Metal vs OpenGL

Developers should learn Metal when building performance-critical graphics or compute applications on Apple platforms, such as games, AR/VR experiences, video processing tools, or machine learning inference engines meets developers should learn opengl when building graphics-intensive applications that require real-time rendering, such as video games, simulations, or data visualization tools. Here's our take.

Metal

Nice Pick

Developers should learn Metal when building performance-critical graphics or compute applications on Apple platforms, such as games, AR/VR experiences, video processing tools, or machine learning inference engines

Pros

• It's essential for maximizing GPU efficiency and achieving console-quality graphics on iOS/macOS devices, especially when standard APIs like OpenGL or Core Graphics are insufficient
• Related to: metal-kit, scene-kit

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

OpenGL

Developers should learn OpenGL when building graphics-intensive applications that require real-time rendering, such as video games, simulations, or data visualization tools

Pros

• It is essential for understanding low-level graphics programming, GPU interactions, and shader development, offering fine-grained control over the rendering pipeline for performance-critical scenarios
• Related to: vulkan, directx

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Metal is a framework while OpenGL is a library. We picked Metal based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Metal wins

Based on overall popularity. Metal is more widely used, but OpenGL excels in its own space.