The most recent macOS Mojave update suggests we’ll soon see new AMD Vega GPUs coming to the Mac.
Apple recently introduced a refreshed MacBook Pro with faster Vega graphics chips, and it seems those GPU upgrades will continue in early 2019 for other machines in the company’s lineup.
The latest MacBook Pro offers improved AMD Vega 16 and Vega 20 GPUs, which replace the Radeon Pro 555X and Radeon Pro 560X options. They make the MacBook Pro an even better buy for creative professionals — particularly those in video editing.
Apple now looks to be planning similar upgrades for its desktop machines.
Mojave makes way for brand new Vega GPUs
The new AMD Vega 10 and Vega 20 GPUs were first revealed in a Linux driver update.
“Friday afternoon patches to the company’s RadeonSI Mesa and AMDKFD/AMDGPU kernel drivers reveal some new PCI IDs,” reports Phoronix. “On top of the five ‘Vega 20’ PCI IDs already part of the Linux driver, a 0x66A4 ID is being added.”
“On the Vega 10 front meanwhile they are adding six new PCI IDs… The new Vega 10 PCI IDs being added are 0x6869, 0x686A, 0x686B, 0x686D, 0x686E, and 0x686F.”
None of these identifiers correspond with existing AMD graphics chips; they are for brand new GPUs that are yet to be announced. And the only other place where they can be found right now is in Apple’s most recent macOS Mojave update.
Look out for new AMD chips in 2019
This all but confirms Apple is already preparing macOS for these GPUs, which are likely to be available with an early 2019 Mac update — probably sometime in the spring.
