OpenGL ES 2.0 – Start of A Two Tiered App Store?

It seems the new iPhone may be about to cause more bother in addition to the furore over O2’s pricing plans in the UK. The latest controversy centres around the fact that the iPhone 3G supports OpenGL ES 1.1 the new iPhone 3GS supports OpenGL ES 2.0.

Even though the 3.0 update supports the newer version the iPhone 3G’s graphics chip is unable to handle it. This has led to speculation that a rift may open in the App Store with some apps supporting the newer version that will then be unavailable to iPhone 3G owners. Apps could be designed to support both of course, but those that only support 2.0 will not be available to all users. The question is how many apps will support both standards and perhaps more importantly which apps will support both standards. If a hugely popular game, for example, were to embrace support for 2.0 only it may not go down terribly well with existing iPhone 3G owners.

[Via PhoneArena]