Apple’s VR Dev Kit eGPU enclosure: The Ultimate Guide
- aug
- 18
Need help setting up and connecting a separate display on your VR eGPU Dev Kit? Our VR Dev Kit eGPU ultimate guide can help with all that and more!
Apple wants developers to be onboard with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) development and has released a cost-effective external graphics processing unit (eGPU) to help with just that. The eGPU kit allows you to connect an HTC Vive VR headset to your Mac running macOS High Sierra for virtual reality game and application development.
How to set up a MacBook Pro and eGPU for VR
Apple's many, many hardware announcements during WWDC made one thing abundantly clear — 2018 will be the year VR comes to the Mac, and AR to the iPhone and iPad. To help prepare for the coming storm, Apple is offering VR developer kits with an eGPU box capable of driving the most intense experience on any Thunderbolt 3-capable Mac. Here's how to set up your eGPU on a MacBook Pro.
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How to use your Apple VR Dev Kit eGPU enclosure with a separate display
Not only can you attach your Vive VR headset to the eGPU, you can also connect a second (or third!) external display for extra desktop workspace. A secondary display will give you access to greater screen real estate for your workflow. It can also allow you to test various hardware configurations by outputting video to internal Mac graphic cards and external third party graphic cards. Here's how!
How to use your Apple VR Dev Kit eGPU enclosure with a separate display
How much of a performance boost does the eGPU dev kit provide?
In spite of the reasonable cost of Apple's VR eGPU development kit, you may be wondering if the price ($599) is worth the added benefit of getting a full-sized desktop GPU. Here are some benchmarks to help you decide!
How much of a performance boost does the eGPU dev kit provide?
What the Apple eGPU development kit won't let you do yet
Seeing that VR is in it's fledgling stages, I'm certain that not all developers have $599 to just throw at a dev kit, especially if they don't already have an updated Mac with Thunderbolt 3 connections. There are those who also can't afford to run a beta OS on a separate machine just to see if they are inclined to make applications for the eGPU dev kit. So with these things in mind, I tried to see what I could get away with with as little tweaking as possible, knowing that I could be completely wasting my time using the enclosure beyond the supported features outlined in Apple's release notes.
What the Apple eGPU development kit won't let you do yet
Questions?
If you have any questions or comments about Apple's VR Dev Kit eGPU enclosure, let us know in the comments below!