Metal
Metal is a low-level, high-performance graphics and compute API developed by Apple for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and visionOS. It provides near-direct access to the GPU, enabling developers to write highly optimized code for rendering graphics, performing parallel computations, and accelerating machine learning tasks. Unlike higher-level APIs like OpenGL, Metal offers fine-grained control over hardware resources, reducing driver overhead and improving efficiency.
Developers should learn Metal when building performance-critical applications on Apple platforms, such as games, professional creative software (e.g., video editing, 3D modeling), AR/VR experiences, or machine learning inference engines. It is essential for leveraging the full power of Apple's GPUs (including those in M-series chips) to achieve smooth frame rates, real-time processing, and energy efficiency, especially where alternatives like OpenGL are deprecated or insufficient.