Apple just introduced Metal for Mac. The technology merges OpenCL power with OpenGL’s graphic-crunching capabilities to reduce draw-rendering times by half. Craig Federighi, senior vice president for software engineering at Apple, introduced Metal for Mac this morning during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Metal was first introduced last year with iOS 8. It gives developers better access to the GPU hardware in the system for more efficient processing. The Metal software is a desirable feature for developers who use heavy graphics in games and apps.
Apple brings Metal to Mac computers
The Cupertino-based tech giant noted that any graphic-rich app should get a performance advantage with Metal. Epic Games shared a demo of its new game Fortnight using a new Mac with Metal.
Metal should give game companies and developers a strong incentive to create more games for Mac computers. For years, most game makers created their titles exclusively for Windows-based PCs. The tide has been changing as mobile gaming picked up serious speed and iOS took the lead as the most lucrative mobile game platform. Perhaps more game developers will start rolling out more games for Mac users. Federighi shared his excitement for Metal and its possibilities:
“I think we’re going to see pro users and all of us benefiting from Metal.”
A look at iOS 9
In other Apple-related news, the company unveiled the next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 9. Highlights for the new operating system include an upgraded Siri, deep linking in Spotlight searches, and Apple Pay expansion, which is set for launch in the United Kingdom soon. Apple Pay is also adding support for more banks, store credit cards, and loyalty cards. Apple will also rename Passbook to Wallet, which will store credit cards and loyalty cards in one central location.
Apple Pay has yet to catch on with the mainstream population, but these expansions could change that in time.
