It worked I could see it was functioning by checking the GPU monitor and the little icon in the menu bar, it just didn’t seem to have much of an effect. I had to Google some fairly complex configuration guidelines that didn’t come with the eGPU, nor were they mentioned by the company itself in our talks. Plug and play, though, was pretty much limited to my MacBook recognizing it existed. I paired it with my 2017, 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.9 GHz Intel i7, 16 GB of RAM, and the Intel HD 630/Radeon Pro 560 combination. It’s essentially a useless device after two to three years, as opposed to competitors that allow you to just swap in a better card. This, for lack of a better word, is a bummer. Unlike the Razer Core and other comparable models, you can’t swap the graphics processor for a beefier card. Inside there’s a non-upgradeable AMD Radeon Pro 580 GPU with 8GB of VRAM. So quiet, in fact, I routinely found myself checking the GPU monitor to ensure it was on. It’s a design similar, at least visually, to the Mac Pro trash can models everyone loves to hate. Underneath you’ll find an intake fan that sucks air in, using it to cool the GPU inside before it vents out of the top. Looks-wise, it’s about as good as it gets. It handled my Predator ultra wide, though not officially supported, just fine - using a DisplayPort adapter, of course. For everyone else, you’ll need to grab a display port adapter and hope for the best. Which, for anyone that owns that monitor, is great. The only Thunderbolt 3 monitor that officially supports the eGPU, to date, is the LG 5K UltraFine Display. It’s the first of its kind to support Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C monitors, although these are still semi-rare. There’s a lot to like about Blackmagic’s eGPU offering.
When it rolled out the first of these eGPUs with Tim Cook’s stamp of approval this year, I was flat out floored. When Apple announced external GPU support at last year’s WWDC, my heart skipped a beat. That leaves Apple fans in a place they often find themselves in, a compromise between what they want, and what’s available.Įnter Blackmagic. Even its beefier specs can’t hide the fact it’s rocking a laptop GPU that’s, well, a little on the weak side for gaming and video editing.
It’s newly upgraded, and a powerhouse in its own right.
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