Apple today began selling a new Radeon Pro W5500X MPX Module for Mac Pro, offering users another GPU option. This new module comes as a cheaper choice to the Radeon Pro W5700X MPX Module, which was introduced in April this year.
While the Radeon Pro W5700X offers 16GB of GDDR6 memory with 448GB/s bandwidth, the Radeon Pro W5500X comes with 8GB of memory and 224GB/s bandwidth, providing half the performance of the more expensive model.
Another difference between these two models is that the W5700X has four Thunderbolt 3 ports and one HDMI 2.0 port, while the W5500X comes with only two HDMI 2.0 ports.
Here’s how Apple describes the new Radeon Pro W5500X MPX Module:
The Radeon Pro W5500X GPU can be added to Mac Pro during the build-to-order process at an additional cost of $200. The new GPU is also available as a standalone MPX Module that can already be purchased at Apple’s website for $600. In comparison, the Radeon Pro W5700X MPX Module costs $1,000.