On the back of the eGPU you’ll find four extra high-speed USB ports, as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port for networking. The integrated power supply provides 700w of power, which enables 100w output for charging any connected laptop. The Razer Core X Chroma is Razer’s top of the line GPU enclosure, and it supports full-sized PCIe graphics cards up to three slots wide, up to a maximum of 500 watts.
EGPU FOR MACBOOK AIR UPGRADE
But the good news is that you can continually upgrade and replace these graphics cards to give your Mac even more of a boost as graphics tech improves. Keep in mind that for each of these, the pricing is for the enclosure alone - you’ll have to add your own eGPU to make it work. Here are a couple of Thunderbolt 3 eGPU enclosure options out there for those considering this upgrade path, and the relative merits of each. But for anybody looking to extend the life of their existing Mac for a few more years to wait and see how the Apple Silicon transition shakes out, updates from Apple and key software partners make an eGPU a great choice.
EGPU FOR MACBOOK AIR DRIVER
But while Apple has directly sold a few eGPUs, and natively supports AMD graphics cards without any special driver gymnastics required, it’s still mostly a niche category.
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These have very high throughput, making it possible for a GPU in an internal enclosure to offer almost as much graphics processing capability as one connected internally. Existing Macs with Intel chips will still be useful long after the transition is complete, however, and software porting means they might even support more of your existing favorite applications for the foreseeable future, which is why adding an external GPU (eGPU) likely makes more sense now than ever.Īpple added support for eGPUs a few years ago, made possible by the addition of Thunderbolt 3 ports on Macs. And while new Intel-powered Macs will be released and sold leading up to that time, it does mean that the writing is on the wall for Intel-based Apple hardware. That process is meant to begin with hardware to be announced later this year, and last two years according to Apple’s stated expectations. A more striking limitation is the one we’ve already noted, that the MBP is limited to 16GB of RAM - if you think you’ll need 32GB then you’ll have to opt for an Intel-powered model.Apple recently announced they would be transitioning their Mac line from Intel processors to their own, ARM-based Apple Silicon.
EGPU FOR MACBOOK AIR PRO
There’s also been some focus on the fact that the 13-inch MacBook Pro M1 models only include two USB-C ports onboard instead of four, but whether or not you think that’s enough ports, it’s consistent with the cheaper Intel models it replaces. Now, they’ll have to wait and see if things change for higher-end models as Apple Silicon spreads throughout the company’s PC lineup. Only some people would require add-on oomph in any case, but Apple’s support for external graphics cards gave it some extra gaming cachet and informed creative professionals their needs would continue to be met.
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According to Apple Insider, it has confirmed none of the machines will support eGPUs. As Paul Gerhardt mentioned in a tweet, tech spec pages for the new machines reveal that none of them are compatible with external GPUs that connect via Thunderbolt. It touted impressive performance marks for the new machines and promised excellent battery life, however they won’t come without any compromises.
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Today Apple showed off the first Macs powered by its new M1 CPU, with a new Mac mini, MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro.