We all know that the primary driver for computing hardware innovation has turned out to be graphics, or more specifically the high-end apps and games that drive them.
Nothing attracts eyeballs and new players to games like the latest photo-realistic gameworld or high-res, high-speed action sequence and hardware manufacturers base their entire output and industry on developers pushing existing hardware and users demanding more.
But when an upgrade is out of reach and the high-end applications just keep on coming, there’s a chance that devs pushing the envelope could be upsetting more people than they’re pleasing.
Which is where Apple’s new iOS Game Mode – announced at WWDC this week – comes in. It’s a way of surrendering more of your device’s power to the game so that it runs at its absolute best. Just the thing for those with slightly older handsets wanting to play the latest games and – bonus – making the same game run better on iPhone than it does on a rival handset.
How does Game Mode work?
It’s a feature that the user has to manually invoke, which basically tells your device that you’re all about games at that particular moment. Turning on the feature will minimize background activity, maximize frame rates at the cost of other processes and amp up the responsiveness with Apple’s AirPods (for sound) and external bluetooth game controllers (for game control).
It comes as part of Apple’s ongoing drive to place their surprisingly game-ready handsets (iPhone 15 launched with a raft of game demos to promote its graphics skills) as alternatives to consoles. Console sales are slowing as high-end gaming moves to PC (with Mac playing catch-up) and mobile continues to rise.
As a result of mobile’s increasing audience and power, a growing number of high profile games such as Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut and – announced at WWDC – Assassin’s Creed: Shadows are offering mobile versions identical to the full games available on console and PC.
All this and spatial audio too
And as an extra bonus, in addition to game mode, iOS 18 now includes an SDK for Spatial Audio, allowing developers to tap into Apple’s spatial skills already enjoyed via their AirPods hardware and built into Apple Music.
The new tech allows for the placement of audio all around the player via virtual speakers with EA/Tencent’s Need for Speed: Mobile being the first game to use the new tech.
It’s clear that – having introducing Game Mode for Mac OS last year as part of MacOS Sonoma – Apple are aiming to make their cross-platform family of Mac, iPhone and iPad as enticing for creators and players as possible.
