News > Computers Apple Reveals New Mac Pro GPU Options The changes could bring a massive performance increase By Joshua Hawkins Joshua Hawkins Twitter Freelance Technology Reporter Full Sail University Josh Hawkins is a freelance writer for Lifewire who loves writing about the latest tech and gadgets that help make people’s lives easier. As an avid gamer and VR enthusiast, he also enjoys diving deep into the technology that helps bring those kinds of experiences to life. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on August 3, 2021 04:39PM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr Twitter University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Computers Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Apple has updated the GPU options for its Intel-based Mac Pro computers. Apple unveiled the changes to the Mac Pro GPU selection in early August, noting that users will be able to purchase updated Mac Pro desktop computers with an option of AMD Radeon Pro W6800X, W6800X Duo, or W6900X graphics processing cards. According to Engadget, the graphics card changes are the only big changes set to happen to Apple’s workstations with this update, which could be the last time that Apple offers any modifications to the Intel-based Mac Pro lineup this year. Apple Apple claims the new GPUs will offer a 50% performance improvement per watt over the Vega II cards that it previously offered in the workstations. This, Apple says, should lead to apps running faster and smoother when using the new cards. Apple notes an increase of 84% for performance in the Octane X rendering app and a 26% increase in how Cinema 4D performs on the updated workstations. Each card includes four Thunderbolt 3 ports, an HDMI 2 connector, and support for an Infinity Fabric Link, which allows up to four GPUs to talk to others much faster than they could via PCIe connectors alone. The W6800X and W6900X will include 32GB of GDDR6 memory, while the W6800X Duo offers a doubled 64GB. These performance gains will cost you, though. Apple revealed an additional $2,400 to configure a new Mac Pro with the W6800X, while the W6800X Duo and W6900X will run $4,600 and $5,600, respectively. Apple With the M1 chip, it’s unclear what plans Apple has for its Intel-based Pro models at this point. However, Bloomberg reports that Apple is working on a 40-core Apple Silicon model set for 2022. Unfortunately, official information this reported model has yet to be released. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit