Am I missing something? Isn’t the whole point of eGPU’s the ability to use the most up to date gpus and actually see improvements? This thing cannot be upgraded for some silly reasoning and the performance boost is or will be, at best, minimal. I’ve seen some bad deals from Apple but th8nk this may just be a winner of tha prize.
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Apple's $1,199 Blackmagic eGPU Pro Now Available for Purchase, Delivers Mid-January
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I’d rather hold out for Nvidia support in Mojave, but even if I did not the Akitio Node Pro with a Vega 64 is a lot less money for more power. I really struggle to see the point of this unit. I’ll probably get an Akitio and ponder the card choice.
not according to apple. To them, its so you can pay a premium for a machine with lackluster graphics and then a premium again for a non-upgradeable epu to make up for what should have been in the machine to begin with
Did you not understand that Apple does not make or sell this product? This is not an Apple product!
Where? I can't see it on their node pro website. I mean, that is the whole point of the product
There are other Akitio boxes suitable for raid arrays and not GPUs. I suspect someone is looking at the wrong box. This is manifestly nonsense.
Where did you get your lie that Apple "commissioned" this product? All accounts indicate that any collaboration was limited to design, which basically means color matching so that it looks like Apple's "style." Maybe look in the mirror before you start calling people who ACTUALLY WORK IN THE SPACE names. If you don't like the product, don't buy it. No one owes you anything, and if you hate Apple's products so much, there's the door, and I'm sure a life is beyond it. Why do people like you even have time for such things?
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Apple.Did.Not.Make.This.Product. Christ.
Wow this is so much better than having a properly built desktop with the option to upgrade your own graphics card like any PC user has been able to do for decades. Boy am I glad Apple welds all their underpowered gear in place so that pesky consumers can't manage their own technology like adults.
Seriously, an add-on that costs more than the desktop itself?
For less than the cost of the eGPU you could build a hackintosh that's more powerful than Apple's top of the line Mac Pro.
Seriously, an add-on that costs more than the desktop itself?
For less than the cost of the eGPU you could build a hackintosh that's more powerful than Apple's top of the line Mac Pro.
Found the courage to build a hackintosh, instead. It’s been a mixed bag.
Sounds good. But that's not for everyone.
A business that relies on (and makes money with) its computing tools and averse to risk will buy off-the-shelf wanting a warranty, support, frequent no-hassle software updates, etc.
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Which Apple laptops were those available on?
Yes, the 2008, 2009 and 2010-2012 Mac Pro had two full width (x16) PCIe 2.0 slots that came off of the CPU. To date, no expandable tower Mac has ever contained PCIe 3.0 slots. The iMac uses all the PCIe lanes from the CPU (x16) for the GPU and the PCH for the rest of the system. The 15” MacBook Pro has always used half the available lanes (x8) for the dGPU, and the rest for storage and/or Thunderbolt 3 ports.
not much on present generation GPUs. 5% at most.
might be worse with next gen GPUs.
Reading the MacRumors forums, I've often wondered why people who seem to have so much contempt for Apple and the Apple ecosystem spend so much of their time deliberately misconstruing readily available facts and trying their darnedest to foment hatred for Apple.
(I'm not talking about folks who have articulate and well-reasoned complaints about shortcomings with the computers and devices they find useful; I could go on at very great length with my own complaints, despite my decided preference for Apple products and the Apple ecosystem. I'm talking about people who seem never to have anything good to say, but say it at every opportunity.)
So far, only two plausible explanations have occurred to me. (I'd be relieved and grateful to read a cheerier plausible explanation!)
Either they are bitter, angry people who find more personal satisfaction from stewing in their hatred than from finding something in life to be pleased about, or…
They are being paid to spread disinformation, confusion, discontent, and anger for the benefit of Apple's competitors. We know that this happens on a large scale in elections. So much money is at stake in the smartphone business that I wouldn't be terribly surprised if some of Apple's less scrupulous competitors are contracting with some of the well-documented troll farms that plague our modern world.
This second possibility is the only one that would seem to provide a rational explanation for the behavior of some folks on this forum.
I hope to God I'm dead wrong about this.
[doublepost=1545431549][/doublepost]For all you folks asking what is the point of this product: for crying out loud, what part of Blackmagic's eGPU FAQ is unclear?!
Why did we design the Blackmagic eGPU?
Our DaVinci Resolve customers often need to add a lot of effects and color correctors to their timeline and this can consume a massive amount of computing power. In many ways, DaVinci Resolve customers can even keep adding color correctors up to the point where they max out the computing power of the host machine! However, many DaVinci Resolve editors and colorists also like to remain portable which allows them to work on-set. By developing Blackmagic eGPUs, we can provide the processing power they need and allow more simultaneous effects and color corrections, even when working on a laptop.
Is the Blackmagic eGPU an Apple product?
No, the Blackmagic eGPUs have been developed by Blackmagic Design in collaboration with Apple.
Our DaVinci Resolve customers often need to add a lot of effects and color correctors to their timeline and this can consume a massive amount of computing power. In many ways, DaVinci Resolve customers can even keep adding color correctors up to the point where they max out the computing power of the host machine! However, many DaVinci Resolve editors and colorists also like to remain portable which allows them to work on-set. By developing Blackmagic eGPUs, we can provide the processing power they need and allow more simultaneous effects and color corrections, even when working on a laptop.
Is the Blackmagic eGPU an Apple product?
No, the Blackmagic eGPUs have been developed by Blackmagic Design in collaboration with Apple.
Oh, wait, you folks didn't actually bother to take the very minimal effort to look on their web site and read their FAQ, did you? No, you just read MacRumor's hastily (and some might say shoddily) researched and written story, and did not hesitate to spout off here.
I'm not a DaVinci Resolve customer; I don't work in that space at all. I'm a gamer, and this product is clearly not for me, for all the reasons that have been so amply mentioned in this thread. But I'm not angry at Apple for selling or even for promoting this product in their online store, because it's not Apple's product! Nor am I angry at Blackmagic, because this product was never intended for gamers like me!
It's perfectly reasonable to point out that there are more cost-effective eGPU solutions available for certain audiences, like gamers, do-it-yourselfers, and folks who don't care about noise or Thunderbolt 3 docking. But all this indignation at Apple or even at Blackmagic is just pathological.
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That's my assessment. Those constantly lashing out, against a tech company no less, have little joy or happiness in their lives. Trashing someone/something provides a short-lasting blip of power that they'd otherwise never experience in their lives.
This things only function is to make Blackmagic's software run better. That is why they made it, I highly doubt they care much that it makes games run much faster.
As others have pointed out in response to you nothing else exists on the market that is as quiet as this and handles TB3.
But I’ll add - if you think you can source all the parts and put in the time to build one like it to save money then good for you, but that can only mean your time ain’t worth much.
To others whose time is actually worth something (who are the people this is aimed at) the price they pay buying this already built is very well worth it.
I wonder, what does you judging those people gain you hmm?
I'll not count the 2008 to 2010 Mac Pro's because those were not PCI 2.0 and thus didn't have great bandwidth.
2010 model had 1 x16 PCI 2.0 slot:
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...core-2.93-mid-2010-westmere-server-specs.html
It is not just the sGPU. it is the entire computer line up.
Macbooks Air and Pro, Mac Mini and Mac Pro. And you can add the new iPad Pro with the new bending feature!