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Blackmagic eGPU Pro sounds spooky, makes Mac graphics faster

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro is designed to accelerate the graphics of any Thunderbolt 3-toting MacBook with the help of AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics.

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Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
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Blackmagic

Blackmagic's next  Apple Mac graphics accelerator, the Blackmagic eGPU Pro, will feature an  AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics processor.

The unit is designed for Macs with a Thunderbolt 3 port -- such the new Apple MacBook Air -- and Blackmagic says it has 22 times the graphics performance of a 13-inch MacBook Pro .

blackmagic-egpu-back
Blackmagic

The tall desktop device was designed in collaboration with Apple and is extruded from a single piece of aluminum, Blackmagic says. It features a "unique thermal cooling system that's been designed to perfectly balance the airflow and dissipate heat more efficiently," or what otherwise looks like a small chimney.

The eGPU Pro is designed to accelerate professional creative software such as DaVinci Resolve, as well as 3D games and VR.

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro features:

  • AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 GPU
  • Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
  • DisplayPort with support for 5K displays
  • HDMI 2.0 port
  • 85W of charging power
  • Four USB 3.1 connections

The Blackmagic eGPU Pro will be available in November for $1,199 from apple.com. UK and Australian availability are yet to be confirmed, but that price converts to about £940 or AU$1,700.

Here's what the new MacBook Air looks like

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