Blackmagic eGPU Pro Temporarily Unavailable From Apple's Online Store

[MacRumors]

Apple is temporarily sold out of the Blackmagic eGPU Pro, an eGPU option that it offers alongside its Mac machines.

Priced at $1,199, the Blackmagic eGPU Pro first came out in October 2018 alongside refreshed Mac mini and MacBook Air models, and it has been sold by Apple since then.

Blackmagic told MacRumors that the eGPU Pro is temporarily out of stock and has not been discontinued. The company provided no details on why the device is unavailable at this time, but supply shortages and production disruptions are a likely cause.

At this time, the standard $699 Blackmagic eGPU remains available for purchase, and it's just the higher-end Pro model that is temporarily unavailable.

Other Apple products like select iPads and custom configured Macs are also experiencing longer than normal shipping times.

Article Link: Blackmagic eGPU Pro Temporarily Unavailable From Apple's Online Store

 

[adamjackson]

Is Blackmagic ever going to update the GPU?

 

[caliguy]

I use this at my workstation at my office. Underwhelming performance.
I find it works just ok in FCPX for rendering, usually only about 40% usage according to Activity Monitor, and it isn't utilized whatsoever for export. Wish Apple would optimize better for a featured product.

 

[carlos700]

As it should. $1199 for a Vega 56 which is gets beaten now by the $279 RX 5600 XT is absurd. I'd love to see a Blackmagic eGPU with a 5600. Heck even for the price of the old RX 580 one at $600.

 

[AFPoster]

I use this at my workstation at my office. Underwhelming performance.
I find it works just ok in FCPX for rendering, usually only about 40% usage according to Activity Monitor, and it isn't utilized whatsoever for export. Wish Apple would optimize better for a featured product.

I use it for the same thing and it doesn't deliver that much of a performance boost. It'll be returned when Apple Stores open.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

I use this at my workstation at my office. Underwhelming performance.
I find it works just ok in FCPX for rendering, usually only about 40% usage according to Activity Monitor, and it isn't utilized whatsoever for export. Wish Apple would optimize better for a featured product.

You want fully optimized you have a Mac Pro with Afterburner. Hopefully, Apple will release 3 external versions of Afterburner w/ TB 3. Leave the $2k for the Pro, a $1k for the iMac/iMac Pro and $500 for entry level. You'd get far more mileage computationally out of that than this older eGPU. The RDNA 2.0 cards are soon to be released by AMD so expect Apple, and Blackmagic to have more options.

I'd expect when the AMD CDNA based compute cards are commercially available Apple has that as an BTO for the Mac Pro version 2.0.

 

[Wahlstrm]

May we dare hope for a new revision with a modern GPU?

 

[fox10078]

I've been noticing a lot of blackmagic products are low stock or out of stock. NAB was supposed to be this month so I'm sure they were going to reveal new products there.

 

[MacLawyer]

Supposedly the iMac Pro will be updated this year. That might be a good solution unless you're in a production house doing tons of rendering and compression.

 

[Joniz]

People been panic buying them to use as toilet paper.

 

[AMP12345]

Hopefully we'll see an update with the W5700x. Maybe they'll release it at the same time as the one for the Mac Pro.

 

[iLilana]

make the GPU swappable.

 

[crsh1976]

As it should. $1199 for a Vega 56 which is gets beaten now by the $279 RX 5600 XT is absurd. I'd love to see a Blackmagic eGPU with a 5600. Heck even for the price of the old RX 580 one at $600.

There are better alternatives to the Blackmagic boxes, ones that allow you to add whatever GPU you wish (and update it later on, too).

I get the convenience of this product, you take out of the box and plug it in, but it definitely comes at a cost - it's pricy, but also quickly outdated.

 

[PickUrPoison]

There are better alternatives to the Blackmagic boxes, ones that allow you to add whatever GPU you wish (and update it later on, too).

I get the convenience of this product, you take out of the box and plug it in, but it definitely comes at a cost - it's pricy, but also quickly outdated.

It’s most suited for those running Blackmagic’s software, or if you want to use it to drive a Thunderbolt 3 monitor, say the XDR. Only game in town, no? It was last year, maybe there’s another option now.

 

[Eightarmedpet]

Would love to see these updated... especially as there is now at least one report of them working in W10 and driving a first gen 5K Ultrafine.

 

[MacBH928]

I was one of those who was looking forward to see an implementation of eGPU, unfortunately it has not worked well. The absurd price point makes it just easier to build a new PC for $400 a better option. I was aiming for regular gpu prices+enclosure. This thing alone is priced at high performance PC and more expensive than macbook air.

 

[tubular]

I was one of those who was looking forward to see an implementation of eGPU, unfortunately it has not worked well.

I'd have to agree. I've got a 2018 hexcore Mac Mini, and I didn't mind the lack of a discrete GPU because I thought eGPU would be an option. But I've found it far easier and cheaper to simply move anything graphics-intense (3D rendering in particular) to my gaming PC. I was expecting to pay an Apple-world tax, but not this much.

 

[Ishayu]

Good. No more people getting disappointed by that pile of junk.

it was a terrible and overpriced product when it launched, and now it's just a cruel joke.

 

[Elliot Eustis]

Would love to see these updated... especially as there is now at least one report of them working in W10 and driving a first gen 5K Ultrafine.

I drive my 1st Gen LG 5K from my Win10 PC ... It works great! You just need a thunderbolt header on your Mobo, and a Thunderbolt expasion card. I'm currently driving it with the Asrock 570x taichi, and Asrock Thunderbolt 3 AIC plugged into my Nvidia 2080 Super.

 

[carlos700]

The biggest issue with eGPU boxes is it's rare to find a supported graphics card with USB-C output. In fact the only AMD one I know of is the Radeon Pro W5700. Not to mention Thunderbolt 3. So you lose compatibility with 4K and 5K UltraFines which are really nice monitors.

 

[DeepIn2U]

The biggest issue with eGPU boxes is it's rare to find a supported graphics card with USB-C output. In fact the only AMD one I know of is the Radeon Pro W5700. Not to mention Thunderbolt 3. So you lose compatibility with 4K and 5K UltraFines which are really nice monitors.

honestly I feel the biggest issue for a Mac user with eGPUs is the lack of full macOS support for them.

to get the full performance or even 30%+ you need an external monitor.