eGPU
Latest
Dell gives eGPUs another shot with the Concept Polaris
Dell launched the Alienware Graphics Amplifier way back in 2014, but now, the company has announced that it's giving eGPUs another shot.
Apple's new M1 Macs won't work with external GPUs
The spec pages for Apple's new Macs with M1 CPUs reveals something is missing -- support for eGPUs favored by some gamers and creative professionals.
Razer's new eGPU box packs more power and Chroma RGB support
Razer's back with another external GPU case, and this time it's beefier than ever. Like other eGPUs, the Razer Core X Chroma is designed to bring desktop-level graphics to ultraportable laptops, and this iteration features a 700W power supply, USB and Ethernet connections and space for three slot-wide desktop graphics cards. It also comes with a unique Thunderbolt dual-chip design, which helps distribute load and will prevent losing keyboard and mouse connectivity when you're plugging it into your computer.
Blackmagic's Mac-friendly eGPU Pro adds Vega 56 power for $1,199
Blackmagic's first Apple-oriented external GPU was helpful for pros who needed more graphics power for their MacBooks, but it was a tough sell when you were paying $700 for strictly middling Radeon Pro 580 graphics. However, the company is back a few months later with a somewhat better value. Its newly launched Blackmagic eGPU Pro melds the familiar Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with much faster Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics. It's nearly twice as fast as the original, the company said, and promises up to a 22X performance boost over the 13-inch MacBook Pro's Intel-based video. That's a huge deal for GPU-aware creative apps, and might even make it a viable choice for more intensive games (what intensive games exist on the platform, anyway).
Apple’s MacBook eGPU is a step toward winning back creative pros
Even though Apple makes a lot more money on iPhones and iPads, Macs are still crucial to its bottom line. For years, they were widely loved by creative folks and influencers because they were simpler and more powerful than Windows PCs. Now, content creation pros and designers are falling out of love with Apple. Many see the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar as a consumer gimmick, and worse, Apple's top-end laptops have failed to keep pace technologically with powerful, well-designed PCs from Microsoft, Dell and others.
Razer unveils a cheaper external GPU case, the $299 'Core X'
Razer's latest stab at an external GPU case, the $299 Core X, is its most interesting one yet. Like the company's earlier models, it's a way for you to bring the power of a desktop video card to ultraportable laptops. It just does so for much less than the $499 Core v2. And, strangely, it's a better choice for many gamers, since it accepts large 3-slot video cards. The Core v2 only had room for 2.2-slot GPUs. Additionally, the Core X has a beefier 650-watt power supply instead of a slim 500-watt PSU, which gives it room for growth as video cards ans laptops get more energy hungry.
The latest macOS update brings support for external GPUs
With the latest release of macOS High Sierra, Apple has officially delivered on a couple of items in the works since WWDC 2017 last June. macOS 10.13.4 brings the external GPU (eGPU) support that lets developers, VR users gamers and anyone else in need of some extra oomph to plug in a more powerful graphics card via Thunderbolt 3. While that may not make every underpowered laptop VR ready, it certainly makes staying macOS-only more palatable for some power users. Another notable addition is Business Chat in Messages for users in the US. Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and others have tweaked their services to enable customer service linkups and now Apple has its version available on the desktop. With it, you can interact with business representatives or even make purchases. Other tweaks include waiting for the user to select login fields before autofilling password information in Safari, a smoke cloud wallpaper that had previously been restricted to the iMac Pro and a Safari shortcut for jumping to the rightmost tab by pressing Command-9. Whether you're on Mac or Windows, there's also a new version of iTunes available to go with the just-released iOS update. iTunes 12.7.4 brings the same new Music Video section seen in Apple Music to the desktop, just in case you didn't feel like clicking over to YouTube (or, more likely, Apple has snagged an interesting exclusive).
macOS finally supports VR
Until now the only way to run a high-end VR system on a Mac was by booting into Windows, but that didn't solve the fact that Apple had yet to offer a GPU option that was actually good enough for VR. The next best thing was to plug in your desired NVIDIA card via an external enclosure like the Razer Core, but you'd still be stuck with Windows. Thankfully, Apple has finally decided to take matters into its own hands by adding VR graphics support to the upcoming macOS High Sierra due this fall, and it's also offering a Thunderbolt 3 external GPU dev kit as of today at WWDC.
