I’ve been covering Apple gaming efforts for the past few years and have been impressed by the company’s modest but steady progress in this area. While several well-known “blockbuster” titles, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring, are not available on Apple devices, firms such as Capcom and Ubisoft (among others) have released some of their most recent games on the top MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads. It’s something I would never have imagined possible less than five years ago.
During a recent event, Apple showed me what it’s been working on in the gaming arena, most of which you may have seen at the most recent WWDC event. I tested out some future games and discovered new gaming-specific features. Though none of this will put Apple gaming on level with PC gaming in the near future, it’s evident that the Cupertino-based tech behemoth is still taking gaming seriously. As a lifetime gamer, I’m intrigued by the current state of Apple gaming and where it could go before the end of the decade.
As a PC gamer, I must admit that Apple’s most recent gaming endeavors have impressed me. This is the reason.
New games at launch
It’s not insignificant that games like Resident Evil Village, No Man’s Sky, and Death Stranding are playable on Apple hardware. But many of these arrived years after they were first released on consoles and PCs. As evidenced by Lies of P’s simultaneous release on macOS, PC, and consoles, this is now changing. And it doesn’t appear to end there, as on November 15th, PC, console, and Mac users can play Assassin’s Creed: Shadows.
Many older games are still available and hopefully will make their way to Apple products. Getting those in addition to fresh releases of PCs and consoles on the same day will only benefit Apple’s gaming division.
Cross-save/cross-platform
One of the best aspects of playing the best Steam games is that you can begin on your PC and continue on a handheld device, such as the Steam Deck OLED. Cross-platform play and cross-saving appear to be no-brainers for Apple’s devices, especially because they use the same hardware and software technology. Fortunately, Apple and game creators are not disregarding this issue.
Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village, for example, allow you to begin playing on a MacBook Pro and then continue on an iPad with an M-series CPU, an iPhone 15 Pro, or an iPhone 15 Max. Capcom games are saved on iCloud, whereas Ubisoft games are saved on the company’s Ubisoft Connect service. Cross-saving is a feature I expect to see in more titles that are available across Apple’s machines.
Quality of life updates
Apple is also adding or updating features to improve one’s gaming experience.
Game Mode (which is presently available on Macs) will be available for iPhone and iPad in the autumn with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, respectively. On macOS Sequoia, the function will reduce background activity more effectively and provide smoother frame rates.
Personalized Spatial Audio, a feature found on the iPhone and Apple Vision Pro, is now available in games when using a pair of AirPods Pro 2. Improves include lower audio latency and higher-quality game audio when conversing with pals.
An impending Mac App Store update will minimize the size of huge games. You will also be able to select an additional disk to put games on. Finally, when a game or app installs, you’ll see the remaining time and size, as well as new download pause and resume buttons.
Conclusion
Before Apple gaming reaches the same level of accessibility as console or PC gaming, there is still a long way to go. But each move the company takes will hopefully get it closer to challenging the existing platforms. Given the capabilities of Macs, iPads, and iPhones, there’s no reason why Apple enthusiasts can’t play amazing games.
