WhatAn intelligent model sharding system that automatically splits LLM layers between Apple Silicon's large unified memory and an external Nvidia GPU's fast VRAM, optimizing for Thunderbolt bandwidth constraints.
SignalCommenters are excited about combining a Mac's huge memory pool with an eGPU's compute speed for local LLMs, but immediately identify the Thunderbolt bandwidth bottleneck as the core unsolved problem — nobody knows how to split workloads optimally across these mismatched devices.
Why NowM4 Ultra ships with 192GB+ unified memory, 5090 GPUs are available, and the tinygrad driver just opened the connection — but naive sharding will hit the 4-8 GB/s Thunderbolt ceiling hard.
MarketPower users running large local LLMs (MoE models, 70B+ parameter); ~500K users today growing rapidly. No direct competitor solves this specific heterogeneous compute problem.
MoatProprietary profiling data on optimal layer placement across Mac+GPU topology combinations — this knowledge compounds with each hardware configuration tested.
Apple approves driver that lets Nvidia eGPUs work with Arm MacsView discussion ↗ · Article ↗ · 452 pts · April 4, 2026
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