I read on Macrumors and Wikipedia that the Mac version of the Metal API only works on Macs from 2012 or later. Why is that?
Does Metal require something which pre-2012 Intel processors don't have? Or is this just Apple's way of phasing out older Macs?
MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 750 GB HD, 8 GB RAM
It's because the graphic cards in pre-2012 machines lack some functions that metal requires as a minimum
It's the same reason why Airplay mirroring is not supported on those machines either
joshuafromwaterford wrote:
What about a 2011 Mac Pro with a current-generation graphics card like one of Nvidia’s Maxwell cards?
Nope. Of the Mac Pro series, only the cylindrical Mac Pro supports Metal on El Capitan, and not the earlier "cheese grater" Mac Pro models.
Here's the iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan Metal Hardware Support List.
From that resource, here are the OS X systems that support Metal ("OS X GPU Family 1 v1"):
As for your comments on graphics controller packaging, yes, it's somewhat complex. Some Mac systems have add-on graphics controllers in PCIe slots such as the "cheese grater" Mac Pro models, some have add-on graphics controllers embedded into the system, and some use processor-embedded graphics such as the Intel HD series graphics. The MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, early 2015) uses a processor embedded Intel HD Graphics 5300 graphics, for instance. No add-on controllers are used in that model.
For details on what Metal features are available on iOS or OS X, see the previous link. If it's not listed or not discernible from the cited listing or the WWDC session on Metal or from some other published resources, somebody would have to research.
By "graphics cards” are you referring to graphics cards in general, or the Intel integrated GPUs specifically?
I ask because most Macs from 2011 and later don’t have dedicated graphics cards. In 2010, even the regular, white polycarbonate MacBooks had dedicated Nvidia graphics cards, and until 2012, some Mac Mini’s had dedicated Nvidia graphics cards.
graphics cards in general
What about a 2011 Mac Pro with a current-generation graphics card like one of Nvidia’s Maxwell cards?
Why isn’t Metal supported on pre-2012 Macs?
