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iOS 9 low power mode reduce battery drain while gaming?
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It tells you in the description below the toggle in settings what it does. The only thing that's left out that I know of in the description is that it also throttles down (underclocks) the CPU so it also draws less power. (This has been proven with geek bench tests between with and without low power mode.)
I wonder how that affects power consumption though for games that do need the processing power. If it is simply spread out while keeping the display on unnecessarily, it could have an adverse effect on battery life.
Slower processor + gaming = Probable lag.
If anything, it might provide worse battery life while gaming. Because the processor is underclocked, the game might be trying to max out the underclocked processor in order for the game to keep up. When on the flip side, with the processor running at its correct rate, the game might not need the entire processor speed and not use as much power as the processor can provide - therefore, reducing battery drain.
Now, this is just a theory, but in my head it seems sound. Anyone else want to chime in? Feel free to let me know I am making stuff up.
It will reduce battery drain but you will also notice lag on loading.
With the current processing power you don't see any lag during gaming from what I've seen personally. The only effect is extended battery life.
I have a 6S and noticed longer load times and a fair amout of UI lag. No lag when actually playing, just with menus and animations.
Noticed mostly in Need for Speed: No Limits
Low power mode works great for MCPE. No hit to performance and the phone doesn't eat through battery or heat up much.
Exactly. Why anyone would want to use Low Power Mode to play a game is beyond me. I still scratch my head as to why some prefer to have LPM on full time.
From what I've heard, taking an iPhone 6s, Low Power Mode basically clocks the A9 down to roughly A8 levels. (Still more than enough to run a game obviously) but why bother having the latest hardware only to run it at "last years" strength full time.
But this brings us back to the question the OP legitimately asked: does this help for gaming? Based on the description that Apple provides, it should provide some benefits by turning off these networking functions that are not necessary for offline gaming. However, Apple doesn’t disclose that it also throttles the processor, in which case the gains would probably be lost if the game is processor intensive. That being said, Clash of Clans is probably not such a game.
At best in the timeframe most people would play a game (20-30 minute block) I would guess maybe a 1-2% saving, and that's a best case. I really can't see emails going from push to fetch and background app refresh turning off (the only two things that would actually apply while ingame. Assuming the SoC throttle is not a factor in powering the game) while gaming being anything noticeable.
But if the throttling is a contributing factor in an individual case then there may be a noticeable impact. I think without some evidence, there is just no way to tell how it would turn out. So in short: we can't answer the question outright, the OP would have to test this for themselves.
Agreed. It's up to the OP to test. Too many variables for a definitive yes or no answer.
Which device used being the biggest factor. I wouldn't want to LPM and game on a 4s, 5/5c or 5s. A 6s on the other hand is powerful enough to probably not notice the throttle for most games out there.