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iOS 18's New Game Mode Makes iPhones Faster and More Responsive

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With iOS 18, Apple is adding Game Mode to iPhone. A similar Game Mode was added to macOS Sonoma last year, and the same performance-enhancing features apply, according to Apple.

ios-18-game-mode.jpg

When enabled, Game Mode optimizes the gaming experience by giving the game the highest priority access to your iPhone's processor, while lowering usage for background tasks.

Apple says Game Mode also improves the responsiveness of connected AirPods and game controllers by reducing input latency and audio latency.

There's nothing to set up with Game Mode – it turns on automatically when you launch a game or an app associated with a game, as indicated by a brief notification.

game-mode-iphone-notification.jpg

The feature is designed for AAA titles like Assassin's Creed Mirage and Resident Evil Village. Capcom announced on Monday that Resident Evil 7 is coming to iPhone, iPad, and Macs on July 2, providing another opportunity to see how the new Game Mode performs in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18.

Article Link: iOS 18's New Game Mode Makes iPhones Faster and More Responsive
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/13/ios-18-game-mode-faster-iphone/
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F23 said:
Apple should make a MagSafe Cooling Fan
Click to expand...
I have yet to see a good cooling fan that uses reverse wireless charging (that works with iPhone)

It would also be a good use of the copper apple logo they implemented on the iPad if you can attach a MagSafe cooler to an iPad.
I also thought the Magic Keyboard case should have heat spreading components on the side that touches the Apple logo like passive water cooling implemented by Huawei on their phone cases before, but nope
 
CrysisDeu said:
I have yet to see a good cooling fan that uses reverse wireless charging (that works with iPhone)

It would also be a good use of the copper apple logo they implemented on the iPad if you can attach a MagSafe cooler to an iPad.
I also thought the Magic Keyboard case should have heat spreading components on the side that touches the Apple logo like passive water cooling implemented by Huawei on their phone cases before, but nope
Click to expand...
they have to leave some features for the next iteration lol
 
CrysisDeu said:
I just tried it for two days. At least on betas, it's not improving gaming performance and the games lags more. I expect it to improve on actual public release.

There would be YouTubers making in depth analysis as well
Click to expand...
That's a shame. I feel like AAA gaming on the iPhone 15 Pro has largely been a PR excercise. From all the YouTube analyses I've seen (Digital Foundry, Andrew Tsai, MrMacRight) games like Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and Death Stranding really struggle to reach 30 fps on the iPhone Pro and even on the iPad it seems like M2 is needed to get consistent 30 fps out of these games (the minimum that is really needed).

Perhaps the A18 chip will be the M2 iPad equivalent so a consistent 30 fps becomes possible on iPhone.
 
kiranmk2 said:
That's a shame. I feel like AAA gaming on the iPhone 15 Pro has largely been a PR excercise. From all the YouTube analyses I've seen (Digital Foundry, Andrew Tsai, MrMacRight) games like Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and Death Stranding really struggle to reach 30 fps on the iPhone Pro and even on the iPad it seems like M2 is needed to get consistent 30 fps out of these games (the minimum that is really needed).

Perhaps the A18 chip will be the M2 iPad equivalent so a consistent 30 fps becomes possible on iPhone.
Click to expand...
A bigger problem with AAA on iPhone/iPad, imo, is the control. The devs don't put a lot of thoughts on adapting the UI and controls to a mobile game, it's just not worth it for them.

If I am buying a PS5 controller, why not just buy a PS5 as well? It's 1/3 of the cost of an iPhone Pro, that's now required to run the new AAA games.

On some sense, a lot of Gacha mobile games are better designed for mobile (not the business model, but the actual controls)
 
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I occasionally see the little notice on my Mac that it’s in “game mode”, but I haven’t seen much difference in performance. I have more games that are older and don’t take advantage of game mode, and they often stutter (probably due to Rosetta).
 
Gaming on Apple is just weird. There is clearly a focus on performance, but the games aren’t there, it’s done half heartedly and the devices are just not designed for AAA gaming. They are designed for bursty processors usage. That’s where mobile Apple silicon excels most. It’s super efficient for normal consumer use.

Gaming is a whole other beast. It requires bigger batteries, better cooling and a 100 percent solid backing from the platform.
 
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shadowboi said:
I would love to be able to trigger it manually to make other apps faster
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Exactly.

Why not make everything faster?

It reminds me of an old Seinfeld joke about airplane speed:

"So I'm on the plane, we left late. Pilot says we're going to be making up some time in the air. I thought, well isn't that interesting? We'll just make up time. Of course, when they say they're making up time, obviously they're increasing the speed of the aircraft. Now, my question is if you can go faster, why don't you just go as fast as you can all the time? C'mon, there's no cops up here. Nail it. Give it some gas! We're flying."

:p
 
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I really hope game mode can work with audio apps like Ableton Note. The doubled Bluetooth poling rate might make using AirPods possible and would be good stopgap until Apple rolls out low latency lossless from AVP into other platforms.
 
I don’t understand who is the target audience for AAA-gaming on smartphones. There are few million people buying those games on PC and Game Consoles, which are usually devices dedicated for gaming. On iPhone, I doubt that Resident Evil games combined sold more than a 5-digit number. Also, there were Resident Evil games on iPhone before, like Resident Evil 4. Guess what? You cannot play it now, because the app was never updated for the modern iOS and Apple dropped its support.
 
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Gaming Mode turns on automatically for Moonlight and I no longer see the stutters (due to AWDL and location services) when not on Wi-Fi Channel 44. Pretty happy with that.
 
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