Review: Sonnet's Latest eGPU Breakaway Pucks Give Your Intel Mac a Graphics Boost and Extra Connectivity

[hot-gril]

Not really. The product is specifically designed to work with and support the majority of Mac architecture; which is Intel. This will be the case (Intel majority) for years to come. Depending on who's stats you use, the average age of a computer is 5 to 8 years. -Probably a safe bet that most of the MR demographic fall into that average- I think there will be plenty of potential users. Potential being the key word. The demographic (eGPU) was already niche. So the switch to Apple Silicon really won't hit the eGPU makers anytime soon. As I said earlier, Intel Macs are going to be around for a long time... especially in business imo.

Yeah, also people who need eGPUs have no other choice but Intel Macs unless they want to switch away from Mac entirely. It's not like M1 negates the need for an eGPU, at least not yet.

Though this furthers my long-held belief that Macs and heavy graphics don't mix, despite Apple sometimes throwing a bone to those people. The MacPro4,1/5,1 modding forums have people running GTX 1080tis with every hack imaginable and all sorts of limitations, and I think, why.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

Not sure if you're aware, but we're currently in a GPU shortage due to covid supply chain issues and the cryptocurrency mining fad. You won't be able to get anything at MSRP, for at least another year.

So $899 for this eGPU is actually about the street price of a 5700XT LOL. Worst time to buy anything.

Funny you say that, I literally just got my second 3080 in the mail today for MSRP

 

[Bustycat]

Funny you say that, I literally just got my second 3080 in the mail today for MSRP

You are extremely lucky or you are lying.

 

[shapesinaframe]

Save the money. Sell your Intel and upgrade to the next 16” which will be awesome.

If you can sell your old Intel Mac, an increasingly difficult prospect with the lower price and higher performance of new M1 Macs.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

You are extremely lucky or you are lying.

Nah just tried hard enough to get it. Memorized drop times, logged in at the right times. It’s more than most people would do I admit but it’s not mega impossible like some people think. There’s plenty of stock, just ridiculous demand.

 

[portland-dude]

Bad timing for a product that isn't going to work with new Macs going forward. I wish them the best.

Well, Intel Mac's aren't going to disappear overnight. Many of us bought Intel because we needed a machine now, not in who knows how long. I plan on using this iMac for a great many years, same with my security camera Mac mini hub (which I added an eGPU to recently). Keep in mind, while the M1 Mac's are great (love my MBP!) at the moment they still aren't replacements for high end systems. I'm excited to see what Apple offers in the way of dedicated GPU's down the road. Hopefully they take it seriously and not expect professionals to work on integrated graphics.

I'm not saying this is what you specifically are doing, but so many people on this site were OMG my Mac is amazing!! (with Intel inside)....then the second M1 was announced they were OMG Intel is garbage!! Stop drinking the kool-aid so much, friends.

 

[strayts]

My takeaway from this is how impressive the M1 is relatively. $900 is a laughable price, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who will use it as part of their workflows.

 

[Bustycat]

Nah just tried hard enough to get it. Memorized drop times, logged in at the right times. It’s more than most people would do I admit but it’s not mega impossible like some people think. There’s plenty of stock, just ridiculous demand.

More people didn’t have time or chances to catch so they were willing to pay for the extra cost. To solve that,... manufacturers recently increased MSRP.

 

[Huubster]

Thanks for this review. I have been wondering: will I get this and roughly squeeze 2 more years of life out of my 2016 MBP, or could I consider the upcoming generation of MBP? It means I’m probably getting this, unless graphics performance of the M2 at least triples compared to the M1 (highly unlikely), or the graphic performance gain could be too insignificant to justify the investment.
By the way, I’m especially interested in rendering speeds and I’d be happy with the RX5500. I currently use the RX560 puck which can still make some bucks on eBay.

 

[baryon]

Is that... a 4 pin DIN connector for power? Ah reminds me of the good old 80s!

 

[Nicole1980]

that "puck" appears as big as a mac mini

Fyi the mac mini is considerably wider, and shorter. The sonnet puck more closely resembles the 'original' mac mini design

 

[ArPe]

If you can sell your old Intel Mac, an increasingly difficult prospect with the lower price and higher performance of new M1 Macs.

Have to move quick because within months all the important apps are finally universal or native and the iMac/16” will be out too.

Only reason to keep an Intel MBP/iMac after that is for really old stuff that won’t ever get updated again. But those apps/games will probably break on new OS soon anyway.

 

[Freeangel1]

THE TRUTH IS OUT OF THE BAG.
The M1 Built in GPU SUCKS and is NOT AT ALL Pro LEVEL GPU.
These Tests PROVE IT

KEEP TOUR INTEL MAC For ADOBE SUITE and VIDEO EDITING

 

[Freeangel1]

I'll bet Sonnet won't be posting any benchmarks when the new M1x/M2 Macs come out.

They will have a better breakout box Card by then.
Remember. APPLE SILICON is incapable of running external GPU's , INTEL MACs CAN.

 

[Mac... nificent]

They will have a better breakout box Card by then.

Maybe, maybe not. I would much rather just buy a whole new computer with higher specs than spend a lot of money buying band-aids for an older computer.

 

[MY_USERNAME]

Bad timing for a product that isn't going to work with new Macs going forward. I wish them the best.

Is there a reason they couldn’t adapt to the M1Macs?

 

[Mac... nificent]

Is there a reason they couldn’t adapt to the M1Macs?

Yes, Apples Silicon (SoC) has everything built inside the chip. There's no way to access it.

 

[chafey]

I bought one of these and returned it because of the noise - the fan is loud and turns on periodically even when the system is idle. I would be OK with fan noise when the GPU was being utilized heavily (e.g. games), but not OK with it kicking in regularly while idle or during light work.

 

[Irishman]

I was interested until I saw the price

yeah. Sonnet prices their devices like they’re Apple themselves.

 

[cmaier]

Fyi the mac mini is considerably wider, and shorter. The sonnet puck more closely resembles the 'original' mac mini design

So I’m wrong because i said it looks like a mac mini, when in fact it resembles a Mac mini?

 

[poematik13]

You are extremely lucky or you are lying.

Or he has a bot LOL

 

[cmaier]

THE TRUTH IS OUT OF THE BAG.
The M1 Built in GPU SUCKS and is NOT AT ALL Pro LEVEL GPU.
These Tests PROVE IT

KEEP TOUR INTEL MAC For ADOBE SUITE and VIDEO EDITING

gee, really? A gpu in a laptop is slower than an gpu designed for desktop use? Wow, who’d have thunk it.

*rolls eyes*

 

[GumaRodak]

I am interested, specifically for the size...i had previously razer core x, but was too bulky and not portable. Any idea how this small 5700XT comparing to the "real" 5700 XT in big box in terms of performance? Is the laptop version inside? Thanks

 

[Nicole1980]

So I’m wrong because i said it looks like a mac mini, when in fact it resembles a Mac mini?

Um, when you say 'mac mini' I think anyone would envision you're not talking about a design that was discontunued more than a decade ago.

eg: if you said 'that car looks like a corvette', would I think you're talking about a current day corcette or a 1969 model?
If you were referring to the '69 model you would point that out in your comparison

 

[Beavix]

I have the 5500xt version. It improved the graphics performance a lot on my Late 2018 Mac Mini with an LG Ultrafine 4K Thunderbolt display.