Apple’s update to macOS Monterey 12.3 has caused problems for a small number of Mac users, with some PCI-E graphics cards not only failing to deliver the performance of the past in eGPU enclosures and also in the Mac Pro.
After updating macOS to version 12.3 on Monday, some users complained that their graphics cards were no longer delivering the best performance in the operating system. One user complained that the updated Mac processor’s integrated graphics ran faster than the $2,800 W6800X graphics card. In another case, a user found AMD RDNA graphics cards experienced a 94% performance drop in updated benchmarks.
The issue appears to be present throughout the testing of macOS Monterey 12.3, with some users reporting issues on the MacRumors forums starting February 2. These issues seem to manifest in PCI-e graphics cards in eGPU enclosures, as well as some Mac Pros.
AppleInsider’s tests show that performance degradation does occur, but not in every case. Testing in different combinations of GPU and eGPU enclosures found performance degradation in some cases, but not in others. After checking with a contact it was discovered that Apple’s own W6900X MPX module works fine in their Mac Pro, however, the Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT runs at about half the speed in the same system.
Since Macs using Apple’s self-developed chips currently do not support eGPUs, this issue currently only affects Macs based on Intel processors. Apple provides drivers for AMD graphics cards, not suppliers. Testing and results strongly suggest that there is some form of driver issue in the latest update. This will be an issue that could potentially be resolved in a software update, but Apple has yet to acknowledge its existence.