Apple is stepping into the gaming world with its own upscaling technology called MetalFX, aiming to compete with NVIDIA’s and AMD’s advanced solutions. While the anticipation for improvements is high, particularly as more games become available on compatible devices, a recent comparison featuring Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 Remake highlights areas where MetalFX needs significant enhancement in visual quality.
A noticeable downgrade in visual quality is evident in the protagonist Leon Kennedy’s hair. However, it’s possible that using a higher resolution might mitigate some of these issues. A demonstration on the upgraded M4 Mac mini, equipped with 16GB of unified RAM and 512GB of internal storage, showed MetalFX’s capabilities at a 1080p resolution. The balance quality settings used during the test revealed that MetalFX’s upscaling yielded poorer image quality, especially evident in hair textures, which appeared to have artifacts.
Without MetalFX, the image quality is notably cleaner but this comes at the cost of a lower framerate. With MetalFX activated, the M4 Mac mini experienced a 44% boost in framerate, alongside decreased memory usage. It’s worth noting that the Mac mini wasn’t struggling with RAM initially, which makes this more impressive.
At 1080p, the upscaler might struggle with enough imaging data to effectively upscale, yet at higher resolutions, some of these issues might diminish. An examination at 1440p could potentially offer insights into how much the visual artifacts can improve. This showcases the M4’s potential, indicating Apple’s serious intentions to carve a niche in the gaming arena.
On the other hand, Apple’s MetalFX still has a way to go compared to NVIDIA’s DLSS technology, which often delivers exceptional visuals due to dedicated Tensor cores in RTX GPUs. These allow for a cleaner rendering of images. As Apple progresses in this space, perhaps future chipsets will include similar technological advancements, igniting more competition.
