MoltenVK 1.4.1 Release Candidate 1 has been launched for testing, aimed at enhancing Vulkan support across Apple platforms. This update introduces four significant extensions—VK_KHR_maintenance9, VK_KHR_shader_fma, VK_KHR_surface_maintenance1, and VK_KHR_swapchain_maintenance1—designed to boost performance and reduce latency. Additionally, the development team has made refinements to Metal's private API options, improving features such as disabling primitive restart support and enhancing support for non-seamless cube maps.
Performance enhancements also include more efficient occlusion queries, allowing for improved visibility tracking across multiple render passes. The new descriptor state tracking implementation and stricter enforcement of resource lifetimes aim to enhance stability and prevent crashes due to mismanaged resources. The update also introduces CMake support and a demo target for VisionOS, alongside a slight increase in minimum OS requirements to macOS 11.0, iOS 14.0, and tvOS 14.0.
Bug fixes have been implemented to ensure the Vulkan API rejects incompatible image usages and properly handles memory errors. Additional updates include the availability of host-coherent optimal tiling images for macOS users and enhancements for Mac Catalyst builds. Notably, configuration options related to large query pools have been deprecated in this version, as they are now supported by default.
In summary, MoltenVK 1.4.1 Release Candidate 1 represents a significant step forward in integrating Vulkan capabilities with Apple platforms, focusing on performance, stability, and usability for developers. The continuous support and updates also highlight the commitment to optimizing the Vulkan experience on Apple devices, enabling developers to leverage Vulkan's advanced features while working within the Metal framework. As testing proceeds, feedback from the developer community will be crucial in refining the final release
Performance enhancements also include more efficient occlusion queries, allowing for improved visibility tracking across multiple render passes. The new descriptor state tracking implementation and stricter enforcement of resource lifetimes aim to enhance stability and prevent crashes due to mismanaged resources. The update also introduces CMake support and a demo target for VisionOS, alongside a slight increase in minimum OS requirements to macOS 11.0, iOS 14.0, and tvOS 14.0.
Bug fixes have been implemented to ensure the Vulkan API rejects incompatible image usages and properly handles memory errors. Additional updates include the availability of host-coherent optimal tiling images for macOS users and enhancements for Mac Catalyst builds. Notably, configuration options related to large query pools have been deprecated in this version, as they are now supported by default.
In summary, MoltenVK 1.4.1 Release Candidate 1 represents a significant step forward in integrating Vulkan capabilities with Apple platforms, focusing on performance, stability, and usability for developers. The continuous support and updates also highlight the commitment to optimizing the Vulkan experience on Apple devices, enabling developers to leverage Vulkan's advanced features while working within the Metal framework. As testing proceeds, feedback from the developer community will be crucial in refining the final release
MoltenVK 1.4.1 Release Candidate 1 released
MoltenVK 1.4.1 Release Candidate 1 is available for testing, with a focus on expanding Vulkan support for Apple platforms. The update adds four key extensions to help squeeze out extra performance and reduce latency: VK_KHR_maintenance9, VK_KHR_shader_fma, VK_KHR_surface_maintenance1, and VK_KHR_swapchain_maintenance1. Additionally, the development team made adjustments to Metal's private API options and improved performance in occlusion queries and descriptor state tracking. The update also includes CMake support, a working demo target for VisionOS, and various bug fixes and polish improvements.
MoltenVK 1.4.1 Release Candidate 1 released @ Mac OS Compatible
