Recent updates to the iOS 17 beta suggest that Apple’s Game Mode, a feature of the forthcoming macOS Sonoma, may be on its way to iOS and iPadOS.
Game Mode is designed to optimize CPU and GPU usage to enhance the frame rate of games, and it reduces both audio latency for AirPods and input latency for Bluetooth controllers. This provides a more seamless and responsive gaming experience, particularly on Apple Silicon Macs.
The latest iOS 17 beta 4 update contains code associated with macOS Sonoma’s Game Mode, which wasn’t present in previous updates. This discovery by 9to5Mac suggests that Apple is considering integrating the feature into iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 to improve the gaming experience on mobile devices like iPhones and iPads.
The same M-series chips that allow macOS to run demanding games with impressive performance also power the newest iPads. It would therefore make sense for Apple to bring Game Mode to iPadOS 17.
Apple has recently demonstrated its focus on gaming, releasing the first beta of its new Game Porting Toolkit for macOS Sonoma, which significantly enhances game performance.
However, it’s also possible that Game Mode might not make it across all platforms, as Apple doesn’t always release all the experimental features it tests during beta phases.