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Apple’s Blackmagic eGPU – Worth $699?

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Intro:
Apple just started selling the super quiet Blackmagic eGPU, a thunderbolt 3 external GPU designed with Mac OS in mind. This is the first time Apple has sold an eGPU directly in the Apple Store. Is it worth the $700 asking price? Let’s find out!

Specifications:
The eGPU comes with a Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB of GDDR5 memory, Thunderbolt 3 passthrough, 4X USB 3 ports, 1X HDMI 2.0 port, and 85W of power delivery. Apple will charge you $699 before tax:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HM8Y2VC/A/blackmagic-egpu

Build Quality:
Apple is going for a seamless plug-and-play design. As soon as you plug it in, the Macbook will recognize what it is, and boost graphics. That said, though, gaming graphics are boosted only on the external display plugged into the Macbook. Tweaks exist to improve gaming graphics performance on the internal display, but that takes away from the seamlessness. The same thing occurs with programs. You have to change certain settings in the GPU intensive program to take advantage of the eGPU. If the program doesn’t have this option, you’ll again have to find a work-around online. Regardless, before you unplug your laptop from the eGPU, you’ll have to press a specific Eject button in your Mac’s menu bar. All this takes away from the seamless and simplicity factor that Apple is going for.

The eGPU stays quiet during load, but it comes at a price. A large internal fan and heatsink causes the overall dimensions to be approximately one foot in height and half a foot in length and width. The weight is 10 pounds. This creates a large metal box.

The eGPU ships with a 1.6 foot (0.5 meter) thunderbolt 3 cable. This short cable forces you to keep the large eGPU on your desk a foot away from your laptop. For a $700 device, I’d like the option to place the eGPU wherever I like.
Even though the eGPU is sculpted for aesthetics, it’s short Thunderbolt 3 cable length and large size will take away from your workspace.

Thunderbolt 3 Hub:
The addition of four USB 3 Type A ports is a really nice addition. It turns the eGPU into a thunderbolt 3 dock. Apple sells a $350 Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock, but the funny thing is that the Belkin dock ships with a thunderbolt 3 cable at twice the length at 3.3 feet (1.0 meter).

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HKQ12VC/A/belkin-thunderbolt-3-express-dock-hd

One of the Thunderbolt 3 ports can charge your Macbook up to 85W. The extra Thunderbolt 3 port allows for Thunderbolt 3 passthrough. If you wanted to, you could daisy-chain another Thunderbolt 3 Hub to this eGPU, but most reviewers are excited that Apple’s LG 5K UltraFine display can be plugged into the eGPU. I personally don’t have that display. I actually use 30-inch Cinema Displays that connect via older DVI-D Dual-Link connections. Most GPUs today still have this port, but not the Blackmagic eGPU. Either you use a Thunderbolt 3 display, or you use an HDMI monitor using the HDMI 2.0 port.

Performance Boost and Gaming:
Macbooks are NOT meant for gaming, but this eGPU really helps them step up their game. The 2018 13-inch Macbook Pro’s integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 performance is boosted as shown below:

  • TombRaider Benchmarks at 720p Low Settings with internal graphics:
    • Min FPS: 21.2
    • Max FPS: 89.9
    • Average FPS: 62.3
  • TombRaider Benchmarks at 720p Low Settings with Blackmagic eGPU and RX 580:
    • Min FPS: 59.1
    • Max FPS: 138.3
    • Average FPS: 112.2

The average FPS is significantly improved 80% with the Blackmagic eGPU!

The 2018 13-inch Macbook Pro’s Geekbench scores are improved as well:

    • Geekbench 4.2.3 OpenCL GPU Score with Internal Graphics: 33606
    • Geekbench 4.2.3 OpenCL GPU Score with Blackmagic eGPU with RX 580: 113046

This is over three times the theoretical GPU performance!

Using with Thunderbolt 2 Devices like the Macbook Air:
If you’ve read my 2015 Macbook Air review, you’ll know that I love that laptop. It is one of the best-value laptops Apple sells. Is the Blackmagic eGPU backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 2 devices like the Macbook Air? Sadly, Apple removed eGPU support for Thunderbolt 1 and 2 devices in a recent update, but a script developed by PurgeWrangler re-enables this functionality. All you need to do is run the script and purchase a thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MMEL2AM-Thunderbolt-Usb-C-Adapter

The 2015 13-inch Macbook Air’s integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000 performance is boosted as shown below:

  • TombRaider Benchmarks at 720p Low Settings with internal graphics:
    • Min FPS: 16.7
    • Max FPS: 47.8
    • Average FPS: 36.7
  • TombRaider Benchmarks at 720p Low Settings with Blackmagic eGPU and RX 580:
    • Min FPS: 27.9
    • Max FPS: 86.6
    • Average FPS: 68.5

The average FPS is significantly improved 87% with the Blackmagic eGPU! The FPS won’t be as good as anything with a Thunderbolt 3 port, but the improvement is still significant over the Macbook Air’s integrated graphics. The downside is that you have to use an external monitor to take advantage of these benefits.

The 2018 13-inch Macbook Pro’s Geekbench scores are improved as well:

    • Geekbench 4.2.3 OpenCL GPU Score with Internal Graphics: 18404
    • Geekbench 4.2.3 OpenCL GPU Score with Blackmagic eGPU with RX 580: 106443

This is over four times the theoretical GPU performance!

Upgradeability
Sadly, there is no ability to upgrade just like mostly everything else Apple has been selling the past few years. That means that instead of spending $100 to $300 for a new graphics card a few years down the road, you’ll have to spend another $700 for a new all-in-one eGPU, if Apple decides to sell another one. Most other eGPUs on the market allow the capability to upgrade.

Conclusion:
The Blackmagic eGPU is a quiet, relatively simple to use device that will show significant boosts in performance in Macbooks that don’t already have discreet graphics, but its $700 price tag, lack of more ports, and zero-upgradability makes it not worth the money to me.

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