Blackmagic Design and Apple Announce Thunderbolt 3 Acceleration with Blackmagic eGPU

July 13 2018, 02:00
Highly anticipated, the new Blackmagic eGPU Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processor delivers desktop-class performance for Apple's MacBook Pro laptops and for pro creative software such as DaVinci Resolve, 3D games and VR. Designed in collaboration with Apple, the Blackmagic eGPU features a built-in Radeon Pro 580, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI 2.0, 85W of charging power and four USB 3.1 connections. And this is just the start of the eGPU revolution for any Thunderbolt 3- equipped computer.
 

The new Blackmagic eGPU comes in an integrated design that brings high-end desktop class graphics processing to MacBook Pro for professional video workflows, 3D games and immersive VR. And, the Blackmagic eGPU is the first to support Thunderbolt 3 displays. Users running DaVinci Resolve 15 can expect increased performance, and DaVinci Resolve 15 also fully supports multiple GPUs, as well as Metal, so it’s the best way to get the full benefit of the Blackmagic eGPU.

Announced at NAB 2018, DaVinci Resolve 15 software features a huge update to the Fairlight audio page. The Fairlight page now has a complete ADR toolset, static and variable audio retiming with pitch correction, audio normalization, 3D panners, audio and video scrollers, a fixed playhead with scrolling timeline, shared sound libraries, support for legacy Fairlight projects, and built in cross platform plugins such as reverb, hum removal, vocal channel and de-esser. With DaVinci Resolve 15, users no longer have to worry about audio plugins when moving between Mac, Windows and Linux because the FairlightFX plugins run natively on all three platforms.

Designed to address the needs of professional video editors, Hollywood colorists and visual effects artists who need to remain mobile, but want the power of a desktop class GPU added to their MacBook Pro, the Blackmagic eGPU is incredibly flexible and simply plugs in via Thunderbolt 3, so users can benefit from improved graphics performance and acceleration of computational tasks. But the solution is also perfect for speeding up professional creative application workflows including editing, color correction and visual effects with DaVinci Resolve. The Blackmagic eGPU adds the performance users need to make the latest 3D games and VR look more realistic than ever. That means higher resolution images, higher frame rate gameplay, better lighting and more detailed textures for truly immersive experiences, even on a laptop computer.

Featuring an elegant, textured finish design, the Blackmagic eGPU external unit is extruded from a single piece of aluminum and features a unique thermal cooling system that’s been designed to perfectly balance the airflow and dissipate heat more efficiently. The cooling system also enables extremely quiet operation as low as 18dB, vital for those working in video production and audio engineering environments.
 
The Blackmagic eGPU features a Radeon Pro 580 graphics processor with incredible computational performance, adding 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, 256-bit memory bandwidth and 36 discreet compute units for up to 5.5 teraflops of processing power. The Radeon Pro 580 can fill a massive 38.4 billion textured pixels per second! In addition, the Blackmagic eGPU supports Metal graphics technology from Apple, which provides near-direct access to the GPU for maximizing graphics and compute performance with games and applications
 
In addition to graphics and computational acceleration, the Blackmagic eGPU is also the perfect docking hub for connecting devices such as keyboards, mice, Thunderbolt monitors, big screen HDMI televisions, high speed storage and more. It features two 40Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 connections, a built-in 4 port USB hub and HDMI which supports 4K output. Plus, the connections are ergonomically spaced, making it easy to connect and disconnect peripherals.
 
When it comes to power, the Blackmagic eGPU has a massive built-in power supply that powers the GPU while also providing 85W of downstream power via Thunderbolt 3 for charging laptop computers and powering peripherals. The power supply works from 100V to 240V and features a standard IEC power connector so it can be used anywhere in the world.
 
The Blackmagic eGPU is available now for USD $699 exclusively on Apple.com and in select Apple Retail stores worldwide.
www.blackmagicdesign.com
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