diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 528462ad..817786a3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -64,5 +64,9 @@ fb.bat
 *.elf
 *.smdh
 
+# Compiled Metal shader files
+*.ir
+*.metallib
+
 config.toml
 CMakeSettings.json
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b47fc716..13be2537 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -409,26 +409,44 @@ if(ENABLE_METAL AND APPLE)
         include/renderer_mtl/mtl_texture.hpp
         include/renderer_mtl/mtl_vertex_buffer_cache.hpp
         include/renderer_mtl/pica_to_mtl.hpp
+        include/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.hpp
     )
 
     set(RENDERER_MTL_SOURCE_FILES src/core/renderer_mtl/metal_cpp_impl.cpp
         src/core/renderer_mtl/renderer_mtl.cpp
         src/core/renderer_mtl/mtl_texture.cpp
         src/core/renderer_mtl/mtl_etc1.cpp
+        src/core/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.mm
         src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metal
     )
 
     set(HEADER_FILES ${HEADER_FILES} ${RENDERER_MTL_INCLUDE_FILES})
     source_group("Source Files\\Core\\Metal Renderer" FILES ${RENDERER_MTL_SOURCE_FILES})
 
-    # TODO: compile Metal shaders to .metallib
+    add_custom_command(
+    OUTPUT ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.ir
+    COMMAND xcrun -sdk macosx metal -o ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.ir -c ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metal
+    DEPENDS ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metal
+    VERBATIM)
+
+    add_custom_command(
+    OUTPUT ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metallib
+    COMMAND xcrun -sdk macosx metallib -o ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metallib ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.ir
+    DEPENDS ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.ir
+    VERBATIM)
+
+    add_custom_target(
+        compile_msl_shader
+        DEPENDS src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metallib
+    )
 
     cmrc_add_resource_library(
         resources_renderer_mtl
         NAMESPACE RendererMTL
         WHENCE "src/host_shaders/"
-        "src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metal"
+        "src/host_shaders/metal_shaders.metallib"
     )
+    add_dependencies(resources_renderer_mtl compile_msl_shader)
 
     target_sources(AlberCore PRIVATE ${RENDERER_MTL_SOURCE_FILES})
     target_compile_definitions(AlberCore PUBLIC "PANDA3DS_ENABLE_METAL=1")
diff --git a/include/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.hpp b/include/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..04823978
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <Metal/Metal.hpp>
+
+namespace Metal {
+
+dispatch_data_t createDispatchData(const void* data, size_t size);
+
+} // namespace Metal
diff --git a/src/core/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.mm b/src/core/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.mm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eeea56a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/renderer_mtl/objc_helper.mm
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#include "renderer_mtl/objc_helper.hpp"
+
+// TODO: change the include
+#import <Metal/Metal.h>
+
+namespace Metal {
+
+dispatch_data_t createDispatchData(const void* data, size_t size) {
+    return dispatch_data_create(data, size, dispatch_get_global_queue(0, 0), ^{});
+}
+
+} // namespace Metal
diff --git a/src/core/renderer_mtl/renderer_mtl.cpp b/src/core/renderer_mtl/renderer_mtl.cpp
index b55f2de8..9fbae859 100644
--- a/src/core/renderer_mtl/renderer_mtl.cpp
+++ b/src/core/renderer_mtl/renderer_mtl.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "PICA/gpu.hpp"
 #include "renderer_mtl/renderer_mtl.hpp"
+#include "renderer_mtl/objc_helper.hpp"
 
 #include <cmrc/cmrc.hpp>
 #include <cstddef>
@@ -124,11 +125,11 @@ void RendererMTL::initGraphicsContext(SDL_Window* window) {
 
 	// Load shaders
 	auto mtlResources = cmrc::RendererMTL::get_filesystem();
-	auto shaderSource = mtlResources.open("metal_shaders.metal");
-	std::string source(shaderSource.begin(), shaderSource.size());
-	MTL::CompileOptions* compileOptions = MTL::CompileOptions::alloc()->init();
+	auto shaderSource = mtlResources.open("metal_shaders.metallib");
+	//MTL::CompileOptions* compileOptions = MTL::CompileOptions::alloc()->init();
 	NS::Error* error = nullptr;
-	MTL::Library* library = device->newLibrary(NS::String::string(source.c_str(), NS::ASCIIStringEncoding), compileOptions, &error);
+	MTL::Library* library = device->newLibrary(Metal::createDispatchData(shaderSource.begin(), shaderSource.size()), &error);
+	//MTL::Library* library = device->newLibrary(NS::String::string(source.c_str(), NS::ASCIIStringEncoding), compileOptions, &error);
 	if (error) {
 		Helpers::panic("Error loading shaders: %s", error->description()->cString(NS::ASCIIStringEncoding));
 	}