Metal C++ Wrapper

[huge_apple_fangirl]

So Apple has just released an official C++ wrapper for metal: https://developer.apple.com/metal/cpp/
Developers on Twitter seem to have a positive reaction (see comments):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1461820562993344512

What does this mean for the Mac? Will this improve game support? Could we finally see Apple GPUs’ full potential? Or is it nothing? I don’t know a whole lot about this stuff so I would appreciate some more informed speculation!

 

[mi7chy]

What does this mean for the Mac? Will this improve game support? Or is it nothing? I don’t know a whole lot about this stuff so I would appreciate some more informed speculation!

It's an Objective-C to C++ wrapper so means very little to help the game situation that requires DirectX 12 and better Vulkan to Metal wrapper (there's MoltenVK for MacOS but Vulkan supported games like Doom Eternal don't work).

 

[leman]

What does this mean for the Mac? Will this improve game support? Could we finally see Apple GPUs’ full potential? Or is it nothing? I don’t know a whole lot about this stuff so I would appreciate some more informed speculation!

This means that developers can now use C++ to use Metal, instead of Objective-C or Swift. This will probably make integration of Metal into third-party games simpler (since they often use C++). But it will have no immediate effect on game support today. Just again reiterates that Apple cares about gaming on Mac and is actively developing the ecosystem and tools to give the devs different options.

What I would like to see next:

- open-sourcing the Metal shading langage frontend, so that the community can add backend generators for PTX/GLSL/SPIR-V/HLSL etc. MSL is an excellent shading language and it would be great if one could use is on all platforms

- adding compatibility primitives to make porting Vulkan/DX12 software easier (now, I have no idea what these primitives might be, but I've been told that there are some things Metal lacks)

 

[Adarna]

Check again by year 2023-2025 if AAA Mac titles are announced/out. By then 2nm iPhones/iPads/Macs will be out.

 

[senttoschool]

Check again by year 2023-2025 if AAA Mac titles are announced/out. By then 2nm iPhones/iPads/Macs will be out.

In 3 years, 50% of all computers capable of playing AAA games will be Macs

Edit: December 13th, 2021: Apple will sell about 27 million Macs in 2021. Assume that 80% are M1/M1Pro/M1Max Macs, then Apple will have sold 21 million Macs capable of playing AAA games. According to IDC, the number of gaming computers (desktops and laptops) sold in 2021 is projected to be 47...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Adarna]

In 3 years, 50% of all computers capable of playing AAA games will be Macs

Edit: December 13th, 2021: Apple will sell about 27 million Macs in 2021. Assume that 80% are M1/M1Pro/M1Max Macs, then Apple will have sold 21 million Macs capable of playing AAA games. According to IDC, the number of gaming computers (desktops and laptops) sold in 2021 is projected to be 47...

forums.macrumors.com

Thank you for sharing numbers.

With video consoles I wait for the first price cut which coincides the 1st die shrink before buying. Reason is by that time the launch titles would also include must have exclusives that shipped 12-24 months later.

I want to increase utility on day 1 while enjoying the die shrink improvement and price cut.

But to say by 2023 half of all laptops/desktops capable of playable AAA gaming will be Macs would be very optimistic unless one considers that Macbooks start at $999. Top 20% of laptops start at that price point & higher so assuming Apple eats into 50% of all laptops at that price point 3 years from now then the analysis becomes true.

What your analysis fails to factor in is that people generally buy Macs for non-gaming use unlike video consoles where in >99% buy it for gaming. If I were to peg a figure for Mac casual/AAA gaming I'd peg it at <20%. Will current user behavior change? New Mac buyers may bring their past habits to the Mac which includes AAA gaming.