Apple Announces Metal For Mac
MacOS 10.14 With the macOS Mojave 10.14 SDK, apps can take advantage of Dark Mode, Create ML, Ratings and Reviews API for the Mac App Store, notarized apps, the new Network framework, Natural Langauge framework, and more. Dark Mode With macOS 10.14, users can now switch to Dark Mode to transform macOS to a darkened color scheme, putting the focus on your work while controls recede into the background. Users can toggle between a light and dark appearance for the entire system in System Preferences. For information about incorporating Dark Mode into your apps, see and the developer documentation. For design guidance, see the. Create ML Create ML is a new technology for creating and training custom machine learning models on your Mac. Create ML works with familiar tools like Swift and macOS playgrounds to make it easier to train your own models.
Dec 09, 2012 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Whether you want to combine two pictures or 20, you can use GIMP to host and edit the separate layers until you have a final product to save as a merged, compressed image. Step Start the program GIMP and select 'File' and 'Open' to locate the file that will serve as the main background picture. Overlay two images gimp for mac download. Open your image in GIMP by dropping it on the canvas from a folder or going to File / Open / find your image in folder / Open. Duplicate your image by going to Layer / Duplicate Layer Now you should have two layers—see fig 1. Oct 10, 2018 How to Overlay Pictures. In this Article: Preparing to Overlay Cropping a Photo Overlaying Pictures Creating a Collage Using PineTools Community Q&A This wikiHow teaches you how to place one image on top of another using free software on your Windows or Mac computer.
For information about getting started with Create ML, see the developer documentation. Mac App Store The redesigned Mac App Store includes a new Ratings and Reviews API for Mac apps built using the macOS 10.14 SDK.
For information about how to ask your users for ratings and reviews from within your app, see the developer documentation and the. Notarized Apps You can submit your apps to Apple to be notarized before distribution. When users on macOS Mojave first open a notarized app, they’ll see a more streamlined Gatekeeper dialog and have confidence that the app is not known malware. Notarized apps are signed with a Developer ID certificate and include a ticket from Apple. For details on getting your apps notarized, see. Network Framework The new Network framework makes it easier to create network connections to send and receive data using transport and security protocols.
Use this framework when you need direct access to protocols like TLS, TCP, and UDP for your custom application protocols. Continue to use, which is built upon this framework, for loading HTTP- and URL-based resources. For information about the Network framework and how you can use it to replace calls to low-level socket APIs in your apps, see the framework developer documentation. Natural Language The Natural Language framework is a new framework you use to analyze natural language text and deduce its language-specific metadata. You can use this framework with Create ML to train and deploy custom NLP models. For more information about how your apps can process and understand natural language text, see the framework documentation. Deprecations Periodically, Apple adds deprecation macros to APIs to indicate that those APIs should no longer be used in active development.
When a deprecation occurs, it’s not an immediate end of life for the specified API. Instead, it is the beginning of a grace period for transitioning from that API and to newer and more modern replacements. Deprecated APIs typically remain present and usable in the system for a reasonable time past the release in which they were deprecated. However, active development on them ceases, and the APIs receive only minor changes to accommodate security patches or to fix other critical bugs. Deprecated APIs may be removed entirely from a future version of the operating system.
As a developer, avoid using deprecated APIs in your code as soon as possible. At a minimum, new code you write should never use deprecated APIs. And if your existing code uses deprecated APIs, update that code as soon as possible. Deprecation of OpenGL and OpenCL Apps built using OpenGL and OpenCL will continue to run in macOS 10.14, but these legacy technologies are deprecated in macOS 10.14. Games and graphics-intensive apps that use OpenGL should now adopt Metal.
Similarly, apps that use OpenCL for computational tasks should now adopt Metal and Metal Performance Shaders. Metal is designed from the ground up to provide the best access to the modern GPUs on iOS, macOS, and tvOS devices. Metal avoids the overhead inherent in legacy technologies and exposes the latest graphics processing functionality. Unified support for graphics and compute in Metal lets your apps efficiently utilize the latest rendering techniques. For information about developing apps and games using Metal, see the developer documentation for,. For information about migrating OpenGL code to Metal, see. What’s New in macOS.
I’m in the process of designing my school’s next Apple purchase, and when I look at laptops for our teachers, I am really frustrated. Three years ago, I was doing this same process and I chose the MacBook Air (a machine we were replacing) over everything else because it made the most sense. I never expected that another three years later that I would be facing the same choice. I am hopeful that Apple releases something that finally finds the sweet spot of what I am looking for.: Every Saturday, Bradley Chambers publishes a new article about Apple in education. He has been managing Apple devices in an education environment since 2009. Through his experience deploying and managing 100s of Macs and 100s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple’s products work at scale, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for students. On the day we learned about the event, I tweeted this I am specing out a new bulk Apple laptop purchase, and I couldn’t be less satisfied with the current lineup.
I really need a MacBook with 2 USB-C and 256GB storage for around $1199. — Bradley Chambers (@bradleychambers) After that tweet, a few folks DM’ed me asking what I was hoping to see, so I thought I’d share my frustrations with the current lineup, and what I want Apple to announce. MacBook Air The MacBook Air has without a doubt been the most reliable laptop that I’ve ever supported. The hardware is reliable. It has 2 USB-A ports, one Thunderbolt, and an SD slot. Overall, it’s been a great machine for us over the last six years. I’ve probably ordered 200 of them, and I’ve had less than five become damaged beyond the ability to repair.
The default configuration options are great because it already comes with 8GB of RAM, and then I upgrade the storage to 256 GB. My concerns with this machine are that it lacks a Retina screen, and it hasn’t seen a meaningful speed increase in years.
MacBook Pro The current MacBook Pro has certainly been controversial over the years due to its keyboard reliability problems. When you look at enterprise devices, hardware reliability is one of the most critical things IT managers consider. It’s one thing to repair machines due to accidental damage, but it’s another when devices start breaking due to normal usage. Employee productivity is lost due to the time it takes to transition to a new machine on top of the actual repair costs. The current model does have a new keyboard, but it has not been out long enough for us to understand if it’s more reliable.
The move to USB-C has been difficult for end users, but IT departments have been buying dongles for years. The last time Apple shipped dongles with its laptops was prior to the Intel transition. The 2015 MacBook Pros were attractive for employees and IT departments since it had HDMI built in, but that was the exception for Apple laptops in recent memory. The major change now is that we’re still living in a USB-A world, so you have to buy USB-A to USB-C adaptors on top of Ethernet and HDMI/VGA adaptors. MacBook The MacBook is close to being a near perfect machine for IT departments to deploy. It’s thin, and it has a great looking screen.
But its slow processor (on the lower end model) and lack of multiple USB-C ports are problematic. The pricing for the MacBook is also at an awkward spot for IT departments. The $1300 price point is close to being workable for schools who want to deploy Macs, but that model isn’t fast enough. To get a viable model (in my opinion), you need to bump the processor to Core i7 for an additional $100. The keyboard is still a concern for me as it still has the keyboard that caused so much of an uproar in recent years. What will Apple announce on 10/30?
Apple Metal Mac
If I were able to design a perfect laptop for K–12 and enterprise environments, it would be an upgraded MacBook with extra features and a larger screen. I would love to see a 13″ MacBook with a modern processor, 16GB of RAM, 256 GB storage, 2 USB-C ports, and a more reliable keyboard. I want all of these features for around $1199 (education pricing). Is that my perfect laptop? No, but I am trying to work within where I think Apple is heading. The current MacBook is close, but it needs a few extra features and a price that is much closer to the MacBook Air. The laptop line has been in a weird spot for years.
The MacBook and MacBook Air shouldn’t have co-existed for this long, and I am confident that was never the plan, but it has happened. IT departments and budget conscious purchasers have been buying the MacBook Air for many years despite the technology being out of date. If the MacBook Air were sold for $700, I wouldn’t argue for its existence, but it’s still being sold for $1,000. Apple is people off by selling the MacBook Air for $1,000 in 2018. Let’s hope they announce something on 10/30. I hope it’s a funeral for the MacBook Air.
It’s been a great machine, but it’s stayed around a lot longer than it should have. What will Apple announce on 10/30? I don’t know, but I am hoping to come away from the event with answers instead of more questions.