iPhone 3G S and OpenGL ES 2.0 Hardware Accelerated Graphical Goodness Also a Platform Splitter?

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

This morning we wondered aloud about whether the iPhone 3G S would be splitting Apple's mobile OS X platform. Looks like we weren't the only ones wondering.

Engadget's Chris Ziegler takes a look at the new hardware's PowerVR SGX graphics-core's support for OpenGL ES 2.0, and that led him to this language in Apple's iPhone SDK documentation:

"When designing your OpenGL ES application, the first question you must answer is whether your application will support OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenGL ES 2.0, or both... Your application should target OpenGL ES 1.1 if you want to support all iPhones and iPod touches."

Sure, with 40,000,000 iPhones and iPods touch on the market, many developers will want to stick with OpenGL ES 1.1 support, but like with any generational transition -- even slow ones -- eventually more and more might just want to push the new hardware and see what it can do...

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.