New Sonnet Echo Express SE III supports three PCI-E cards on Thunderbolt 3 Macs
Sonnet has added to its line of PCI-E breakout boxes, and has launched the Echo Express SE III, enabling the use of three expansion cards with the 2016 Retina MacBook Pro.
The Echo Express SE III features three x8 PCIe 3.0 slots, accommodates full-height cards up to 7.75 inches long. The unit supports nearly every Thunderbolt 3 and Mac-compatible PCI-E card available that physically fits in the enclosure -- except those with auxiliary power requirements like most high-performance video cards.
A list of known-compatible cards is maintained by Sonnet.
The Echo Express SE III has two Thunderbolt 3 ports with one used from the host and the second supporting daisy chaining of up to five additionalThunderbolt peripheral devices including the LG Ultrafine 5K display. The system provides up to 15W of power to any connected peripheral or host.
The system includes an automatic, temperature-controlled, variable-speed fan that cools the cards. The enclosure's power is controlled by the host computer.
The Echo Express SE III, model ECHO-EXP-SE3-T3, is expected to be available May 22 at a retail price of $499.
The Echo Express SE III features three x8 PCIe 3.0 slots, accommodates full-height cards up to 7.75 inches long. The unit supports nearly every Thunderbolt 3 and Mac-compatible PCI-E card available that physically fits in the enclosure -- except those with auxiliary power requirements like most high-performance video cards.
A list of known-compatible cards is maintained by Sonnet.
The Echo Express SE III has two Thunderbolt 3 ports with one used from the host and the second supporting daisy chaining of up to five additionalThunderbolt peripheral devices including the LG Ultrafine 5K display. The system provides up to 15W of power to any connected peripheral or host.
The system includes an automatic, temperature-controlled, variable-speed fan that cools the cards. The enclosure's power is controlled by the host computer.
The Echo Express SE III, model ECHO-EXP-SE3-T3, is expected to be available May 22 at a retail price of $499.
Comments
The market for this thing seems incredibly small.
The picture looks like external audio setup. Maybe professional musicians could use it...
If you're not seeing a need for this product, you're not anywhere near the target market.
This is why I've kept mentioning that the existing MacPro was a stupid idea on the level of the G4 Cube. As an engineering thing, it's kinda cool, but as a practical system it would have better off being sold as the "Mini Pro" for users that need an OpenCL/OpenGL Dev box, or a Mini-server. It's woefully unsuitable for any video or graphics work because the lack of upgradability. When working with theatrical 4K video you need entire drive arrays connected to PCIe. A single NVme SSD is not going to cut it unless you want to work on video in 30 second chunks.
Like. I really want to emphasis the fact that Apple's obsession with having the entire computer inside the monitor for the iMac is actually what is holding it back. The "all in one" type of system that they keep trying to make thin as possible, is not a desktop, it's a non-portable laptop. It should cost less than a laptop due to no batteries.
With the advent of AR/VR headsets, Apple should be looking at figuring out how to make a headless AR iMac that you simply put on some AR glasses and have a virtual 24"-32" screen.