> The ones on game consoles are /way/ more proprietary and unportable than Metal.
Right, but the console proprietary graphics frameworks have clear market demand. Macs are not a platform with which people buy to game, and metal is not a graphics framework with clear market demand. Apple will need to subsidize porting if they want to get a critical mass of games on Metal rather than OpenGL, i.e. the easy API to target. (Yes, I'm aware many game engines bring this for "free", but that doesn't mean these ports are competitive with their equivalent on windows on the same hardware.)
EDIT: I forgot iOS; that's probably what might make a difference this time. Unlike the Mac there is a clear market demand for gaming on that platform.
Right, but the console proprietary graphics frameworks have clear market demand. Macs are not a platform with which people buy to game, and metal is not a graphics framework with clear market demand. Apple will need to subsidize porting if they want to get a critical mass of games on Metal rather than OpenGL, i.e. the easy API to target. (Yes, I'm aware many game engines bring this for "free", but that doesn't mean these ports are competitive with their equivalent on windows on the same hardware.)
EDIT: I forgot iOS; that's probably what might make a difference this time. Unlike the Mac there is a clear market demand for gaming on that platform.