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This week, at the World Wide Developers Conference 2017 in San Jose, Apple blew the lid of the tech world with a smorgasbord of virtual reality announcements that included the revelation that Steam VR is coming to Mac. The Mac platform is getting Valve’s incredible and expansive virtual reality platform right away.
Image credit: Apple
Steam VR coming to Mac is great news for everyone even if you don’t own a Mac. For those that do not own a Mac, this means that a huge amount virtual reality software suddenly has a much larger market. This is great for developers and consumers alike. A larger market means more revenue, and more revenue means more software will be developed for virtual reality systems. This is great for everyone.
Steam VR for Mac also means that a huge variety of development software, games, and varieties of virtual reality experiences including virtual reality porn and erotica will soon be available to the hoards of Mac owners out there. I expect that the majority of this software will start hitting around Christmas. Before then, basic compatibility and developer software will become available for Mac owners to start creating virtual reality experiences.
Image credit: Apple
You may think Apple’s enthusiasm for virtual reality doesn’t make sense, given that the majority of Macs that are sold are Macbook Pro’s without dedicated video cards. Without video cards, these computers don’t stand a chance of running Steam VR software. The question remains – how can virtual reality hardware and software meaningfully launch on Apple’s platform when most Macs aren’t able to run virtual reality software?
Image credit: The Verge
HTC’s blog mentioning the announcement at WWDC provides a hint about how they believe virtual reality software and hardware could run on many non-dedicated GPU Macs. HTC says, “Through a newly announced external GPU, developers and content creators will be able to use a beta of Steam VR and the new macOS, High Sierra, to access the creative power of Vive with their MacBooks.” HTC is saying that the new external GPU Apple announced will make virtual reality feasible on most Macs. They are referencing the external GPU solution that allows Macbook Pro users to use a high-end GPU in an external enclosure connected to Macbook Pro and iMac Thunderbolt 3 slots.
Image credit: Apple
Beyond Macs, External GPUs are getting big everywhere including the Windows 10 market. HP and Razer both have external GPU solutions that allow smaller notebook PCs to utilize graphics cards in external housing units. These new devices allow notebooks like MacBook Pros to utilize high powered GPUs like Nvidia 1080s or Radeon 580s. Most of the time, notebooks like MacBook Pros can’t run modern 3d games and VR software because although they include powerful CPUs, they do not include powerful GPUs. External GPUs fill in this missing part of the puzzle.
Thunderbolt 3 slot that makes external GPU possible with super-fast connection speeds. Image credit: Lemon Pixel
In sum, Apple is taking an aggressive and modular hardware approach to get virtual reality working on Macs. In addition to special hardware, Apple is streamlining and updating their “metal” graphics subsystem to run virtual reality apps. Describing their new “Metal 2” system, Apple says;
Drawing on the performance of Metal 2 and the latest Mac hardware, macOS High Sierra adds support for VR content creation for the first time, enabling developers to create immersive gaming, 3D and VR content on the Mac. Leading VR companies are joining Apple to drive VR innovation on the Mac with features coming later this year — Valve is optimizing their SteamVR platform for macOS and enabling connection of the HTC Vive headset, while Unity and Epic are bringing their VR development tools to macOS. Also later this year, Final Cut Pro X will add support for professional 360-degree workflows with the ability to import, edit and export 360-degree video.
Providing software and hardware solutions for VR is super nice. Thanks, Apple! Steam VR Beta for Mac is already available to try out. Head over to Steam to get it. You will need a Mac with a dedicated graphics card. That said, if you don’t have a powerful GPU on your Mac, you are not completely out of luck. Apple is selling their external GPU solution to developers that want to get started on producing virtual reality software on their nonGPU Macs.
exactly my point, most of the people will not have mac pro and steam has to collaborate with more software houses and build light softwares to run these.