Support for external graphics cards finally available in macOS
As you can see in the video (a must-watch for hardware freaks and gamers — you won't be disappointed) at the end of this article, using an external graphics card with a MacBook was possible in the past as well. The only drawback — a major one — was that macOS was not able to use such a solution at all, so the user had to boot up Windows to game on his Apple notebook with an attached eGPU solution. Now, there's no more need for that, since the latest macOS update just solved the problem.
According to the official Apple Support page concerning this improvement in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, "eGPUs are supported on MacBook Pro notebooks released in 2016 and later1, iMac computers introduced in 2017 and later, and iMac Pro." The same page mentions the following things that can be done thanks to the full support for using an external GPU with macOS:
- connect additional external monitors/displays
- accelerate applications that use OpenGL, OpenCL, and Metal
- use virtual reality headsets plugged into the eGPU
- charge the MacBook Pro while using the eGPU (this is also mentioned in the movie at the end of the article, so it was possible in the past as well)
- connect more than one eGPU using the multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports
In addition to the support for eGPU solutions, macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 also brings support for Business Chat conversations in Messages (US only), enables sorting Safari bookmarks by name or URL by right-clicking > Sort by..., adds a few privacy-related refinements, and more.
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