UL announces its 3DMark benchmark suite now runs natively on macOS, using Metal API

UL has just announced that its 3DMark benchmark suite now runs on macOS, and while it was already available on iOS, the company saw that many users were running 3DMark on macOS... marking today's big announcement.

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3DMark now has a full native macOS version that removes any and all potential bottlenecks, something UL says that was especially noticeable on more powerful Macs, as the iOS version has maximum frame rate limitations that are tied to the display's refresh rate.

UL explains: "Since we launched 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, we found that 1/6 of all iOS app submissions were from macOS devices. Running an iOS application on a macOS device can negatively affect scores on some benchmarks, especially when run on some more powerful Macs, as iOS application maximum frame rates are limited to the system's display refresh rate".

"3DMark for macOS is a full native macOS application, and the best way to benchmark the gaming performance of the latest Macs with 3DMark. It not only includes the Wild Life Extreme, Solar Bay, and Steel Nomad Light benchmarks, it also brings the even heavier Steel Nomad Benchmark, previously only available on Windows. These benchmarks all run natively using the Metal API, and are fully comparable with results from Windows, iOS, and Android devices".

As with Windows, owners of 3DMark will gain access to additional features:

• Explorer Mode for Steel Nomad and Steel Nomad Light, where you can freely explore the benchmark scenes, edit camera controls to take the perfect background image for your Mac, and even find many secrets hidden by the 3DMark development team.
• Save your macOS results to your 3DMark.com account, for sharing or comparing performance over time.
• Enable sound for a more immersive experience when benchmarking.
• Use custom mode to run benchmarks at different resolutions, loop benchmark runs or enable HDR to make scenes pop even more.

You can download 3DMark for macOS here.