Ever since (Mac) OS X came out in 2001 it has had OpenGL, and PC games ported across have not been able to run as fast as DirectX on the PC.
My hope if that Metal will evolve in to "Apple's DirectX," and as Mac porting houses and Game Engine vendors adopt it, we will see ported across games run at equal speed to a Windows PC with equivalent hardware. Especially since DirectX 12 is a low-level API also, so hopefully Metal and DX12 will have a very close mapping.
Good point. Let's hope so. Looking game on for it...with the 'support list' of companies behind Craig in the keynote.
Macs are selling 5 million+ a quarter, 20 million-ish a year. The installed base must be close to 100 million by now.
That should guarantee adoption for Metal, especially if they want to be on the Mac or iOS store...
Check out the link to Aspyr. They seem very excited and enthusiastic about the new api.
For me, Metal was the best thing about the keynote. Though not realistic. (Some people don't like cartoony games...) I was very impressed by the Epic demo. That's some slick graphical action there with a lot happening on screen.
50% gaming boost and 10x draw boost along with the efficiencies...that's some going. You don't get that with some GPU 'next gen' hardware.
This should put the Mac at least on parity with Windows gaming. Although Aspyr seems to think this has a shot at putting Mac gaming even faster than the original API for conversion work!
That has more to do with Apple's sub-subpar implementation of OpenGL(gamewise anyway) more than anything but yes.
Perhaps, yes. It's caught up somewhat. For years it seemed to be on Open GL 2.0+ But it's 4.+ at the moment? But still performing behind windows? 50%+ on the same hardware?
With ten times greater draw and 50% graphics boost (and efficiencies at 40%) it should wipe out that disparity which has become a real thorn in the 'Graphical' computer's side. No more irony. More performance. I was always surprised that Apple couldn't match Window's GL version. But I guess gaming is bigger on Windows and there were more forces at work improving it for a more profitable market. Still. It became chicken and egg. You need good hardware and software to make a good gaming platform.
I think between Steam (I always felt that...) and selling 5 million Macs a quarter was the start of the road back for Mac gaming. Macs in 300+ stores. A Mac online store. There's more parity games releases. iMacs now have decent gpus in them. Mac Pros have two(!) gpus in them. And intel's int' gpu is being dragged kicking and screaming into giving decent Hi-def mainstream performance. (Certainly with Skylake we will no longer at the drek of the old Intel 3000/4000 series?) Add Metal into that equation. It being driven into the OS at the foundation level to drive the whole OS visual stuff and many operations...that it boosts Open GL/Open CL type of stuff for the developer and for software and games?
Within a year there will be 20 million more Macs that take advantages of 'Metal' being sold.
That's a gaming market bigger than the current gen of consoles?
Under the halo of Apple stores and iOS. Macs aren't going away. They're getting more capable and viable. Plenty of iPad class games can be refactored/recompiled with relative ease for the Mac? That's surely got to be easy money? Money on the table for what is basically the same OS when it comes down to it. Using the same Metal api. If you have a motivated company like Epic, they'll take the coin.
The 'mainstream' of gaming will come to the Mac. Perhaps kicking and screaming. But if it is easy for Epic to quickly convert a game for the Mac using that Metal api they've used on iOS...and EVEN Adobe got out of bed with a startling x8 improvement in AEffects and Illustrator...and Blizzard/Autodesk behind it as well...?
I'd say the future is very bright indeed for Mac software and gaming as 'The' platform for the 'rest of us.'
Although Aspyr seems to think this has a shot at putting Mac gaming even faster than the original API for conversion work!
I was surprised to read that too! They must be talking about porting pre-DX12 titles to Metal, and their own rendering code being actually more efficient than e.g. DX9 or OpenGL, which is pretty bold!
The number of macs being sold is irrelevant. Otherwise PC's would be lead platform for every game coming out with a userbase of over 100 million on Steam alone(Hint: It's not). Consoles by far still control the game development process, and the record breaking sales will only strengthen that position. Apple's OpenGL IIRC is 4.1(4.2/3/4/5 have been released since then).
Workstation GPU's do little to nothing for gaming relative to their premium pricing, already excluding the fact that Crossfire and SLI still need ever the more tweaks.
As for "Mainstream" Mac gaming we'll see. Any challenge to windows is good by me, but support from companies does not success make. Engine makers have made it nearly trivial to port from just about any platform to another, so Mac's are not special in this regard. Epic had integrated DX12, it is integrating metal, and when Vulkan comes out preliminarily later this year, Epic will probably have a big conference about that too.(especially seeing as they are contributing to the spec) .
Comments
Ever since (Mac) OS X came out in 2001 it has had OpenGL, and PC games ported across have not been able to run as fast as DirectX on the PC.
My hope if that Metal will evolve in to "Apple's DirectX," and as Mac porting houses and Game Engine vendors adopt it, we will see ported across games run at equal speed to a Windows PC with equivalent hardware. Especially since DirectX 12 is a low-level API also, so hopefully Metal and DX12 will have a very close mapping.
Good point. Let's hope so. Looking game on for it...with the 'support list' of companies behind Craig in the keynote.
Macs are selling 5 million+ a quarter, 20 million-ish a year. The installed base must be close to 100 million by now.
That should guarantee adoption for Metal, especially if they want to be on the Mac or iOS store...
Lemon Bon Bon.
Ever since (Mac) OS X came out in 2001 it has had OpenGL, and PC games ported across have not been able to run as fast as DirectX on the PC.
That has more to do with Apple's sub-subpar implementation of OpenGL(gamewise anyway) more than anything but yes.
Check out the link to Aspyr. They seem very excited and enthusiastic about the new api.
For me, Metal was the best thing about the keynote. Though not realistic. (Some people don't like cartoony games...) I was very impressed by the Epic demo. That's some slick graphical action there with a lot happening on screen.
50% gaming boost and 10x draw boost along with the efficiencies...that's some going. You don't get that with some GPU 'next gen' hardware.
This should put the Mac at least on parity with Windows gaming. Although Aspyr seems to think this has a shot at putting Mac gaming even faster than the original API for conversion work!
Lemon Bon Bon.
That has more to do with Apple's sub-subpar implementation of OpenGL(gamewise anyway) more than anything but yes.
Perhaps, yes. It's caught up somewhat. For years it seemed to be on Open GL 2.0+ But it's 4.+ at the moment? But still performing behind windows? 50%+ on the same hardware?
With ten times greater draw and 50% graphics boost (and efficiencies at 40%) it should wipe out that disparity which has become a real thorn in the 'Graphical' computer's side. No more irony. More performance. I was always surprised that Apple couldn't match Window's GL version. But I guess gaming is bigger on Windows and there were more forces at work improving it for a more profitable market. Still. It became chicken and egg. You need good hardware and software to make a good gaming platform.
I think between Steam (I always felt that...) and selling 5 million Macs a quarter was the start of the road back for Mac gaming. Macs in 300+ stores. A Mac online store. There's more parity games releases. iMacs now have decent gpus in them. Mac Pros have two(!) gpus in them. And intel's int' gpu is being dragged kicking and screaming into giving decent Hi-def mainstream performance. (Certainly with Skylake we will no longer at the drek of the old Intel 3000/4000 series?) Add Metal into that equation. It being driven into the OS at the foundation level to drive the whole OS visual stuff and many operations...that it boosts Open GL/Open CL type of stuff for the developer and for software and games?
Within a year there will be 20 million more Macs that take advantages of 'Metal' being sold.
That's a gaming market bigger than the current gen of consoles?
Under the halo of Apple stores and iOS. Macs aren't going away. They're getting more capable and viable. Plenty of iPad class games can be refactored/recompiled with relative ease for the Mac? That's surely got to be easy money? Money on the table for what is basically the same OS when it comes down to it. Using the same Metal api. If you have a motivated company like Epic, they'll take the coin.
The 'mainstream' of gaming will come to the Mac. Perhaps kicking and screaming. But if it is easy for Epic to quickly convert a game for the Mac using that Metal api they've used on iOS...and EVEN Adobe got out of bed with a startling x8 improvement in AEffects and Illustrator...and Blizzard/Autodesk behind it as well...?
I'd say the future is very bright indeed for Mac software and gaming as 'The' platform for the 'rest of us.'
Lemon Bon Bon.
Although Aspyr seems to think this has a shot at putting Mac gaming even faster than the original API for conversion work!
I was surprised to read that too! They must be talking about porting pre-DX12 titles to Metal, and their own rendering code being actually more efficient than e.g. DX9 or OpenGL, which is pretty bold!
The number of macs being sold is irrelevant. Otherwise PC's would be lead platform for every game coming out with a userbase of over 100 million on Steam alone(Hint: It's not). Consoles by far still control the game development process, and the record breaking sales will only strengthen that position. Apple's OpenGL IIRC is 4.1(4.2/3/4/5 have been released since then).
Workstation GPU's do little to nothing for gaming relative to their premium pricing, already excluding the fact that Crossfire and SLI still need ever the more tweaks.
As for "Mainstream" Mac gaming we'll see. Any challenge to windows is good by me, but support from companies does not success make. Engine makers have made it nearly trivial to port from just about any platform to another, so Mac's are not special in this regard. Epic had integrated DX12, it is integrating metal, and when Vulkan comes out preliminarily later this year, Epic will probably have a big conference about that too.(especially seeing as they are contributing to the spec) .