iOS 16 Will Bring Game Center Updates, Text Messaging Improvements, And More To Apple Devices

Apple held its annual WWDC keynote event today, in which the company detailed the upcoming iOS 16 operating system. According to Apple, with iOS 16 comes several improvements to how you will use iOS devices to play games, as well as improvements to how you will generally use your Apple devices.

In terms of gaming, Apple shared that Metal--its low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated 3D graphic and compute shader API--is getting updated to Metal 3, which will improve iPhone, iPad, and Mac gaming capabilities. There will also be a new Background Download API which will allow you to download games in the background while you're doing other things in a simpler way.

Game Center is receiving an update that will let you share and see the gaming activity of the people on your friends list and make it easier to track and compare high scores. SharePlay features will also now extend to games to make it easier to play games with friends live. All of these features will come to all apple devices, iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and Apple desktops later this year.

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Apple also revealed new games coming to Mac as well as titles that will be improved thanks to its upcoming M2 chips, which come installed in Apple's new line of MacBook Airs. To showcase the M2 chip, Apple brought out Capcom's advanced technical research division manager, Maseru Ijuin, to share some details about Resident Evil Village. Thanks to the chip, Capcom's most recent Resident Evil entry is coming to Macs later this year. Though the Mac version won't have any exclusive content or Mac-specific additions, Ijuin did say Capcom has been impressed with Apple's gaming focus recently and said the new Macs, "handle what we throw at them effortlessly." Resident Evil Village will be coming to Macs later this year, alongside No Man's Sky, which was also briefly showcased. Baldur's Gate 3 also received a very brief but notable callout.

Apple also revealed new games coming to Mac as well as titles that will be improved thanks to its upcoming M2 chips, which come installed in Apple's new line of MacBook Airs.

Of course, Apple spent most of its time sharing other exciting, non-gaming details about iOS 16. The lock screen on your iPhone is getting a significant overhaul, with more customization options and live panels that will share real-time updates of your choosing. Apple used sports game updates as an example, but it's likely these panels could also share update details about your favorite mobile games.

Text messaging is also getting some long-requested updates with the ability to mark text messages as unread, edit text messages, and recall text messages you have already sent.

Apple did not share a release date for iOS 16, but says will be available this fall for iPhone 8 and later models.