Wesley Hilliard
Sonnet has announced a pair of eGPU Breakaway Pucks for Thunderbolt 3 Intel-based Macs which can greatly improve performance compared to built-in GPUs.
The eGPU Breakaway Puck Radeon RX5500 XT and eGPU Breakaway Puck Radeon RX 5700 are portable all-in-one eGPUs. These small pucks can be mounted to your desktop Mac or tossed in a bag for mobile needs.
The pucks are updated models from previous generations with up to 300% performance improvements in the same form factor. The eGPUs now have two USB ports for connecting peripherals and a second Thunderbolt port for an additional external display.
The two breakaway boxes have integrated Radeon graphics that are meant to be a big upgrade from whatever GPU is installed on your Intel-based Mac. The eGPU can also accelerate your external monitor when applicable, and supports powering up to four external displays.
Sonnet previously introduced more powerful eGPU enclosures boxes with 750W power supplies. These are larger devices, with users needing to provide their own AMD PCI-E GPU card.
Minus the power supply, the eGPU Breakaway Pucks measure 6 inches wide by 5 inches deep by 2 inches tall. At this size they can easily be placed in your computer bag for on-the-go work.
The breakaway boxes support three external monitors out of the box, but can have a fourth monitor when using the Dual DisplayPort adapter. These eGPUs are not compatible with M1 equipped Macs, nor can they be upgraded by end-users with new PCI-E cards.
eGPU Breakaway Puck Radeon RX 5500 XT:
- Second Thunderbolt 3 port for additional 6K display
- DisplayPort 1.4 port for a 4K monitor
- HDMI 2.0 port
- Two USB 3.2 Type A ports
- 60W laptop charging
- 4GB GDDR6 video memory
- 30-bit color HDR support
- $599.99 on Amazon
eGPU Breakaway Puck Radeon RX 5700:
- Second Thunderbolt 3 port for additional 6K display
- DisplayPort 1.4 port for a 4K monitor
- HDMI 2.0 port
- Two USB 3.2 Type A ports
- 60W laptop charging
- 8GB GDDR6 video memory
- 30-bit color HDR support
- $899.99 on Amazon
AppleInsider will be covering the 2021 all-digital Consumer Electronics Show starting on January 11 through January 14 where we're expecting Wi-Fi 6e devices, HomeKit, Apple accessories, 8K monitors and more. Keep up with our coverage by downloading the AppleInsider app, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos throughout the event.
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
8 Comments
As the owner of a fully upgraded Intel Mac mini and an M1 Mac mini I would love to see the benchmarks on how these eGPU models compare to the Apple Silicon.