The incredible graphics performance of Apple silicon enables every Mac, from MacBook Air to Mac Studio, to play demanding games with ease. Metal 3 introduces powerful features that help your games tap into the full potential of Apple silicon, demonstrating what’s possible when hardware and software are built together. Combined with a full array of incredible, game-oriented OS technologies, the unified graphics platform across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV is ready for you to create the next generation of games with breathtaking realism.
What’s new
MetalFX Upscaling
Render complex scenes in less time per frame with high-performance upscaling and anti-aliasing. Choose a combination of temporal or spatial algorithms to help boost performance.
Fast resource loading
Optimally stream asset data to Metal textures and buffers directly from storage using asynchronous I/O, eliminating the need to build your own loading infrastructure.
Offline shader compilation
The Metal compiler now generates GPU binaries at project build time to eliminate in-app shader compilation, helping games improve performance and reduce load times.
Metal tools for Windows
The texture converter now supports more formats for HDR rendering and a new library version can integrate more deeply and efficiently into your tools. The Metal compiler for Windows has been updated with the latest Metal features, including mesh shaders and indirect commands.
Metal Performance HUD
Monitor gameplay performance using Metal with real-time stats and logging, including CPU and GPU render time and frame presentation deadlines.
Game Controller framework
A wide variety of new and existing game controllers are supported by the Game Controller framework across Apple platforms. macOS also adds support for the most popular racing wheels, pedals, and shifters, including the Logitech G920 and Logitech G29.
Unity plug-ins
Take advantage of powerful Apple technologies for your Unity-based game. Unity plug-ins connect your game to Game Center, Core Haptics, PHASE audio, accessibility, and game controller frameworks.
Deliver and manage large game assets in the background, even while your app isn’t running. This helps keep your main app bundle smaller and lets users multitask while the download completes.
Screen Capture Kit
This new framework elevates the game streaming experience in macOS by enabling you to capture any combination of windows, apps, and displays with minimal CPU and GPU overhead. Create custom content filters and take advantage of dynamic controls for your content stream.
Game Center
Now players can find out what’s happening in your games and connect with friends around their activities. Achievements and leaderboard standings are featured more prominently on the dashboard in your games, and the dashboard now includes a feed with friends’ in-game activity. Players can also see this activity on their Game Center profile, as well as friends’ profiles. And now, players can receive push notifications about leaderboard activity, so they can stay on top of the latest activity in your game and remain engaged.
Metal powers hardware-accelerated graphics on Apple platforms by providing a low-overhead API, rich shading language, tight integration between graphics and compute, and an unparalleled suite of GPU profiling and debugging tools.
