I don't think the Core Graphics vector stuff is in any way GPU accelerated, so the Infinity Blade comparison isn't appropriate. The SoCs in iOS devices are sha

I don't think the Core Graphics vector stuff is in any way GPU accelerated, so the Infinity Blade comparison isn't appropriate. The SoCs in iOS devices are shared-memory systems, so system memory is GPU memory.[1] But you're right, the endian swap could easily be done in the PNG decoder. [1] I have to admit I'm not sure it's implemented as zero-copy through to userspace, though. The normal, 20-year-old GL texture APIs can certainly only be implemented via copying, and I'm not sure if OpenGL ES has anything like mappable texture pixel buffers. It would make a lot of sense though, considering how memory-starved embedded systems are.