Apple this week quietly held a gaming-focused media event in New York City. The event is said to have focused on showing off things like Game Mode in iOS 18, the new M4 iPad Pro performance, and more.
Macotakara detailed the event, which was held on July 10, in a blog post today. On display at the NYC event were the iPhone 15 Pro Max, M4 iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac. Some of the iPhone 15 Pro Max was demo units were paired with controllers from Backbone. There were also PlayStation DualSense controllers from Sony available for Mac and iPad gaming demos as well.
Among the games shown off by Apple during this event were:
Rseident Evil 7 Biohazard
Valheim
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Diablo Immortal
Zenless Zone Zero
Palworld
The event also focused on the new gaming features coming as part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 this year. iOS 18, for example, brings Game Mode to the iPhone for the first time. Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit is also now available to let developers port macOS games to iOS. iOS 18 expands AirPods Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking to gaming with reduced audio latency.
Apple held a similar event for members of the press and influencers last year, offering a look at games coming to iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac. Following last year’s event, there were a number of articles and social media posts from those in attendance. So far, this story from Macotaka is the only write up from this year’s event.
Over the last several years, particularly with the advent of Apple silicon for the Mac, Apple has ramped up its emphasis on gaming across all of its platforms.
A new rumor today reiterates the expectation that iOS 18 will be compatible with all the same devices as iOS 17. For iPadOS 18, however, Apple is planning to drop support for several older generation devices.
iOS 18 device compatibility
Today’s rumor comes after an initial rumor last month offered our first look at iOS 18 device compatibility. At the time, however, we cautioned skepticism because the rumor was posted and quickly deleted, suggesting the source wasn’t confident in their claims.
In what seems to be a more concrete rumor today, shared on social media by a private account with a strong track record, here’s which devices will be compatible with iOS 18:
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 mini
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone XS
iPhone XS Max
iPhone XR
iPhone SE (2nd generation)
iPhone SE (3rd generation)
For those keeping track at home, this means that iOS 18 will be compatible with all the same devices as iOS 17.
Other than those changes, iPadOS 18 will be compatible with the same devices as iPadOS 17. This includes the iPad (7th generation), which was first introduced in 2019 and is powered by the A10 Fusion chip.
iPadOS 18 compatibility:
iPad: 2019 and later
iPad mini: 2019 and later
iPad Air: 2019 and later
iPad Pro 2018 and later
This is a bit odd. The iPad Pro (10.5-inch) and iPad Pro (12.9-inch) (2nd generation) are both powered by the A10X Fusion processor, and will reportedly be dropped by iPadOS 18. The iPad (7th generation), meanwhile, is powered by the A10 Fusion and will reportedly support iPadOS 18.
Update March 04,2024 8:43am PT: Beats Solo 4 are not expected to launch for several more weeks, according to a source familiar with the matter. No word on when to expect new iPads.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that Apple stores are planning a minor refresh this week, but he believes it to be for a new accessory, rather than a major new product.
He says that a bigger refresh is expected the following week, and it sounds like that one may point to the new iPads we’re expecting to be announced any day now, alongside the just-announced M3 MacBook Air models …
New accessory may be Beats Solo 4 headphones
Gurman doesn’t give any clue as to what the new accessory may be, but we recently found images of an unannounced Beats Solo 4 in the internal files of the latest build of iOS 17.4.
A few additional points: retail stores are low on MacBook Airs and iPad Pros; Stores are planning a minor refresh for this week (I think it's a new accessory rather than a new product); Stores are planning a larger refresh early next week (which sounds more product-related). https://t.co/kUkeYjT4rK
Certainly an update to the Solo 3 is long overdue.
It’s been a long time since Apple introduced Beats Solo 3 – more specifically, it was unveiled in September 2016 alongside the first generation of AirPods. It was the first Beats headphone to feature Apple’s W1 chip for fast pairing with Apple devices.
The new model will include USB-C, and support Spatial Audio. The images we discovered suggest that the new model will be available in black, blue, and pink.
New iPad Pro models
Gurman had earlier suggested that the new iPads we’re expecting will be announced via press release, rather than in a launch event. MacRumors said its own source backed this, with the announcements expected this week.
We’re expecting new iPad Pro models with OLED screens.
The biggest change to the new iPad Pro models will be a switch to OLED screens. Currently, the 11-inch iPad Pro uses an LCD screen with conventional backlighting. In fact, the 11-inch iPad Pro has used the same display panel since it was first introduced in 2018.
This year, the entire iPad Pro lineup will unify on OLED displays for the first time. This will also mark the first time that Apple has used OLED displays outside the iPhone and Apple Watch. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro might also get slightly bigger this year, with the screen size increasing to 13 inches.
This is expected to be accompanied by a new version of the Magic Keyboard for iPad, with a sturdier aluminum frame and giving a more MacBook-like look.
New iPad Air
While the iPad Air will stick to LCD screens, we’re expecting to see a new 12.9-inch model – the first time it’s been possible to buy an iPad of this size without opting for the Pro model.
We’re also expecting a new camera bump, still with a single rear camera but with the addition of flash.
Some companies ended up making these briefcase monitor-type accessories, but they were bulky, finicky, and always expensive. But thanks to an update to iPadOS 17, it looks like your iPad can now solve that problem. Here is how to get it done.
How is this possible?
Firstly, the reason this is possible is that one of the new features of iPadOS 17 gives you the ability to use an external camera as a webcam for your iPad. Again this is on iPadOS 17 and it is still in beta, but should be released in mid-September. The way this works is by using an external camera or webcam and basically “playing” it on your iPad, and the result is the ability to use it as your camera instead of the built-in FaceTime camera. Right now this feature only works in the FaceTime app but should become more available in third-party apps like Zoom, Slack, and Teams. Wesley Hilliard, from AppleInsider, wrote that this new camera support also applies to capture cards, which can be used to turn anything into an HDMI in. That is where the magic happens.
What you need
The setup for this is actually extremely simple. It will work with any video game console as long as it has an HDMI out. As tested it with my PS4 and my Nintendo Switch, and it worked amazingly. But below are the software and items needed to get this going.
Any iPad with a USB-C port (does not work with lightning port iPads)
Must be on iPadOS 17
Video Capture Card
Video game console of choice
Capture Pro App (currently in testflight but free to sign up to use)
Optional: USB-C hub to charge your iPad and use Capture Card
As mentioned, the iPad needs to be on iPadOS 17 to support this feature. You also need to make sure to download the Capture Pro App. It is currently in testing, so just hit this link, make sure to download Testflight, and then you can sign up to test Capture Pro for free, and it works immediately. It will eventually make it onto the regular app store once iPadOS 17 goes live to the public.
How to use your iPad as a game console display
Now that we have all the hardware we need, we can start to set this up. As stated, this is the easy part. Just connect your console to power, and run the plug the capture card into the HDMI cable. Plug the HDMI side to the console, and the capture card side to the iPad. Turn on the console, open the Capture Pro app, tap the “reload” button, and you are live!
What You will love about this is also just how well it works! The audio of the video game defaults to the iPad Pro speakers, which is outstanding! There is also ZERO latency. Since this isn’t remote play or cloud gaming, you are directly connected to the console which allows for no latency while playing. On top of all of this, since you are using an App to display this through the Capture Pro App, it supports stage manager. So you could have the gameplay in one window and have Twitter or some walkthrough website up in another window while playing. Be sure to watch the hands-on video to see this in real-time.
Wrap-up
I think this is a very cool feature, and I can’t wait to see what this could mean for portable consoles in the future. It is not unheard of to put your Xbox, iPad, and controller in a bag for a week-long trip. You would be able to get some series gaming done. Combine that with the amazing iPad Pro ProMotion display, and you will be gaming at 120FPS on the go.
This is still in beta but so far I have had zero issues at all. If you want to give it a try, all you really need to do is buy that capture card if you don’t have one, and you should have everything you need.
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