Hands-On With Apple's New $699 Blackmagic eGPU

[barefeats]

The Blackmagic's support of the LG UltraFine 5K display is unique but the inability to upgrade the 580 GPU is a non-starter. Makes me wonder if the 580 was chosen so Apple would agree to sell it in the Apple Store. I prefer the design of the AKiTiO Node Pro. I have used it to benchmark various GPUs including GTX 1080 Ti, TITAN Xp, RX Vega 64, and Vega Frontier. I also like the Sonnet Breakaway eGFX box with the 650W PSU.

Be aware that, though Resolve and Blender can choose the eGPU's GPU for rendering, some apps ignore it unless its GPU is connected directly to a display and that display is set to primary.

Lastly, some GPU functions like Resolve playback with Noise Reduction are hampered by the eGPU's lower TB3 bandwidth compared to internal GPU's bandwidth. For example, the iMac Pro's Pro Vega 64 produces higher FPS than a Vega Frontier in an eGPU. And if both GPUs are selected, the FPS is lower than if only the internal Pro Vega 64 is selected.

 

[geromi912]

I am hoping this will be the new Apple Display that they are working on. Built-in graphics cards so your under powered GPU laptops will benefit from a descrete built in GPU. Might cost an arm and a leg, but hey...it’s Apple.

That’s the worst idea ever, displays can last for upwards of a decade, GPUs? Completely obsolete in 5 years MAX. A low end GTX 1050 from 2016 has almost the power of a flagship GTX 680 from 2012. For 1/3 the power draw and 1/4 the price.

 

[Vjosullivan]

I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea what this thing is used for

It's used to display big numbers. In the video (about two thirds of the way through), they use the card to display numbers that are two to five times bigger than on the comparison screens without the eGPU.

 

[CarpalMac]

Right, that kind of defeats the whole purpose. Otherwise you're just spending $700 for a $250 card.

--Eric

But it is Shiny! Sort of.

 

[Music Ambulance]

It's as if they took a Mac Pro, ripped out the CPUs, added some angles to the case, and called it a day.

...and then macrumors called it futuristic

 

[cardfan]

I'd say this product leaped over Homepod for worst product of the year. So there's that.

 

[zoozx]

Lets see, another non upgradeable over priced, out dated piece of gear from . I think I'll pass, again.

Apple, REALLY?

What happened to Think Different?
This is think Stupid.
Apple is in the toilet across the board, no longer innovative, creative, consumer conscious.
Now even more Overpriced and following everyone else.
SAD.

 

[slineaudi]

fanciest dongle yet!

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

Apple just doesn't mean cutting-edge technology anymore. At prices, only somebody truly ignorant of hardware market costs would consider. I just can't justify this anymore. I LOVE the OS, but the hardware is garbage, years out of date hardware, held together by glue and sticky tape.

I just wish they released the OS separately. This quote "those who care about software should design their own hardware", is clearly a Jobs era relic from the past in the current computer division of Apple.

 

[Fidgetyrat]

Non upgradable is fine. Apple will just release another proprietary cable in the next year rendering Thunderbolt 3 useless anyway.

</sarcasm>

 

[Eightarmedpet]

Right, that kind of defeats the whole purpose. Otherwise you're just spending $700 for a $250 card.

--Eric

Most enclosures are $250 or above and not made as well as this.

 

[Zdigital2015]

GPU prices are projected to fall a bit more as AMD and NVIDIA need to stabilize their inventories after the cryptocurrency market began contracting. Right now, the best combination that I have found is to pick up a Sonnet Technologies eGFX Breakaway Box 650 on Amazon for $399 and a Sapphire Technology Nitro+ RX580, which is hovering around $299-$319, depending on where you look (Amazon & New Egg). While the Nitro+ RX580 is still an RX580, it should be good for most people for another year or two. Investing in the Sonnet 650 is pure future proofing for AMD's new GPUs coming to market in 2019. The next Vega (Vega 20/Radeon Instinct) is rumored to need even more power than the current Vega 56 or Vega 64, so it might be wise to plan accordingly.

Beware purchasing the Sonnet Developer bundle if you need something more potent than a Sapphire Pulse or similarly specc'd GPU. While the $499 price is tempting, the allocation of more power for charging comes at the expense of being able to adequately power some of the higher clocked RX580 GPUs such as the Nitro+ series. Vega 56 and 64 are non-starters as most of you know anyways.

Should the current crop of Vegas drop in price when the Instinct is introduced, so much the better. Currently, most of them are around 50% the cost of what they were early this year with Vega 56 hovering at $499 and Vega $64 at $599.

The combined price of the Sonnet 650 and the Nitro+ RX580 is ~$699, or equivalent to the BlackMagic eGPU's cost, with the added benefit of being upgradeable into the future with more advanced GPUs should your needs meet your desires.

If you have not visited eGPU.io, I would encourage you to do so, as they have some really good write-ups, along with tips, tricks and workarounds. *NOTE* I am not affiliated with them in the least, but their info has been very helpful while researching the topic.

 

[cmaier]

Not upgradeable!

Apple again finds a way to limit and rip off their customers, for no good reason.

This isn’t an Apple product

 

[citysnaps]

Lets see, collaboration with Apple and ONLY sold by Apple. It's an Apple product in every way except name.

Again no. Not an Apple product.

Designed by Blackmagic Design. Look at their other hardware products and tools supporting video editing/processing which they've been designing and selling for years. Of course Apple had to provide information about their Metal API. Go to Blackmagic's web page and it's very clear. And not an Apple logo to be found.

 

[rhysadams]

So I've bought one of these, but now not sure if it will increase the speed of my Macbook Pro. I do a lot of video work, just using the Macbook Pro and no external screen. Should I send this back?

 

[Abazigal]

I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea what this thing is used for

It basically looks like Apple's vision of modularity.

People here tend to associate the term with being able to crack your device open and replace / upgrade the internals. With Apple, their end game seems to be a thin and light laptop which you can hook up to a 5k display and e-GPU at home to get desktop-equivalent performance. Kinda like a best-of-both-worlds type scenario.

 

[cajun67]

I feel like this isn't the best purchase considering you can't replace the card

You're basically paying $700 for a $300 graphics card.

Meh... no thanks.

 

[Martyimac]

Again no. Not an Apple product.

Designed by Blackmagic Design. Look at their other hardware products and tools supporting video editing/processing which they've been designing and selling for years. Of course Apple had to provide information about their Metal API. Go to Blackmagic's web page and it's very clear. And not an Apple logo to be found.

I agree with what you have said. But it's also noted on the Blackmagic page that it is - "Available now exclusively on Apple.com and in select Apple Retail stores worldwide". And I suspect if you need support or repair or return, you will have to take it back to an  store. It's an  product in all but the name and logo.

 

[Zdigital2015]

So I've bought one of these, but now not sure if it will increase the speed of my Macbook Pro. I do a lot of video work, just using the Macbook Pro and no external screen. Should I send this back?

I would encourage you to go to YouTube and check out Max Yuryev's review and Jeff Benjamin's review (they are from competing websites, so I will refrain from listing them here). MacRumors has also done a video, but I have not watched it yet.

It also depends on which MacBook Pro (13" vs 15") you bought and whether or not you are using Premiere, Final Cut Pro X or DaVinci Resolve. Max Yuryev's video is probably your best bet at this point. The 13" MacBook Pro sees the most benefit because it does not contain discrete graphics.

You will probably need to perform some test yourself to find out if you are seeing any speed increase in your workflow. Good luck!

 

[cajun67]

Umm, what is it? The story doesn't tell me what it really does and why I should want one?

It's an external graphics card. One of the drawbacks of owning a laptop is that you can't upgrade the graphics card (think gamers who want to play the latest games at the highest resolution). This allows PBP owners to upgrade their GPU, but at more than twice the cost of buying this GPU for a desktop system.

 

[shadowmatt]

This isn’t an Apple product

In the same way that the vesa mount Apple sells is made by a 3rd party, but is pushed by Apple as the product for that need.

"Available now exclusively on Apple.com and in select Apple Retail stores worldwide." says their website. This product was developed in conjunction with Apple.

The story behind eGPUs is now years old. It was Intel / Apple that initially wouldn't licence Thunderbolt 1 / 2 to 3rd parties to make enclosures for eGPUs.

It has been possible since Windows 7 / a lot older OSX versions.

I did it with a Mac mini and a Nvidia card. https://www.3dmark.com/fs/1839002

Worked in both Windows and OSX. Windows 8 saw the card and autoconfigured it using UEFI, OSX needed 2 plists editing.

Notice how you can use NVidia cards easily and without support from Apple. It really doesn't need any work that hasn't already been done.

Yet Apple choose to limit it to ATi and a few suppliers who are locked into what Apple think you want, a half baked ATi card for the price of a 1080Ti.

 

[Zdigital2015]

You're basically paying $700 for a $300 graphics card.

Meh... no thanks.

Unfortunately, you are not taking into account the cost of the eGPU enclosure you will need for that $300 GPU. Cheapest one is $200 and the most expensive is at $400, so you are looking at $500-$700 cost to get functional. $50 more if you choose to add an Active Thunderbolt 3 cable and provide some distance between the eGPU and your computer. So in actuality, the BM eGPU is around $200 more expensive for a complete plug and play solution or equivalent in cost if you opt for the more expensive eGPU box. I think the BM eGPU has a place in some user's studio who just don't want to crack open a black box and insert a PCIe card into place...some people just have zero comfort level with that, which is okay.

YMMV

 

[Martyimac]

So I've bought one of these, but now not sure if it will increase the speed of my Macbook Pro. I do a lot of video work, just using the Macbook Pro and no external screen. Should I send this back?

While I am not an expert, the reviews of the new MBP seems to indicate that CPU throttling will be the bottleneck, not the eGPU. Maybe some pro users can offer a more informed opinion.

 

[MacBH928]

eGPU setups can work nicely with mac minis.

 

[shadowmatt]

Unfortunately, you are not taking into account the cost of the eGPU enclosure you will need for that $300 GPU. Cheapest one is $200 and the most expensive is at $400, so you are looking at $500-$700 cost to get functional. $50 more if you choose to add an Active Thunderbolt 3 cable and provide some distance between the eGPU and your computer. So in actuality, the BM eGPU is around $200 more expensive for a complete plug and play solution or equivalent in cost if you opt for the more expensive eGPU box. I think the BM eGPU has a place in some user's studio who just don't want to crack open a black box and insert a PCIe card into place...some people just have zero comfort level with that, which is okay.

YMMV

Hence why it shouldn't be a closed system and instead allow you to either configure a better card, or supply your own.