Apple has added a new high-end GPU option for the company’s 16-inch MacBook Pro, the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB HBM2 (High Bandwidth Memory, second generation) memory.
For working on graphics-intensive projects like 3D rendering or high-end game development, you can supercharge your MacBook Pro with the optional Radeon Pro 5600M. With its 40 compute units and 8GB of High Bandwidth Memory, this powerhouse GPU brings a new level of desktop-class graphics power to MacBook Pro.
The standard (base) configuration 16-inch MacBook Pro offers the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 memory. For $100, users can bump that up to the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Now, users can kick their 16-inch powerhouse all the way up to the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M with 8GB of HBM2 memory for an additional $700.
GDDR6, an abbreviation for graphics double data rate type six, is a type of synchronous graphics random-access memory (SGRAM) with a high bandwidth (“double data rate”) interface. GDDR6 offers increased per-pin bandwidth (up to 16 Gbit/s) and lower operating voltages (1.35 V), increasing performance and decreasing power consumption relative to precursor GDDR5X.
HBM2 specifies up to eight dies per stack and doubles pin transfer rates up to 2 GT/s. Retaining 1024‑bit wide access, HBM2 is able to reach 256 GB/s memory bandwidth per package. The HBM2 spec allows up to 8 GB per package. HBM2 is predicted to be especially useful for performance-sensitive consumer applications such as virtual reality.
More info via Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro pages here.
MacDailyNews Take: Those who need all of that graphics power will appreciate this new option!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “TheloniousMac” for the heads up.]
So… tech dudes, which is actually better for gaming? Not game development, but actually just playing video games.
I have the 5500, and it plays games great… but… mostly games written for the Mac.
I play Apple Arcade games, but I’m more inclined to do actual ‘gaming’ on the Windows side of my Mac computer. Works pretty well, but I’m still using a Mid-2015 and trying to decide on whether to upgrade to a 16″ with HBM2 or GDDR6. It seems like the cheaper GDDR6 is actually the way to go for gaming, and HBM2 is the way to go for more actual computing crunch (or whatever).
Cuda, Cuda, Cuda, oh well. Apple is no longer interested in scientists.
Wonder how this compares to the optional Vega 20 from the previous 15″ MBP.
When I saw “High End” I thought MDN meant NVIDIA.
Only to be sadly disappointed once again.
You should see similar performance to the NVDIA RTX2060 without ray tracing.