Mac Pro buyers can now add an AMD Radeon W6600X GPU to their spec

Apple Mac Pro Computer (Image credit: AMD)

What you need to know

People buying a new Mac Pro now have another option when choosing a GPU.
AMD has added the Radeon W660X to the options available to Mac Pro buyers.
Apple confirmed a new Apple silicon Mac Pro is coming but support for GPUs like AMD's isn't guaranteed.

AMD has announced a new Radeon W6600X GPU upgrade that buyers of the Mac Pro can now add to their specs. The upgrade is now available for those making a fresh purchase.

People adding the Radeon Pro W6600X to their Mac Pro specification will get a card with 8GB of GDDR6 memory for an additional $300 over the Radion Pro W550X, the new base model option.

AMD announced the upgrade on its website, saying that the card features "up to 80 powerful enhanced Computer Units."

The AMD Radeon™ Pro W6000X series graphics cards powered by AMD RDNA™ 2 architecture, featuring up to 80 powerful enhanced Compute Units and all new AMD Infinity Cache™, engineered to deliver exceptional performance to power through a wide variety of demanding professional applications and workloads. Now available in Mac Pro® computers.

Apple's Intel-based Mac Pro is the last to be updated for Apple silicon with Apple confirming that the switch is in the pipeline during its March 8 event. That event saw the arrival of the all-new Mac Studio, further making the Mac Pro and its $5,999 starting price less compelling for those buying a new machine today.

The new Mac Studio is undoubtedly the best Mac for creatives right now but that could change when the new Mac Pro is announced. Apple hasn\t said when that will be, however.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.