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Why is Apple still dead set on having their own special graphics API? Surely it would be better for everyone (even them) if they just adopted Vulkan like litera
by p1necone 6y ago
Why is Apple still dead set on having their own special graphics API? Surely it would be better for everyone (even them) if they just adopted Vulkan like literally every other platform?
- threeseed 6y agoMetal is used within the OS for all of its rendering. So it's more a case of they built the API for themselves first and then made it available for developers. They also have power consumption and mobile performance as being their highest priorities which may not align with Vulkans.
- p1necone 6y agoI would be surprised if the graphics API layer had a particularly big impact on power usage. One of the stated goals of Vulkan is also to reduce CPU load when rendering.
- webwielder2 6y agoStill? What would have caused them to not want to maintain control of their platform?
- p1necone 6y agoAll it does it make software (especially games) less likely to be ported to iOS/macOS. And they have to maintain a graphics API, which isn't a small task. How is that a good thing for them? This isn't really something that helps or hinders locking consumers into their ecosystem.
- webwielder2 6y agoiOS has no shortage of games, so that doesn't seem like a problem. And maintaining their own graphics API lets them fully integrate it into the rest of their hardware and software stack without the baggage that comes with a cross-platform standard.
- p1necone 6y agoiOS is a pretty big market, I would argue that they have lots of games despite not supporting open standards, not because. Gaming compatibility on laptop/desktop macOS is pretty piss poor. (Although Blizzard has always been really good at supporting mac).
- ksec 6y agoWhat does Vulkan brings to the table apart form so called cross platform compatibility? Which is a bit like Cross Platform Apps, they are just never as good as Native Apps. It is not in any ways better than Metal. And when you design your own Hardware, it makes much sense to own your API design for maximum performance.
- ladyanita22 6y agoI don't think you're right at all. I've read numerous times that Metal has significantly more overhead than Vulkan.
- random5634 6y agoPlease provide a citation- apple is doing amazing things with metal - particularly on the M1
- tpush 6y ago> like literally every other platform? What other platforms? The only ones I see adopting Vulkan are Desktop Linux and some newer Androids. The first effectively doesn't even matter.
- lucian1900 6y agoWindows, iOS and Android are the most common OSes, only one of which uses Vulkan and not even universally or exclusively. The games consoles don’t use Vulkan either. It’s a niche API.