[Unboxing & Teardown] Blackmagic eGPU Radeon Pro 580 Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure  

The BlackMagic eGPU just arrived in the mail. Apple's involvement with this enclosure shows in the packaging. It's very similar to unboxing the 2013 Mac Pro trashcan: black handle on top of the box and square footprint. This is the first retail eGPU box that displays the Mac logo up front. Top corner shows Thunderbolt 3 eGPU AMD-RX580. It's an inconsistency with other marketing materials that say the graphics card is a Radeon Pro 580.

Five main selling features shown on top of the box as well as the user manual: Thunderbolt 3, 85W USB-C Power Delivery, Ultra Quiet = 18dB, 4x USB 3.1 ports, and HDMI Monitor Output. They're actually missing the most crucial selling point, Thunderbolt 3 Monitor Output.

There's no other accessories other than the power cable and .5m Thunderbolt 3 cable. They are inside this small white box tucked neatly in the bottom foam block.

Top of the enclosure is a black plastic vent. Right underneath is a metal grille to prevent foreign objects falling into the fan blade. There's only one cooling fan (likely 140mm) drawing air out of the eGPU through the top. In the bottom, there's a plastic platform to raise the enclosure up to allow airflow. A single LED is located in the center of the bottom vent. No exposed screws of switches to be found. The four rubber feet hide four Torx-10 security screws.

I quickly opened it up to check the cooling system and PSU. It looks tricky to remove the entire core out of the enclosure. I will take my time tearing it down this weekend and share more internal component photos.

I personally think the design and materials of this eGPU match Alienware computers better than Macs. Here are a couple photos of the Blackmagic eGPU next to the nMP and Gigabyte RX 580 Gaming Box for scale.

I used @mac_editor's Purge-Wrangler script to pair with the 2013 Mac Pro trashcan. All is working well so far. I don't currently have a Thunderbolt 3 Mac to test so it will be paired with this nMP and a 2015 15" MacBook Pro. In Windows, I will use an Alienware 15 R3. AppleCare told me they need about a week to replace the top case on my 2016 15" MacBook Pro (stuck W key).

As can be seen in these screen captures, the Thunderbolt firmware version of this eGPU is 26.3. The four USB ports attach to a 3.1 gen 1 hub. I will be doing tests for a full review of this Blackmagic eGPU. Please let me know if I left out any information you’d like to know.

Update: Blackmagic eGPU review