Apple 2021 eGPU Module
2020 Apple Mac mini M1 does not currently support any external graphics
Check out my previous article on Apple Silicon M1 + eGPU
2020 Apple Mac mini M1 does not currently support any external graphics
Check out my previous article on Apple Silicon M1 + eGPU
Apple worked with Blackmagic Design to build the eGPU and eGPU Pro in 2019 to increase graphics processing capabilities for all Apple Mac products is unlikely to be a waste of time now Apple Silicon M1 is available.
The 2020 Apple Mac mini M1 has two Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 ports capable of delivering 32 Gbps of PCIe 3.0 x4 connectivity.
AMD graphics support Metal; however, Apple could be working on providing an external graphics module with the graphics chip from the M1 SoC.
Quite quickly, a Mac mini M1 could be equipped with two eGPUs for a total of three 8-core GPUs supporting six 6K displays.
Apple could be working on an external graphics module to plug into any USB 4 supporting M1 Macs.
Taking the GPU used in the M1 and offloading it to outside of the Mac would be excellent for supporting more monitors.
The CPU can handle the bandwidth required to drive the GPU modules over USB 4.
We could see two eGPU modules connected to a Mac mini M1 capable of driving:
- One 4K display via HDMI 2.0 (could have firmware updated to HDMI 2.1)
- One 6K display via USB 4 (daisy-chain from eGPU module) (could have firmward updated to DisplayPort 2.0)
- Two 6K displays from eGPU module 0 via USB 4
- Two 6K displays from eGPU module 1 via USB 4
- Total of one 4K display and five 6K displays
With firmware updated to support two 6K displays from M1:
- No display via HDMI 2.0/2.1
- Two 6K displays via USB 4 (daisy-chain from eGPU module)
- Two 6K displays from eGPU module 0 via USB 4
- Two 6K displays from eGPU module 1 via USB 4
- Total of six 6K displays
I would like to see 8K support on the Mac mini M1; however, 8K might be reserved for the M1X in the Mac Cube.
Despite owning a Mac mini M1 (16 GB + 2 TB), I will buy a Mac Cube if it has an M1X offering 10/25 G Ethernet and a minimum of four USB 4 ports. 8K support would be very helpful along with eGPU support for rendering (headless) and visualising (monitors).
6 x 6016 x 3384 = 122,148,864 pixels