Metal helps game developers get the most out of iOS hardware

Apple has announced Metal, a way to help game developers get the most power out of iPhone hardware in iOS 8. Metal reduces OpenGL overhead and is described by Apple as "near bare-to-the-metal" of the Apple A7 chip.
Metal allows 10x faster draw cell rates, and allows developers to draw computing power from a device's GPU. There is also support for efficient multithreading, up to 1.3 million polygons, depth of field effects, and more. EA promises console-quality effects in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare.
Metal was demonstrated by Tim Sweeny from Epic Games, with a demo called Zen Garden, which will be available for free when iOS 8 launches in the fall.
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Joseph Keller is the former Editor in Chief of iMore. An Apple user for almost 20 years, he spends his time learning the ins and outs of iOS and macOS, always finding ways of getting the most out of his iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.