macOS Mojave update hints at new AMD Vega graphics cards coming to Macs in 2019

References to new and unannounced AMD Radeon Pro Vega GPUs have been found in a recent update to macOS Mojave, hinting that AMD may be bringing powerful new graphics cards to upcoming Macs in 2019.

References to these potential new AMD Vega graphics cards were first found in a batch of Linux kernel drivers and spotted by the Phoronix website. Six “Vega 20” PCI ID were spotted, and while the Radeon Instinct MI50 and MI60 accelerators are known to be built based on Vega 20 hardware, the rest are unknown.

While it doesn’t mean that AMD will definitely be releasing that number of new Vega 20 products, there’s still a good chance that we could see new hardware soon.

Six new Vega 10 PCI IDs have also been spotted, fuelling speculation that new Vega 10 GPUs could be on their way.

Coming to Mac?

What’s particularly interesting is that these new Vega PCI IDs have only been spotted in one other place: a recent update to macOS Mojave.

That strongly suggests that Apple is preparing to feature new AMD GPUs in upcoming Mac products, possibly as soon as early 2019.

Apple already includes Vega 16 and Vega 20 in its high-end MacBook Pro models, with the powerful graphics cards allowing those products to handle intensive graphical workloads, such as video editing and rendering.

So, we could see some refreshed Macs in 2019 with powerful new AMD graphics cards. Exciting times ahead.

Via Cult of Mac

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Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he's loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.