Apple to design better Mac OS X OpenGL

placeboplacebo
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
From a job advertisement:



Quote:

The Apple, ATI and NVIDIA OpenGL software teams are looking for a diverse set of talented engineers who would like to be a part of the fast paced world of 3D graphics. Apply your skills to help make Mac OS X the best OpenGL implementation in the industry.



RESPONSIBILITIES MAY INCLUDE:

- GLSL compiler design and optimization

- JITC functional modules

- Application and benchmark tuning

- OpenGL extensions

- Software renderer

- Automation test tools

- Developer tools

- OpenGL ARB specifications

- Maintenance and bug fixes

- Work with chip venders

- OS integration

- Developer support



MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:



- BSEE/CS

- In depth knowledge of OpenGL

- Thorough knowledge of C required

- Knowledge of assembly is highly desirable

- Kernel driver experience is highly desirable

- Team player



Send your resume to one or all of the following contacts:



Kim Hoffman

Apple Computer



Chris Bentley

ATI



Richard Clark

NVIDIA



This is very good news for gamers, as well as good news for 3D application companies who suffer bad performance on the Mac. I can't wait to see a better OpenGL implementation in Mac OS X. I'm guessing that this will all be bundled in a 10.4.5 or so patch. It's also nice to see that Apple will be working with ATI and Nvidia themselves.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    nathan22tnathan22t Posts: 317member
    pretty exciting
  • Reply 2 of 28
    dontconfusedontconfuse Posts: 18member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by nathan22t

    pretty exciting



    apple is still very early start to microsoft, but good for apple.

    i read something about benchmarking doom 3 on both pc and powermac g5,

    same graphic card but g5 is just over half of frame rate of pc.

    pc games benifits on DirectX while performance of openGL is not quite good so far.
  • Reply 3 of 28
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Eh, it seems like that's what we always hear: "Apple to make Open GL totally ROCK!!!!!"



    We'll see
  • Reply 4 of 28
    gelosilentegelosilente Posts: 70member
    good! apple ca do a lot for opengl, expecially better driver. Now with tiger opengl is the key technology for all the graphic

    hope that they found very good people
  • Reply 5 of 28
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    If this is the case, then Apple needs to use more nVidia graphics solutions. NV has always had lower driver overhead when it comes to OpenGL. ATi has the best DirectX implementation, but that does little good for Apple.
  • Reply 6 of 28
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Wingnut

    If this is the case, then Apple needs to use more nVidia graphics solutions. NV has always had lower driver overhead when it comes to OpenGL. ATi has the best DirectX implementation, but that does little good for Apple.



    I think they're working with ATI on drivers so that they can change that status.





    I'm really hoping that they get the shader roadmap nailed down, ie, how they're going to deal with all the DX9 shaded games that are starting to become the norm. Also, rendertotexture support would be really nice (full shadows in UT2k4 and other games)
  • Reply 7 of 28
    mpmoriartympmoriarty Posts: 289member
    I thought Apple always wrote the graphic drivers for Mac OS X.
  • Reply 8 of 28
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    Even if Apple makes its own drivers, I think it's still a hardware issue with ATi, thus the higher driver overhead. ATi is the most popular choice in graphics on windows machines, so I think they prioritize DirectX over OpenGL. It seems most games are going DX anyway, so I doubt ATi will change its OpenGL support that much. Wouldn't it be cool if someone could create an open source DX? lol, I remember downloading DX2! Man, was it buggy.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    1337_5l4xx0r1337_5l4xx0r Posts: 1,558member
    Would it be that difficult to create a DirectX emulation layer for OpenGL, to ease porting of games and apps? I mean, OpenGL and DirectX are two peas in a pod.



    Sorry, OT I know.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    t'hain esh kelcht'hain esh kelch Posts: 1,274member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Wingnut

    Even if Apple makes its own drivers, I think it's still a hardware issue with ATi, thus the higher driver overhead. ATi is the most popular choice in graphics on windows machines, so I think they prioritize DirectX over OpenGL.



    AFAIK nVidia sells more cards than ATI do.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MPMoriarty

    I thought Apple always wrote the graphic drivers for Mac OS X.



    ATI makes their own Mac driver, and they always have.



    NVIDIA ships their Windows driver code to Apple, and Apple ports/adapts it.



    The most promising thing about this job posting, to me, is that it is the first public sign that all three companies are getting a team together to do something about this. The current approach obviously isn't optimal. With a core of people integrating the drivers with the OpenGL layer, maybe we can get some real performance gains.

  • Reply 12 of 28
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    I'm really hoping that they get the shader roadmap nailed down...



    Doesn't Apple already support OpenGL 2.0 with GLSL? Isn't Core Image based on GLSL?
  • Reply 13 of 28
    tuttletuttle Posts: 301member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph



    The most promising thing about this job posting, to me, is that it is the first public sign that all three companies are getting a team together to do something about this. The current approach obviously isn't optimal. With a core of people integrating the drivers with the OpenGL layer, maybe we can get some real performance gains.



    Are you basing that on more info than just the job posting?
  • Reply 14 of 28
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Tuttle

    Are you basing that on more info than just the job posting?



    I wish I was.



    I've long suspected that the fact that there are three parties responsible for OpenGL performance—and a minimum of two, for any given machine—on OS X has been a problem.



    That's probably predisposing me to read more into the press release than is there, but a guy can hope, can't he?
  • Reply 15 of 28
    tuttletuttle Posts: 301member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    I wish I was.



    I've long suspected that the fact that there are three parties responsible for OpenGL performance—and a minimum of two, for any given machine—on OS X has been a problem.



    That's probably predisposing me to read more into the press release than is there, but a guy can hope, can't he?



    Oh well. I was hoping you had received some photos of some new secret underground OpenGL complex underneath Cupertino or something like that.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    quambquamb Posts: 143member
    has there been any news or info on this? ie- are we starting to see opengl improvements with Tiger yet?



    Tried searching for info though seems nothing has happened- Doom3 is still running pretty average on a 2.7pm.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    I dunno, in all likelyhood, some other engineer has just left the OGL team and they are filling a vacancy.



    Apple has optimized OGL for the last four years and the perfomance is still pretty lame. I don't see this changing just because they throw one engineer at it...
  • Reply 18 of 28
    icfireballicfireball Posts: 2,594member
    Im thinking...open gl 2, 10.5
  • Reply 19 of 28
    martinjansonmartinjanson Posts: 13member
    And at the same time Windows is breaking OpenGL for Vista :/
  • Reply 20 of 28
    bigbluebigblue Posts: 341member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by quamb

    has there been any news or info on this? ie- are we starting to see opengl improvements with Tiger yet?



    Tried searching for info though seems nothing has happened- Doom3 is still running pretty average on a 2.7pm.



    At the same time, Unreal Tournament 2004 runs blistering fast on my 2x2.7. So it can be done. Why not Doom ? Or Halo ?
Sign In or Register to comment.