As part of High Sierra 10.13 release in the fall of this year will also come native drivers for AMD graphic cards. This will bring support for desktop cards such as the RX 580 and RX 570 as well as better graphics optimizing through Apple’s Metal 2 API.
Update: Learn how to hackintosh and AMD Polaris Card in Sierra 10.12.6+
Sep 27, 2017 The drivers are for Quadro and GeForce Pascal-based models and should bring compatibility for legacy Mac Pro users running High Sierra. Nvidia says the latest drivers include a. Of course, once NVIDIA macOS Sierra drivers are available for the 1070 and 1080, we will re-run the tests and post measured performance. All GPUs were installed in the x16 slot #1 of a 2010 Mac Pro tower and connected to a Dell UltraSharp 27 Ultra HD 5K (UP2715K) display running at 3940x2160. Stack Exchange network consists of 177 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
What’s Coming
These AMD graphic cards are coming as part of Apple’s external GPU support, as well as their inclusion in the iMac Lineup as the Radeon Pro 570/580. The Radeon Pro is very similar the RX series of desktop graphic cards and may share cross support. Also coming is RX Vega 56 and 64 in the high end iMac Pro, which is based on the upcoming Vega Desktop Cards coming out this summer, therefore it’s likely that RX Vega cards will work too.
AMD vs. Nvidia
AMD graphic are OpenCL based whereas Nvidia is CUDA based. macOS and it’s Metal API favor OpenCL over CUDA to drive graphics, because of that AMD graphics cards are likely to fare better. Also Apple has been now using AMD for a couple of years, because of that they are better optimized then Nvidia cards to run on macOS.
With Nvidia lately they have been very slow when it comes to releasing drivers for their hardware. For example with their Pascal GTX 10XX graphic cards they didn’t release drivers for MacOS until a full year after the cards released. Whether Nvidia will support High Sierra or release drivers for their Volta graphics cards is an unknown. However, they may bring support since eGPU enclosures are going to be officially supported by Apple in High Sierra.
Hackintoshers Rejoice
The announcement of native AMD drivers for macOS brings a glimmer of hope to hackintoshers like me, uncertain of whether Nvidia drivers would be released for High Sierra, since they have become unreliable when it comes to timely releases and now we’ll no longer have to rely on Nvidia for their third party web drivers with Native support by Apple and AMD, which will be supported With native drivers for years to come.
Now it’s not completely understood yet how these native drivers are going to work compared to right now. At this moment AMD desktop PCIe slot cards can be gotten to work through a couple of work around hacks with the downside of having to boot to a black screen and requires a second helper GPU or iGPU to act as the switchable graphics for full graphical acceleration. Those inconveniences may be fixed in High Sierra with this native support for desktop cards, we’ll see for sure soon.
Check compatibility
You can upgrade to macOS Sierra from OS X Lion or later on any of the following Mac models. Your Mac also needs at least 2GB of memory and 8.8GB of available storage space.
Drivers For Mac Osx Amd Sierra Mac
MacBook introduced in late 2009 or later MacBook Air introduced in late 2010 or later MacBook Pro introduced in mid 2010 or later Mac mini introduced in mid 2010 or later iMac introduced in late 2009 or later Mac Pro introduced in mid 2010 or later
To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu . If your Mac isn't compatible with macOS Sierra, the installer will let you know.
Make a backup
Before installing any upgrade, it’s a good idea to back up your Mac. Time Machine makes it simple, and other backup methods are also available. Learn how to back up your Mac.
Get connected
It takes time to download and install macOS, so make sure that you have a reliable Internet connection. If you're using a Mac notebook computer, plug it into AC power.
Download macOS Sierra
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For the strongest security and latest features, find out whether you can upgrade to macOS Catalina, the latest version of the Mac operating system.
If you still need macOS Sierra, use this link: Download macOS Sierra. A file named InstallOS.dmg will download to your Mac.
Install the macOS installer
Double-click the downloaded file to open a window showing its contents. Then double-click the file within, named InstallOS.pkg.
Follow the onscreen instructions, which will guide you through the steps necessary to install.
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Begin installation
After installation of the installer is complete, open the Applications folder on your Mac, then double-click the file named Install macOS Sierra.
Click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions. You might find it easiest to begin installation in the evening so that it can complete overnight, if needed.
Allow installation to complete
Mac Os Sierra Review
Please allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. Your Mac might restart, show a progress bar, or show a blank screen several times as it installs both macOS and related updates to your Mac firmware.
Mac Os X Sierra
Learn more
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If you have hardware or software that isn't compatible with macOS Sierra, you might be able to install the previous version, OS X El Capitan.
macOS Sierra won't install on top of a later version of macOS, but you can erase your disk first or install on another disk.