[Toutouxc]

> Game Mode is coming to iPhone, minimizing background activity to ensure the highest frame rates.

This might just be me, but this thing doesn’t feel very Apple-like to me. I always liked how a MacBook would run exactly the same whether connected to the wall or on battery power. There were no modes, no management, no battery strategies to choose from like on Windows, the machine was just powerful when needed and efficient when idle.

Now we have both High power and Low power modes on MacBooks and we’re getting “gaming mode” on iPhone? Like, can’t the latest flagship phone just tell? This thing can decide whether to show me my boarding pass, if I’m driving home or to work, but I need to put it in “gaming mode” manually?

[tomjakubowski]

> I always liked how a MacBook would run exactly the same whether connected to the wall or on battery power. There were no modes, no management, no battery strategies to choose from like on Windows

macOS has had power management settings for years and years - used to be branded "Energy Saver"

[Toutouxc]

I’m almost sure that the first actual energy saving (i.e. affecting the CPU) mode was introduced in 2021 with Monterey.

[anamexis]

Intel Macbooks throttled the CPU with SpeedStep since at least i5, maybe earlier.

[Toutouxc]

Yes, but SpeedStep isn’t an optional power-saving mode that you can enable or disable, or that is enabled automatically on battery power.

[mason55]

> but I need to put it in “gaming mode” manually?

No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the point is that the phone does it automatically when you're playing a full screen game.

[cassianoleal]

That's how it works on macOS, so I also expect iOS to do the same.

[tshaddox]

> I always liked how a MacBook would run exactly the same whether connected to the wall or on battery power.

Is this true of Apple Silicon Macs? From my memory, Intel Macs did the normal Intel frequency scaling stuff, but perhaps I've got that wrong.

[nicce]

There is manual low power mode, which slows the machine.

But if you don't not enable it, you don't see the difference.

[Toutouxc]

Yes, but at least on my last Intel MacBook (2013) this didn’t depend on the battery source.

[mvdtnz]

When I plug in my work MacBook Pro it is noticeable faster and the screen brightens. There are definitely some kinds of battery modes.

[_yb2s]

Modern Apple Silicon macbooks have an optional "Low Power Mode" that reduces CPU speed and screen brightness and can be set to apply under different conditions as desired, such as battery only.

[egypturnash]

Mac’s have had “game mode” for a while already. https://support.apple.com/en-us/105118

It turns on pretty much automatically but you can turn it off.