Apple MacBook successfully runs an Nvidia GPU through USB4 using an external docking station - Tiny Corp's coding wizardry unlocks Mac+Nvidia magic

After getting AMD graphics cards to work on ARM-based MacBooks, TinyCorp has successfully ported its work to USB4/Thunderbolt 4 and built drivers to make Nvidia's RTX 30, 40, and 50 series graphics cards work with MacBooks through external GPU docking stations using either connectivity standard. However, before you get your hopes up, these drivers are designed specifically for AI development and won't get you display functionality on MacBook devices.

The AI startup showed off this new capability on X with instructions on how to install the drivers for AI developers. TinyCorp also shared an image of a MacBook Pro M3 Max running Tinygrad off of an (unnamed) RTX GPU hooked up to an ADT-UT3G dock using USB4.

For now, RTX 30, 40, and 50 series graphics cards are supported. The AI startup mentions that the RTX 20 series might work, but requires additional work on the user's end. The main issue is that TinyCorp's drivers only work with Nvidia GPUs featuring a GPU system processor, which is why no GTX-series graphics cards are supported. AMD GPUs based on RDNA 2, 3, and 4 reportedly work as well.

Getting Nvidia GPUs to run on Apple products has been pretty much impossible ever since Apple ditched Intel processors and switched to its homebrewed M-series processors running on the ARM architecture. Apple's M-series MacBooks are powered exclusively by one massive iGPU inside, so there has not been any requirement for Apple to implement Nvidia or AMD driver support in the ARM versions of MacOS.

This has forced developers and users to make their own drivers by hand for any chance to make MacOS work with Nvidia or AMD graphics cards running on external GPU docks. Luckily for TinyCorp, the AI startup already had experience building all the necessary drivers to run eGPUs on ARM-based MacBooks after it created the world's first external AMD graphics card driven on Apple silicon with USB3, a standard that doesn't even include PCI Express.

TinyCorp's X did not share many details about the development pitfalls the AI-startup inevitably had to plow through to get Nvidia GPUs working on ARM-based MacBooks through USB4 and Thunderbolt 4. But, it was likely easier for TinyCorp to implement Nvidia support with external GPU docks for M-series MacBooks, with their prior experience building the same setup for AMD GPUs on USB3.

USB4/Thunderbolt 4 is also tailor-made for devices such as external GPU docks, boasting native PCIe support, which probably simplifies support further. Not to mention the massive bandwidth improvements USB4/Thunderbolt 4 boasts over classic USB3.

For the AI crowd, this new capability of running Nvidia GPUs on ARM MacBooks will be highly beneficial for running local LLMs and other AI models on cards such as the RTX 5090 at a much faster rate than what Apple's M-series GPUs can achieve.

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