external graphics card for laptop gaming vr-ready

#External graphics card for laptop gaming vr ready pro
#External graphics card for laptop gaming vr ready Pc
#External graphics card for laptop gaming vr ready mac

This means you need a MacBook Pro from 2016 onwards or an iMac from 2017 as all Macs built since then have Thunderbolt 3 ports.

#External graphics card for laptop gaming vr ready mac

So any Intel Mac with a Thunderbolt 3 port running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or above can connect to an external graphics processor unit including macOS Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur.

The main requirement Mac users should be looking for in an eGPU is that it supports Thunderbolt 3 as eGPUs require the high data speeds of up to 40Gps that only Thunderbolt 3 connections can deliver. Only Macs with an Intel processor support eGPUs with Thunderbolt 3 ports running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later.

You can use an eGPU with your MacBook Pro even when the built-in display is closed.

All of the eGPUs featured in this top list can charge your Mac.

You can charge your MacBook Pro while using the eGPU although you need to make sure that the enclosure you use to house the graphics card is powerful enough to do this.

You can use virtual reality headsets with your Mac that are plugged into the eGPU.

It enables you to connect additional external monitors and displays such as powerful 4K monitors to your Mac.

It can accelerate apps that use Metal, OpenGL, and OpenCL (although unfortunately Apple has depreciated support for OpenGL in the latest versions of macOS).

In summary, the advantages of an eGPU include: It’s also likely that Apple will launch its own VR gaming platform either as part of Apple Arcade or in the Mac App Store.įinally, apart from gaming, if you use demanding applications such as graphic design software, CAD programs or do lots of 4K video editing on your Mac, an eGPU makes a huge difference especially when it comes to rendering images and video. This decision will probably be reversed once eGPUs become more widely used and newer Macs become more capable of handling VR out of the box. In fact, development of VR games has been so slow that the Steam gaming platform recently announced that it is dropping support for VR games on Mac. Unfortunately, at the moment there’s still a lack of VR games on Mac. Just as exciting is the fact that eGPUs open-up the world of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to Mac users.

#External graphics card for laptop gaming vr ready Pc

It also means that highly demanding games can be played at maximum resolution on Mac – something that current Macs struggle with or can’t handle.Īlthough there are other innovative gaming solutions like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, they don’t compare to the advantages of having an eGPU box connected to your Mac.Īn eGPU allows you to play graphics intensive games at maximum frame rates just as if you were playing it on a PC – even on older Macs as long as they have a Thunderbolt 3 port. Unless you have one of the new Apple silicon M1 Macs or one of the iMac Pros then an eGPU is a good investment to enhance the graphic processing capabilities of your Mac.Īn eGPU unit can turn your humble MacBook Pro or MacBook Air into a powerful desktop gaming system or 4K video editing system capable of competing with the very best.Īdvanced 3D graphics platforms such as NVIDIA CUDA, which are way beyond the capabilities of current Macs, suddenly become accessible with an eGPU. However, although there are many eGPUs on the market, not all are Mac compatible. With the introduction of super fast Thunderbird 3 ports on Macs and eGPU compatibility in the latest versions of macOS Monterey, Big Sur and Catalina, you can finally accelerate 3D graphics in Metal and OpenCL using an eGPU.Īn eGPU is essential to keep up with the demands of the latest games, graphic intensive applications and meet the demands of Virtual Reality (VR) games or Augmented Reality (AR).

Can You Use NVIDIA Cards With eGPUs On Mac?Īn eGPU (External Graphics Processing Unit) is an external graphics card which enhances your Mac’s ability to handle graphics.Īn eGPU will enhance the graphics performance of any Thunderbolt 3 Mac running macOS High Sierra 10.14.4 or higher.

External graphics card for laptop gaming vr-ready