Use an external graphics processor with your Mac

Your Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later can access additional graphics performance by connecting to an external graphics processor (also known as an eGPU).

To use an eGPU, a Mac with an Intel processor is required.

An eGPU can give your Mac additional graphics performance for professional apps, 3D gaming, VR content creation and more.

eGPUs are supported by any Mac with an Intel processor and Thunderbolt 3 ports ¹ running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later. Learn how to update the software on your Mac.

An eGPU lets you do all this on your Mac:

Accelerate apps and games that use Metal, OpenGL and OpenCL
Connect additional external monitors and displays
Use virtual reality headsets plugged into the eGPU
Charge your MacBook Pro while using the eGPU
Use an eGPU with your MacBook Pro while its built-in display is closed
Connect an eGPU while a user is logged in
Connect more than one eGPU using the multiple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports on your Mac2
Use the menu bar item to safely disconnect the eGPU
View the activity levels of built-in and external GPUs (open Activity Monitor, then choose Window > GPU History.)

eGPU support in apps and games

eGPU support in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later is designed to accelerate Metal, OpenGL and OpenCL apps and games that benefit from a powerful eGPU. Not all apps and games support eGPU acceleration. Check with the app's developer to find out more.3

In general, an eGPU can accelerate performance in these types of apps:

Pro apps designed to utilise multiple GPUs
3D games, when an external monitor is attached directly to the eGPU
VR apps, when the VR headset is attached directly to the eGPU
Pro apps and 3D games that accelerate the built-in display of iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (This capability must be enabled by the app's developer.)

You can configure applications to use an eGPU with one of the following methods.

Use the Prefer External GPU option

Starting with macOS Mojave 10.14, you can turn on Prefer External GPU in a specific app's Get Info panel in the Finder. This option lets the eGPU accelerate apps on any display connected to the Mac — including displays built into iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro:

Quit the app if it's open.
Select the app in the Finder. Most apps are in your Applications folder. If you open the app from an alias or launcher, Control-click the app's icon and choose Show Original from the pop-up menu. Then select the original app.
Press Command-I to show the app's info window.
Select the tickbox next to Prefer External GPU.
Open the app to use it with the eGPU.

You won't see this option if an eGPU isn't connected, if your Mac isn't running macOS Mojave or later, or if the app self-manages its GPU selection. Some apps, such as Final Cut Pro, directly choose which graphics processors are used and will ignore the Prefer External GPU tickbox.

Set an external eGPU-connected display as the primary display

If you have an external display connected to your eGPU, you can choose it as the primary display for all apps. Since apps default to the GPU associated with the primary display, this option works with a variety of apps.

In macOS Monterey and later:

Quit any open apps that you want the eGPU to accelerate on the primary display.
Choose Apple menu  > System Settings (or System Preferences), then click Displays.
Select the display that's attached to the eGPU, then choose Use as Main Display.
Open the apps that you want to use with the eGPU.

In macOS Big Sur and earlier:

Quit any open apps that you want the eGPU to accelerate on the primary display.
Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences. Click Displays, then select the Arrangement tab.
Drag the white menu bar to the box that represents the display that's attached to the eGPU.
Open the apps that you want to use with the eGPU.

If you disconnect the eGPU, your Mac defaults back to the internal graphics processors that drives the built-in display. When the eGPU is re-attached, it automatically sets the external display as the primary display.

About macOS GPU drivers

Mac hardware and GPU software drivers have always been deeply integrated into the system. This design fuels the visually rich and graphical macOS experience as well as many deeper platform compute and graphics features. These include accelerating the user interface, providing support for advanced display features, rendering 3D graphics for pro software and games, processing photos and videos, driving powerful GPU compute features and accelerating machine learning tasks. This deep integration also enables optimal battery life while providing for greater system performance and stability.

Apple develops, integrates and supports macOS GPU drivers to ensure there are consistent GPU capabilities across all Mac products, including rich APIs like Metal, Core Animation, Core Image and Core ML. To deliver the best possible customer experience, GPU drivers need to be engineered, integrated, tested and delivered with each version of macOS. Aftermarket GPU drivers delivered by third parties are not compatible with macOS.

The GPU drivers delivered with macOS are also designed to enable a high-quality and high-performance experience when using an eGPU, as described in the list of recommended eGPU chassis and graphics card configurations below. Because of this deep system integration, only graphics cards that use the same GPU architecture as those built into Mac products are supported in macOS.

Supported eGPU configurations

It's important to use an eGPU with a recommended graphics card and Thunderbolt 3 chassis. If you use an eGPU to also charge your MacBook Pro, the eGPU's chassis needs to provide enough power to run the graphics card and charge the computer. Check with the manufacturer of the chassis to find out if it provides enough power for your MacBook Pro.

Recommended graphics cards, along with chassis that can power them sufficiently, are listed below.

Thunderbolt 3 all-in-one eGPU products

These products contain a powerful built-in GPU and supply sufficient power to charge your MacBook Pro.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 all-in-one eGPUs:

Blackmagic eGPU and Blackmagic eGPU Pro 4
Gigabyte RX 580 Gaming Box4
Sonnet Radeon RX 570 eGFX Breakaway Puck
Sonnet Radeon RX 560 eGFX Breakaway Puck5

AMD Radeon RX 6800, 6800 XT and 6900 XT

If you've installed macOS Big Sur 11.4 or later, you can use these graphics cards that are based on the AMD Navi RDNA2 architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT⁷.

Full USB functionality is not supported on the card's USB-C port. Connect displays to the DisplayPort and HDMI ports on the card. If you connect a display to the USB-C port on the card, your display may experience issues when waking from sleep.