16-Inch MacBook Pro Adds AMD Radeon Pro 5600M With 8GB HBM2, Apple Offers Mac Pro DIY SSD Kits
The Radeon Pro 5600M is still based on AMD's 7nm RDNA (Navi) architecture, but features a total of 40 compute units and 2560 stream processors with FP32 compute performance coming in at 5.3 TFLOPs. There are also changes to memory configuration; while the base Radeon Pro 5300 and Radeon Pro 5500 are only available with either 4GB or 8GB of GDDR6 memory, the Radeon Pro 5600M features 8GB of HBM2 operating on a 2048-bit interface. AMD is quoting up to a 75 percent performance improvement with the Radeon Pro 5600M over the Radeon Pro 5500M.
“More than ever, pro users require the freedom to create wherever their work takes them,” said Scott Herkelman, who serves as Corporate VP and GM for AMD's Graphics Business Unit. “With AMD RDNA architecture, the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M GPU offers the optimal combination of compute horsepower and power efficiency, providing an outstanding mobile graphics solution to power a wide range of demanding workloads on-the-go.”
A 16-inch MacBook Pro with a Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 starts at $2,799; opting for 8GB is a $100 option. However, going with the Radeon Pro 5600M will add $700 to your purchase price. If you check every single box on the options sheet, a 16-inch MacBook Pro now maxes out at $6,699.
In other Apple news, TechCrunch is reporting that starting later today, Apple will make available a do-it-yourself SSD upgrade kit for its flagship Mac Pro desktop system. Apple isn't typically a company that you think of when it comes to DIY upgrades, and even when upgrades are possible, the company often asks that you take your device to an authorized support center. But in this case, the SSD kit has been designed to be installed by the end user, and Apple will make instructions on how to perform the upgrades available via its website.
The Mac Pro SSD kits will be available in 1TB, 2TB, and 8TB capacities when they hit the Apple Store.
