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Macbook Pro 2016 eGPU support?(Mac OS)

Hellsurfer

Hellsurfer

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 11, 2016
96
75
When i ask this question i want to know whether the newly release rMBP 2016 support eGPU solutions like Razer Core on mac OS,
I know there is windows boot camp support and i am not asking about it.
I just want to know that will it be supported as it is supported in razer laptops. I dont want to have less knowledge in the matter and buy it now, only to regret it later
One last thing, i hope i wont face any driver problems if i decide to use an nvidia card.
P.S. I am a member of the Waiting for the Skylake Thread, now since i cant see that thread anymore, i need something new to waste my time on.
 
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There's no official support but I bet eGPU is possible. I have a Thunderbolt 2 eGPU and a non-touchbar MBP - waiting on the TB3-TB2 adapter to test.
 
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Hellsurfer said:
When i ask this question i want to know whether the newly release rMBP 2016 support eGPU solutions like Razer Core on mac OS,
I know there is windows boot camp support and i am not asking about it.
I just want to know that will it be supported as it is supported in razer laptops. I dont want to have less knowledge in the matter and buy it now, only to regret it later
One last thing, i hope i wont face any driver problems if i decide to use an nvidia card.
P.S. I am a member of the Waiting for the Skylake Thread, now since i cant see that thread anymore, i need something new to waste my time on.
Click to expand...

There were cool projects like the https://thewolfe.io so it may eventually support it.
 
Every year since the inception of the original Thunderbolt port I've been hearing about external GPU solutions. Elegant plug-and-play ones. Except for a couple proprietary ones for gaming laptops and a few less-than-elegant solutions; none have really come to fruition. Which is a shame. I think it'd be pretty cool!
 
el-John-o said:
Every year since the inception of the original Thunderbolt port I've been hearing about external GPU solutions. Elegant plug-and-play ones. Except for a couple proprietary ones for gaming laptops and a few less-than-elegant solutions; none have really come to fruition. Which is a shame. I think it'd be pretty cool!
Click to expand...

While true, Intel refused to certify eGPU solutions for Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2.
Only now with Thunderbolt 3 it changed so I would assume we'll actually going to see them this time around.
 
Ok so this likely is a dumb question but I figured I would ask... I know thunderbolt 3 is backwards compatible with thunderbolt 2 but is the reverse also true? Can you plug a thunderbolt 3 device into a thunderbolt 2 port (assuming there is an adapter?) I ask this because I have a mid-2014 rMBP and was planning on making an eGPU solution... I don't want to buy a thunder2 box though because of plans to upgrade to a laptop with thunder3 in the future.... So the plan was to buy a thunder3 box and use it with the rMBP at thunder2 speeds until I upgrade.
 
Zackmd1 said:
Ok so this likely is a dumb question but I figured I would ask... I know thunderbolt 3 is backwards compatible with thunderbolt 2 but is the reverse also true? Can you plug a thunderbolt 3 device into a thunderbolt 2 port (assuming there is an adapter?)
Click to expand...
- You indeed can, with Apple's TB3<->TB2 adaptor.
Member "theitsage" (who posted a bit higher in this thread) is currently waiting to test it in the 3->2 direction, but 2->3 should also work.

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207266
 
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JTToft said:
- You indeed can, with Apple's TB3<->TB2 adaptor.
Member "theitsage" (who posted a bit higher in this thread) is currently waiting to test it.

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207266
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply but that was not quite what I was asking. I don't want to plug a thunderbolt 2 device into a thunderbolt 3 port like on the new rMBP. I want to plug a thunderbolt 3 device that has the type c connector into the old thunderbolt 2 port. The idea being that I can just buy a thunderbolt 3 enclosure for the eGPU now and use it at thunderbolt 2 speeds with the 2014 rMBP until I upgrade to a laptop with thunderbolt 3. I don't know if that is possible though. I would hate to spend $200 on a thunderbolt 2 enclosure now and then have to spend another $200 a year from now to get thunderbolt 3 speeds when I update the laptop.
 
Zackmd1 said:
Thanks for the reply but that was not quite what I was asking. I don't want to plug a thunderbolt 2 device into a thunderbolt 3 port like on the new rMBP. I want to plug a thunderbolt 3 device that has the type c connector into the old thunderbolt 2 port. The idea being that I can just buy a thunderbolt 3 enclosure for the eGPU now and use it at thunderbolt 2 speeds with the 2014 rMBP until I upgrade to a laptop with thunderbolt 3. I don't know if that is possible though. I would hate to spend $200 on a thunderbolt 2 enclosure now and then have to spend another $200 a year from now to get thunderbolt 3 speeds when I update the laptop.
Click to expand...
- I know. That's what I answered as well. The adaptor works both ways (hence why I used "<->").
 
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Zackmd1 said:
What type of performance loss are you seeing with the 460 running at thunderbolt 1 compared to a desktop if you don't mind me by asking?
Click to expand...
4K@60Hz full screen Youtube and Netflix stutter a bit because they don't do hardware acceleration (not enough bandwidth for the uncompressed video).

--

Maximum settings 4K@60Hz:

Heaven: 3.9fps
Valley: 5fps

Maybe not TB1-limited.
 
cube said:
4K@60Hz full screen Youtube and Netflix stutter a bit because they don't do hardware acceleration (not enough bandwidth for the uncompressed video).

--

Maximum settings 4K@60Hz:

Heaven: 3.9fps
Valley: 5fps

Maybe not TB1-limited.
Click to expand...

Yea those results are because of the lack of hardware acceleration.... No driver support yet for the new AMD cards?
 
Zackmd1 said:
Yea those results are because of the lack of hardware acceleration.... No driver support yet for the new AMD cards?
Click to expand...
The card is fully supported by the driver, the problem is that Google and Netflix did not even bother writing an OpenCL decoder.
 
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Hellsurfer said:
Unfortunately that was scrapped in midway
its much sadder considering the wolfe had so much potential
Click to expand...

Well the official word is instead of doing a kickstarter they are going to be partnering with corporates to bring the product with all their resources and infrastructure. They just made a comment after the MacBook Pro reveal. Still working on it but gotta wait for their news.
 
Might be off topic here but

Hello everyone,

We are hard at work to bring you the Wolfe, and there have been many new and exciting developments over the past month. As you may have heard, Apple revealed their new MacBook Pro lineup today. The announcement came with some great news - the new laptops will feature Thunderbolt 3! We are really excited about what this means for the Wolfe, so be sure to sign up at thewolfe.io/signup for all the latest updates!

Best,

The Wolfepack​
 
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