Apple Inc. introduced Metal as a new tool for iOS 8's mobile operating system designed to improve gaming.
The technology was unveiled on Monday at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Calif., according to CNET.
Apple is looking to use Metal to replace OpenGL, the company's 3D-graphics API (application programming interface) with its own development API. The API is positioned between the company's A7 mobile chip and the game software.
Craig Federighi, senior vice-president of software engineering for Apple, spoke onstage at the conference. He said that the new API will let games perform better than they would with OpenGL, Mashable reported.
Metal is the result of a collaboration between Apple and video-game companies Epic Games, Unity, Crytek and Electronic Arts. It will be released along with iOS 8 later this year.
Federighi said that with Metal, gamers would have access to call rates at up to 10 times current speeds and much less overhead than OpenGL, CNET reported.
Tim Sweeney, co-founder and CEO of Epic Games, also appeared onstage for a demo of Metal. Sweeney said Metal's improvement in gaming efficiency is a "stunning breakthrough." The technology was demonstrated by an Epic employee on an interactive app called Zen Garden. The app will be available for free alongside iOS8 this fall.
Epic added that the Metal code in Unreal Engine 4 will be available for developers after the iOS 8 beta is launched, Mashable reported.
Epic is responsible for the popular Unreal Engine, which is used for many console and PC games like Bioshock and Gears of War. The company is also a longtime partner on Apple's for its mobile products, having developed the Infinity Blade iOS series, CNET reported.
Metal's efficiency with mainstream apps, such as Infinity Blade, will play an important role in determining how much the new technology will be able to improve the mobile game experience.
