I thought so–– it seems like AMD would know more about the hardware of their own devices than Apple would to create these drivers.
Anyone thought of asking AMD nicely for a web driver for their R9 Fury series cards?
The thing about drivers is that for VR applications you want as low intervention of Driver to the application and hardware as possible. I believe that Metal was developed in this with mind in first place, to give as low access to GPU as possible. Of course it has its own drivers, but they do not have any optimization paths for applications. It is for hardware and the application to manage itself. Developers will have to work around this, but that is what they asked for when came to AMD with question of highest possible control over hardware. That is on the functional level of applications.
Other thing is giving DeviceID's for hardware. I think that if Apple will want external expansion for their computers, they will allow both Nvidia, and AMD to write their own drivers for GPUs that are connected through external enclosures. Yes, it is less convenient way than Plug and play version, where all drivers are already built into the system, you have to install them first, then you can use eGPU as plug and play device. But would open up world also for Apple ecosystem.
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/146120127?trkInfo=searchKeywordString:Apple+Metal,searchLocationString:,+,vertical:jobs,pageNum:1,position:2,MSRPsearchId:7ee9e925-3cff-4162-8504-67a06fd887ac_1463062382407&refId=7ee9e925-3cff-4162-8504-67a06fd887ac_1463062382407&trk=jobs_jserp_job_listing_text
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/147995904?trkInfo=searchKeywordString:Apple+Metal,searchLocationString:,+,vertical:jobs,pageNum:1,position:1,MSRPsearchId:7ee9e925-3cff-4162-8504-67a06fd887ac_1463062382407&refId=7ee9e925-3cff-4162-8504-67a06fd887ac_1463062382407&trk=jobs_jserp_job_listing_text
Anyone interested?
After thinking a bit about this...
AMD and Nvidia has to focus on providing only drivers for API. It is the API that drives application and hardware, yes? Developers on the other hand have full control over the API, and therefore full control over the hardware, because it is the API that drives both: hardware and software side, yes? Simplified optimization. What other clues we have?
1) Nvidia few months ago was looking for person that would be coding drivers for OS X, and Metal.
2) MVC few months ago discovered that some of non-EFI GPUs from Nvidia work with external enclosures connected to TB2 in plug-and-play mode.
3) Mago in MP 2016 Thread have said that he heard rumors that Adobe works on CUDA 8 software that is connected to VR idea, for OSX.
Coincidence?
And yes, As I have many, many times said already, external expansion of computers is the only way for future of computing.