Apple has built virtual reality support into its latest macOS High Sierra operating system.
Apple announced during its WWDC keynote that MacOS High Sierra will feature native support for the Steam VR SDK used by the popular HTC Vive headset.
The support is currently focused on helping developers create virtual reality experiences for the Vive using Apple computers, such as the company’s new iMac Pro. But it means that, technically, all Apple computers with powerful enough specifications will be able to run VR content at 90fps if developers tweak their wares to work with Apple’s software.
The support is part of a wider upgrade to Apple software’s gaming performance. The company unveiled a new Metal 2 API at WWDC alongside support for external GPUs.
Apple claims Metal 2 will offer radically improved GPU efficiency and performance on Apple computers running High Sierra, alongside support for the popular Epic and Unity gaming engines – which are used by many developers to create VR and triple-A games.
Virtual reality support wasn’t the only upgrade announced at WWDC 2017. Apple unveiled its latest watchOS 4 for the Apple Watch, which brings a number of performance improvements, upgraded intelligent notifications and multiple new watchface types.
Excited about Vive support on Macs? Let us know in the comments below.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.