keithw

9secondkox2 said:

It’s not that apple can’t address GPUs not in the due, it’s that performance is lost when doing a pci-e type of setup. So they choose not to. 

Be interesting to see how they solve that with either a multiple m series SOC connection network or a new SOC. 

Long-term there isn’t any reason for Apple to support third-party, GPUs, Nvidia, and AMD or any other third-party company, Apple has been there done that, and is just going to hold Apple back down the road, if Apple supports third-party cards in the Mac Pro, it will just be a short term solution long-term it does not work not for what Apple may want to build in the future and that’s what we’re not seeing and we don’t know exactly what the long-term roadmap for Apple is, but it definitely isn’t based upon it being dependent on third-party companies holding them back.

Apples lack of AAA games, or games that can take advantage of the Apple Silicon to its fullest is also a short term problem. It took Apple 13 years to get where they are today with their architecture, so what if it takes another 3 to 5 years to get there, graphically most people don’t use, or have the need for 300 W GPUs, that market is also a very small market.

What probably will happen is that Apple will probably need to roll up its sleeves again and do some thing in the gaming area but that doesn’t mean buying another company that means actually getting involved in at least one or two games to show the true potential of Apple Silicon.

I do think that Apple should release their entire range (all form factors) each time they upgrade to a different M-Series SOC generation, Apple should not hold back, Apple has never been about the absolute performance. It’s always been about how everything works together as one in an efficient manner the PC world however, works on the highest wattage and highest megahertz solves every problem, like a Dodge Demon, Mustang, or a Corvette the biggest engine wins, and that has never been Apple in the computing world, the fit, finish, efficiency, and overall design of the OS, has been more important to Apple.

thadec said:

So, there never has been any reason for Apple Silicon Macs not supporting discrete graphics via M.2, PCIE or Thunderbolt other than Apple simply not wanting to. Which was the same reason why Apple locked Nvidia out of the Mac ecosystem and had people stuck with AMD GPU options only: purely because they wanted to. My guess is that Apple believed that they were capable of creating integrated GPUs that were comparable with Nvidia Ampere and AMD Radeon Pro, especially in the workloads that most Mac Pro buyers use them for. Maybe they are, but the issue may be that it isn't cost-effective to do so for a Mac Pro line that will sell less than a million units a year.