doublepost=1545350693][/doublepost]

You assume anyway. We really don’t know.
[doublepost=1545349111][/doublepost]
And they are labeled Apple products. This is not.
[doublepost=1545349166][/doublepost]
How is it justified? Apple works with companies that make apps, too. So are they responsible for the pricing of said apps? If the apps are unpopular do you blame Apple?
[doublepost=1545349237][/doublepost]
But they lay the blame on Apple. I have no opinion on if this product is good or bad or a good value. Although it seems to offer some things that others do not.
[doublepost=1545349330][/doublepost]
I see where you’re going but I won’t make that leap. Technical assistance can mean anything. Apple wanted a eGPU to show off and offered help to Black Magic. Everything else is really speculation.

Are people complaining about it’s $$ also considering the fact it’s a TB 3 hub as well? What do those cost at OWC, like $300.00? So card, enclosure and hub...$1,200.00? Is that fair? I truly don’t know. This product is not for me—I don’t need a high end graphics card.

Also and this is with respect to the Mac Mini specifically and the lack of a discrete card.....

Didn’t Apple learn it’s lesson re: external EVERYTHING after the 2013 MacPro? It seems they are sort of doing that again. “Want more power? Just use TB!” Last time it waas TB 2 and here we are with TB3.

 

[c0ppo]

Not for long- if Apple decides to amp up support for eGPU you won't even notice a difference. This way you at least get choice and Apple doesn't have to play a big roll in hardware vendor support. Let people like Nvidia write the drivers etc.
Apple doesn't have to build computers with GPU slots that no one will use either.

A modulated Mac Pro fits in Apples manufacturing view (small packages makes things cost effective to produce).. Why add more support for additional PCI-E cards if no one puts in a second or third card (waste of manufacturing money).

So let consumers BYOGC... Traditional consumer PCI-E is dead and Apple is working its way to kill it. Powerful GPUs will come like sticks of RAM and plug into the tower of power... A multi slotted thunderbolt appliance that lets you expand if you want... Buy what you need and not what you don't or won't need or use.

EDIT: And just enough CPU graphics power to run without a GPU... Need a GPU? Buy one. I like this approach. And then Apple can focus on computer design (not add-on horse power). Once CPUs with integrated graphics over powers external GPUs (Apple just drops them)..

Haha then we'll all remember when we had external GPUs back in the day.. While we live render 8k video on our paper thin MacBook Airs.

Best trolling ever!
At least I hope so

 

[CrysisDeu]

It is at least something for pros. Luckily BlackMagic are hardware geniuses.

But why am I still running 2010 Mac Pros just so that we can use nVidia cards is beyond crazy. Apple just seems lost when it comes to the people who make content - it is as if they are fighting against us.

The rotting, festering ecosystem that is Apple.

And no Tim, we can't run a render farm on an Apple Watch or a HomePod.

We can, of course, use a sad emoji to express how we feel you are treating Pros.

Given blackmagic’s production capability, I think this is an Apple product with BM logo. Apple do this so it does not affect their product lineup, can have a worse quality/design overall, and a smaller risk to release this product.

 

[ChrisMoBro]

Because Apple owns Blackmagic? Or because Apple allows eGPUs? Next will you blame Toyota for the price of gasoline?

I love it when clueless people mouth off on here. This was created in collaboration with Apple and Apple initiated the project. Do some research before trying to correct other people.
[doublepost=1545352746][/doublepost]

How is it justified? Apple works with companies that make apps, too. So are they responsible for the pricing of said apps? If the apps are unpopular do you blame Apple?

How is it not justified? They’re charging a ridiculous amount for an eGPU that can’t even be upgraded! Apple deserve to be partially blamed for a product that they commissioned and then worked on.

 

[citysnaps]

Apple worked with Blackmagic to produce this. The rants are justified.

No, the tiny whines are not justified. It's a Blackmagic product, who provides support and warranty assistance.

The solution is simple if it doesn't meet your needs. Don't buy it and choose a different one.

 

[smirking]

That enclosure isn't worth $800 no matter what planet you live on.

Maybe not $800, but it is a ridiculously sweet enclosure and hub. I briefly owned the original BlackMagic eGPU. It didn't work well enough for me to justify keeping it, but I really liked having that enclosure on my desk. I rarely spend money on stupid things that I don't need and it was tempting even for me. If it worked better, it would easily be on my desk today.

 

[citysnaps]

Given blackmagic’s production capability, I think this is an Apple product with BM logo. Apple do this so it does not affect their product lineup, can have a worse quality/design overall, and a smaller risk to release this product.

Blackmagic produces a range of professional video processing hardware including processors, signal converters, monitors, control panels/suites, switchers, etc for the broadcast industry going back about 20 years. They also design and manufacture a family of high resolution cinematic video cameras, and a wide array of editing and processing software, and hardware editing suites.

Their hardware production capacity is fine and certainly doesn't need Apple's help.

The motivation for producing their eGPU was to provide an accelerated editing environment for people using their DaVinci and Fusion video editing software. The fact that it works as a general purpose eGPU on a Mac is icing on the cake.

 

[McG2k1]

How much of a bottleneck do the 4x PCIe eGPUs present vs. 16x direct to the CPU?

I don’t have any stats to directly quote, but when these briefly became a thing 2-3 years ago for gamers on PC the drawbacks were significant. Even cable length was a factor for that use case. Effectively these became a solution to a very very narrow set of people because this and an upper middle GPU are the same price as a full system and a GPU. This is something for people who absolutely have to prove a point that it’s amazing to be able to do it. People on a budget or with better money management skills moved on. In my case I was going to get one to be able to run VR with an older laptop and it just wasn’t worth the price premium.

 

[Shiro_Simba]

Because Apple owns Blackmagic? Or because Apple allows eGPUs? Next will you blame Toyota for the price of gasoline?
[doublepost=1545343626][/doublepost]

Gamers and people who REALLY think those homemade videos make them a creative pro.

Clearly you failed to read that this is a collaboration effort. Making your Toyota / gasoline analogy, completely wrong .

And if you think gamers are the target audience for egpu, gamers are not who you think they are . For one they are over priced solutions that take an unnecessary performance hit . Missing the point of a gamer you are thinking a wannabe cool kid who is a casual gamer at best and wants to show off

 

[Emanuel Rodriguez]

You cant upgrade GPU in any Mac that's for sale.
Except the Mac Pro 2013 (still for sale), All of them have the GPU chips soldered in.

I wasn't talking about upgrading aftermarket. I meant that some Macs have DGPs built-in, and don't really need this eGPU. The primary market for this is Mac laptops.

 

[dukebound85]

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly would be a case where you would need "external graphics" as opposed to just having a better video card in your computer?

Not being sarcastic or anything, just not a "Power graphics user"

More display support than your machine natively supports

 

[dukebound85]

Because two USB3.0 ports is not enough.
BlackMagic eGPU pro is:
- a GPU
- external GPU case
- thunderbolt 3 dock
rolled into one.

I can go cheaper and say 200€ dock, still, the premium in that case is 259€.

Why the hell are you mentioning the MacPro5,1 in an eGPU thread, it's 6y old and doesn't have anything to do with this.
MacPro5,1 also sucks jiggawatt of power and weighs a ton and needs a god damn machine room if you want to run it properly. (I had the 2008 dual quad, I'm not making stuff up)

Get the mantiz case for 400 and whatever gpu you want

https://mymantiz.com/products/mz-02-venus

 

[CrysisDeu]

Blackmagic produces a range of professional video processing hardware including processors, signal converters, monitors, control panels/suites, switchers, etc for the broadcast industry going back about 20 years. They also design and manufacture a family of high resolution cinematic video cameras, and a wide array of editing and processing software, and hardware editing suites.

Their hardware production capacity is fine and certainly doesn't need Apple's help.

The motivation for producing their eGPU was to provide an accelerated editing environment for people using their DaVinci and Fusion video editing software. The fact that it works as a general purpose eGPU on a Mac is icing on the cake.
[doublepost=1545354087][/doublepost]

Nope. Not a fanboy. You using that term tells me a lot about yourself, though.

With respect to Blackmagic, you might want to understand what the company does and is about. They certainly did not need Apple's support

See above.

Yes, but given BM’s recent pocket camera’s production/shipping time(camera is their main product line, while egpu is not), I highly doubt BM egpu is their own product.

 

[ondert]

Like said, simply this doesn’t worth that price. Don’t make these people grab your money and buy 3rd party manufacturers’ devices.
You can’t even change the gpu inside of it.

 

[esatamacmodular]

I hate to be that guy, but this thing is heavily overpriced. It's best to wait a bit more and wait for a DIY solution, which might not look that "pretty" (to me it looks like a US-fridge) but comes in way cheaper and justifies this whole eGPU thing.

As Steve Jobs analyzed correctly on why Apple failed in the 90's (they went for profit rather than market share), they could really win the game if they offered an affordable Apple-branded eGPU-case. Instead they are selling bent iPads and unrepairable computers for a premium, and it will bite them. I'd love to be optimistic about this, but this is the reality right now.

why would you wait for a DIY solution? /// egpu.io is a thriving DIY eGPU community...

 

[avkills]

All I am going to say is Blackmagic tech support is total crap; been dealing with their BS in video land for a long time. Any good hardware (or software) they sell (which is almost none) is purely due to them purchasing other companies.

 

[esatamacmodular]

Let me break it down if i wanted these things by other high quality hardware vendors.
so, BM eGPU Pro is 1359€ in EU, you get a TB dock and an eGPU.
If i want a dock, a vega 56 (new, not 2nd hand) and an external case from high quality vendors it goes like this:
400€ for Vega 56 (Sapphire)
500€ for sonnet 650W
300€ for Caldigit TS3+ dock
---
1200€. the premium on black magic in that case is 159€. which is not a lot.

edit2:
i'm seriously considering the BlackMagic now when i say it like this

500euro for 650w PSU ? sorry I have to speak up about this as this price estimation is way off. It is closer to 125euro for this PSU. I honestly do not understand the people here defending the pricing. You are welcome to pay what you want and have it look cool on your desk... but stop spreading this fiction.

 

[mschmalenbach]

I just got a Razer Core X eGPU breakout box for $299, and a VEGA 56 8Gb HBM2 GPU to put in it for $400.

Black Magic's Davinci Resolve is working a treat for us as edit and Fx software. I have a Sonnet 650W breakout box and an RX580 8Gb GDDR5 that arrived last week. Works a treat on my 2017 MBPr 15 2.9Ghz 16Gb and my team's Lenovo P50 & P51 workstation laptops with 48Gb...

I understand it has a TB3 dock/hub in it, which you can have for $300.

But that could easily get in the way of the performance of the data transfer between the host machine and the GPU card...

$1200 is quite literally a steal - in the wrong direction.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

I hate to be that guy, but this thing is heavily overpriced. It's best to wait a bit more and wait for a DIY solution, which might not look that "pretty" (to me it looks like a US-fridge) but comes in way cheaper and justifies this whole eGPU thing.

Lol, never thought I’d hear plugging in a graphics card to a standalone box referred to as a “DIY” solution.
Good lord...
These must be the type of people that pay a contractor $250 to come plug in their Nest thermostat.
Ugh.
Anyways, as people on here have said... subtract the price of the card & you can see that the enclosure is $800.
No need to “wait a bit more” for a cheaper solution- both Akitio & Razer have ones available now, for $500 cheaper than that.

Edit:
Looks like they must jack up the price of the card $100 in that pricing, b/c Apple actually sells them sans card for $700.

 

[BrianBest]

Dumb question isn't there a bandwidth cap on thunderbolt 3 that makes high end GPUs less cost effective? Is a Vega 56 going to be much better then an RX 580 with that in mind?

Apple's new Blackmagic eGPU Pro, first introduced alongside the Mac mini and MacBook Air in late October, can now be purchased from the online Apple Store.

Orders placed today for the $1,199 new eGPU are set to be delivered from January 15 to January 23. It's not known how much stock Apple has available, so those delivery times could slip after the first orders are placed.

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro features a Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics processor with 8GB HBM2 memory, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, four USB 3 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, a DisplayPort 1.4 port, and 85W of power delivery, enough to power the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Like the prior non-Pro Blackmagic eGPU, the new version features an all-in-one aluminum enclosure. All of Apple's Thunderbolt 3-enabled Macs, including the Mac mini, the MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pro, work with the Blackmagic eGPU Pro.

When the eGPU was announced, Apple originally said it would be released in late November, but Apple later updated the product page to note that it wouldn't be released until December. Apple hit the December deadline, but deliveries won't begin until 2019.

Article Link: Apple's $1,199 Blackmagic eGPU Pro Now Available for Purchase, Delivers Mid-January

 

[- rob -]

Would this be good on the new MacBook Air to run dual 4K with no fan spin up and some gaming?

 

[lilrush]

Personally i went with Razer Core X + Vega 64. Better deal, better performance.

 

[Ed A.]

No clue why anyone would want this. Buy a Sonnet box and a Vega 64 for $800. The Blackmagic only includes a Vega 56 and is $1200. Lol, no thanks.

Or buy an iMac Pro like I did with a built-in Pro Vega 56.