Mac Pro gets even faster graphics with AMD’s new Radeon Pro GPUs

By

Mac Pro gets even faster graphics with AMD's new Radeon Pro GPUs
The AMD Radeon PRO W6000X series graphics cards are engineered to a wide variety of demanding professional graphics applications.
Photo: AMD

AMD launched new Radeon Pro W6000X series GPUs for Mac Pro on Tuesday. These add-on graphics processing units for Apple’s most powerful macOS desktop are designed for demanding professional applications, including 3D rendering, 8K video compositing, color correction and more.

“The new AMD Radeon Pro W6000X series is packed with remarkable energy efficiency, enhanced compute units and a new visual pipeline, enabling Mac Pro users to do more in less time across a broad range of pro applications,” said Scott Herkelman, head of AMD’s Graphics Business Unit, in a statement.

A trio of new AMD Radeon Pro GPUs for Mac Pro

The new products include the Radeon Pro W6900X and Radeon Pro W6800X GPUs. Mac Pro users also now have the option of choosing the Radeon Pro W6800X Duo graphics card.

Radeon Pro W6900X, Radeon Pro W6800X GPUs and Radeon Pro W6800X Duo.
Details on the Radeon Pro W6900X, Radeon Pro W6800X GPUs and the Radeon Pro W6800X Duo.

Jake Karol from CNN reports that the new GPUs should provide “up to 23% faster performance in DaVinci Resolve and 84% faster in Octane X. Imagine mileage here will vary.”

These were made with a 7nm manufacturing process, and include up to 64GB of GDDR6 memory with up to 512 GBps bandwidth.

Learn more about the Radeon Pro GPUs series on AMD’s website. A Mac Pro can be purchased with them now, and Apple plans to sell them separately so users can upgrade their workstation.

Pricing for AMD Radeon Pro GPUs
Apple’s pricing for upgrading an Mac Pro with these AMD Radeon Pro GPUs.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple designed the Mac Pro to be expandable and upgradable. Not only does it pack eight PCI expansion slots, it has six memory slots allowing users to install up to 1.5 terabytes. Apple’s workstation is truly for professionals and starts at $6499.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.