Apple Silicon Macs gain eGPU support for AI tasks as Tiny Corp secures driver approval

Apple approves drivers that let AMD and Nvidia eGPUs run on Mac -- software designed for AI, though, and not built for gaming

Apple has just reportedly signed drivers for Nvidia eGPUs, allowing them to finally work on Apple silicon devices. Tiny Corp said in its X post that the company has finally approved the software, letting users pair the GPUs with Macs for AI LLM processing. In fact, the company claims that installing the drivers is now so easy that "a Qwen could do it." The company first tested an eGPU on Apple Silicon in May 2025, but now that it's supported by Apple, it means that users no longer have to use workarounds for supported hardware, like disabling System Integrity Protection, to get the system working. Tiny Corp is the company behind the tinybox, an AI accelerator built around four high-end GPUs. It was famously known for butting heads with AMD due to driver issues, with AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su stepping in just to get things right. At the moment, the company is selling the red v2, which is powered by four AMD 9070XTs and costs $12,000, and the green v2 Blackwell, which costs $65,000 and has four RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPUs. It's also planning to launch the exabox in 2027, which will come with 720 RDNA5 AT0 XL GPUs to deliver around 1 exaflop of computing power for around $10 million. High-end Apple computers recently became popular with the rise of AI agents like OpenClaw. In fact, this frenzy has driven a shortage of Macs that came with massive amounts of Unified Memory, with the delivery window pushed from six days to six weeks. It has even gotten to the point that Cupertino no longer offers the 512GB Unified Memory option for the Mac Studio, while the 256GB model received a $400 price bump. This custom driver seemingly did not come from the GPU maker, though, with Tiny Corp seemingly working on it on its own. Subsequently, this means that the driver is designed for running AI LLMs and not for gaming, surely disappointing people who don't want to own two different PCs for work and entertainment. Nevertheless, this is still a game-changer for people working with artificial intelligence, as they could now potentially do training or inference (with some limitations) without needing a dedicated AI supercomputer like Tiny Box. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Your Apple Silicon-Powered Mac Now Supports eGPU, Tiny Corp Claims

* Apple's new M-powered devices do not support eGPUs * Intel-powered Mac devices did support eGPUs * Apple has yet to confirm this development officially Apple introduced its first proprietary M1 processor for Mac desktop computers and laptops more than half a decade ago, in November 2020. Until then, Apple computers were equipped with Intel processors. However, with the introduction of Apple Silicon for Mac devices, the Cupertino-based tech giant silently removed the support for external Nvidia and AMD eGPUs, which come in handy when a user requires additional graphics processing ability. Now, the functionality is returning to Apple desktop computers, as a software firm has announced that Apple has approved its drivers for AMD and Nvidia eGPUs for use on Apple Silicon-powered devices. Mac Devices With M-Series Processors Can Now Support AMD, Nvidia eGPUs In a post on X, tech firm Tiny Corp has announced that Apple's desktop computers, which are powered by Apple Silicon M-series processors. The company highlighted that its drivers have been approved by the Cupertino-based tech giant, which can now be used to support eGPUs on Apple Silicon-powered Mac devices. The company further added that Mac computers will now support both AMD and Nvidia eGPUs via its drivers. Users who have a "Thunderbolt or USB 4 eGPU" from either of the US-based GPU makers, AMD and Nvidia, can now connect the externally-connected GPUs with their M-series processor-powered Mac devices. However, the eGPU support is not for graphic acceleration or gaming; rather, the eGPUs on a Mac will help in executive AI-based tasks and data processing, which also require high GPU power. "It's so easy to install now, a Qwen could do it, then it can run that Qwen," the company highlighted. Typically, eGPUs provide extra on-demand graphics processing when a user requires it. In recent years, AI researchers and other developers who run AI models locally also need the enhanced capabilities of eGPUs. While integrated GPUs on Apple Silicon M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 processors, and their Ultra and Max variants, are also powerful, they might not meet everyone's demands. Hence, eGPUs become an essential component for advanced AI tasks. Mac devices powered by Intel processors came with support for eGPUs. However, with the introduction of the Apple Silicon M1 processor in November 2020 during the 'One More Thing' virtual event, the Cupertino-based tech giant silently removed support for the same.