Apple Silicon M1 Mac detection of Thunderbolt 3 eGPU gives hope for future support
Chris
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The lack of support for external GPUs in Apple Silicon M1 Macs may only be temporary, as a connected eGPU is still detected, but doesn’t do anything.
The introduction of the M1-equipped Macs, including the Mac mini, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro promoted the on-processor GPU, but signs indicated that support for eGPUs were on the way out. Developer support documentation and later experimentation confirmed that support for non-Apple GPUs wouldn’t be enabled in hardware using Apple Silicon, effectively making eGPUs largely unusable.
However, testing by Mac4Ever corroborated by AppleInsider‘s own trials, offers hope to eGPU owners. While eGPUs are not officially supported by the latest M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, macOS 11 still sees the enclosure, and the PCI-E card inside.
In plugging a Pro Display XDR into a Blackmagic eGPU inserted into a Thunderbolt 3 port, it was found the eGPU enclosure was still detected and functions. The display communicates with the MacBook Pro as normal, complete with video playback.
