Apple’s recently announced iOS 14, macOS, iPadOS 14, and tvOS promise several major improvements that could make gaming on them feel more like playing on a console or PC.
Apple released new details about its upcoming operating systems this week, including a rash of new game-controller support functions, like button remapping, rumble, and motion controls. As long as developers code those features into their games, players with traditional game controllers will be able to swap their buttons, feel vibrations during gameplay, and more.
On games that support Sony’s DualShock 4 controllers, developers can set the Lightbar at the top to change colors based on a character’s health. They can also let players use the DualShock 4’s touchpad for finger tracking.
That may not seem like much to console players who have had those features for years, but until now, features most players take for granted on console games haven’t been available to iOS, tvOS, or macOS players.
The updates are part of a broader set of gaming improvements Apple unveiled in this year’s software updates. A new Game Center makes it easier to find friends to play with and access leaderboards and achievements. Apple also said that it’s finally allowing Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 to work with iOS-based games. The company didn’t say, however, whether Sony and Microsoft controllers for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will also work with the new operating systems.
In addition to console controller support, PC players will find a home on Apple’s iPad with dramatically improved keyboard and mouse functionality. Apple’s iPadOS already works with keyboard and mice, but the experience has been less than stellar. Players can’t hit multiple keys on a keyboard, for instance. And clicking with a mouse tends to be more trouble than it’s worth. Apple’s update aims at addressing that.
Apple unveiled its new operating systems at its first virtual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday. All of the updates will be available later this year as free downloads, but developers can start building the new functions into their games now. Check out our full rundown on all of Apple’s announcements at the event.
Affinity’s new all-in-one creative app is finally coming to the iPad, nearly a year after Canva launched the redesigned desktop version for Mac and Windows. Creatives have been asking for the iPad release ever since, especially because files created in the new Affinity app cannot be opened in the older V2 iPad apps.
Affinity already has Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps on iPad, but the new release combines those tools into the same unified app that Canva launched on desktop last year.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage