Metal 2

Metal provides near-direct access to the graphics processing unit (GPU), enabling you to maximize the graphics and compute potential of your macOS apps. And now, Metal 2 further boosts performance by letting the GPU take more control of the rendering pipeline. And Metal Performance Shaders comes to Mac helping your app to accelerate much more than just graphics. It also offers enhanced developer tools that make it even easier to debug, optimize, and deploy apps that use Metal.

Learn more about Metal

VR on Mac

macOS High Sierra gives developers and content creators the ability to create stunning video and 3D content using the whole new level of interactivity that VR provides. With the power to harness External Graphics and the HTC Vive VR headset, content creators can use apps such as Final Cut Pro X, SteamVR, Epic Unreal 4 Editor, and Unity Editor to create immersive 360° video and advanced 3D content. 

External GPU Support

macOS High Sierra brings support for external graphics processors to the Mac for the first time, enabling you to develop and test demanding graphical applications, including VR content creation, on any Mac with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.

Learn more about the External Graphics Development Kit

Core ML

Take advantage of the same foundational machine learning technology used across Apple platforms and services, including Siri, Maps, QuickType, and Camera. Core ML provides easy integration of machine learning models to enable your apps to learn, predict, and become more intelligent with just a few lines of code.

Learn more about Core ML

Swift 4

Swift 4 builds on the strengths of Swift 3, delivering greater robustness and stability, providing source code compatibility with Swift 3.1, making improvements to the standard library, and adding features like smart key paths and serialization, all while shortening build times and reducing the size of app binaries.

Learn more about Swift

Photos Project Extensions

Let users access your app or service from directly within the Photos app to create print products, websites, slideshows, and more from their photo libraries. Bring your project features into Photos by adding a new extension to your app which users will be able to quickly discover through the targeted Mac App Store link. By leveraging the built in intelligence of Photos with the full suite of native macOS APIs, there is no end to the creative projects you can bring to Photos users.

WebKit

WebKit is the Apple-led open source browser engine that delivers state-of-the-art web technology to Safari. In macOS High Sierra, WebKit adds new performance optimizations and delivers additional web standards support that enable developers to create richer experiences in Safari.

Apple File System

The Apple File System (APFS) is a modern and secure file system, optimized for responsiveness on Flash/SSD storage, and designed for extensibility and data integrity across macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Make sure apps are compatible with the new default file system. To learn more, see Apple File System Guide.

HEVC

The next-generation of standards-based video compression technology, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), provides up to 40% better compression than H.264 at the same visual quality. With support built into AV Foundation on macOS High Sierra and iOS 11, it’s the next essential technology for storing and delivering media.