Nvidia latest-generation drivers now support MacOS for Pascal graphics

By Jon Martindale April 11, 2017

nvidia pascal macos drivers titanxp01 — Nvidia

Nvidia wasn’t kidding or just trying to curry favor when it said it planned to release MacOS-compatible drivers for its latest-generation Pascal graphics cards. Just a few days later, it has followed through on that pledge by debuting the first beta release of drivers that support the new graphics processors (GPU).

The list of Apple systems that can support add-in graphics cards is short and rather antiquated at this point — the last time Apple released an officially supported, upgradeable graphics card system was prior to the 2013 Mac Pro overhaul. However, those users and anyone running a Hackintosh now have the option of more powerful graphics, thanks to the new Pascal drivers.

Until now, the best that those users could hope for is Nvidia’s Maxwell graphics cards, which, while impressive, don’t hold a candle to Pascal in terms of efficiency and raw power. With the new Pascal drivers, they can make use of everything from a GTX 1050 right through to the latest top-of-the-line GPU, the Titan Xp.

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Released as part of the WebDriver-378.05.05.05f01 package, the drivers add support for all Pascal cards and can be found at this direct download link, according to 9to5Mac. It could come in handy for MacOS gamers, as well as those who need additional graphical power for rendering 3D effects or video editing.

Alongside older Mac Pro owners and Hackintosh users, there is another group that will likely benefit from this release — those running external graphics cards. Reports of successful implementation with the Thunderbolt-connected Akitio eGPU system have already begun appearing on Reddit, so we may see newer Mac Pros running Pascal graphics cards before long.

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