gaming

Looking to level up your Apple ecosystem? The Mac mini packs serious punch in a pint-sized package that’ll make you wonder how you ever lived without it. Apple users love the little desktop machine — as our roundup of best Mac mini setups below shows.  

Early benchmark scores for the A19 Pro chip in the just-announced iPhone 17 Pro show a whopping 40% increase in graphics performance compared to last year’s model. The boost in overall performance isn’t nearly so dramatic, however.

We also have a preliminary benchmark for the A19 in the base model iPhone 17, and it’s apparently going to be just slightly faster than its most recent predecessor.

The new Maono DM40 Pro Wireless Gaming Microphone brings professional-grade audio quality and cool features like AI voice effects, the company said Tuesday. Also sporting Apple-esque design sensibilities, the new mic looks like a great companion for your Mac gaming and streaming setup. And you can get 10% off right now, too.

The Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro is a retro-style gaming console preloaded with more than 70,000 classic games. It also lets you use your favorite streaming apps to watch videos. It’s great for any household — and a perfect gift for any gamer on your list.

This retro games and streaming console is on sale now for just $89.97 with free shipping. However, that deep discount won’t last much longer.

Sennheiser’s latest offering are the new HD 550 open-back headphones, designed to bridge the gap between audiophile-grade sound quality and gaming performance, the company said Wednesday. For Mac users who demand great audio whether they’re working with Logic Pro, enjoying Apple Music with lossless audio or diving into the latest Apple Arcade titles, these headphones promise to deliver a compelling listening experience.

“Audiophiles looking for featherlight headphones with honest voicing and deep bass extension are in for a treat,” said Sennheiser Audiophile Product Manager Klas Hanselmann. “While the HD 550’s airy detail is obvious, customers will fall in love with its delightfully polite touch — perfect for listening for hours on end.”

For people who have only used membrane keyboards in office and at home, whether Magic Keyboard or similar wares from the likes of Logitech, mechanical keyboards can be a tempting world to check out — especially for gamers (because mechanical keystrokes hit at the same time won’t cancel each other out). And mech-keeb customization can be fun. But where to start? Today’s MacBook Pro and gaming PC setup puts forward an excellent candidate for an affordable mechanical keyboard.

The updated version of Capcom’s classic Resident Evil 2 horror game can now be played on recent iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. And the cost has been slashed by 75% for a short time.

It’s the latest in the long-running series to hit Apple devices.

Apple is set to bolster Apple Arcade gaming with three exciting new titles in September. NFL Retro Bowl ’25 headlines the additions. It’s an exclusive collaboration between the National Football League and the creators of the popular App Store game Retro Bowl.

The new Scuf Nomad makes playing advanced games on your iPhone much more fun by adding physical buttons, triggers and sticks. It’s designed to go where you go, and works on nearly every iPhone.

The controller emphasizes customization, allowing you to change what the buttons do even if the game itself doesn’t support that. And there are rear paddles in addition to all the usual controls.

I happily played hours of games on the Nomad — here’s what it’s like to use.

VPNs are beneficial for gamers and streaming viewers, but they also enhance security and ensure privacy while you’re online, making them useful for all internet users.

Below we look at whether Mac users need to use a VPN device. We also provide information for those questioning VPN safety and wanting to how to choose a service that improves online security and privacy. One big question many users have is whether a free service offers the kind of protection you’re looking for while online. According to software reviews expert Aleksander Stevanovic, free VPNs don’t necessarily enhance security but might actually compromise your system. So, should you use a paid alternative? Let’s find out.

Aiming to maximize your mobile gaming setup? You’ll need the right monitor to do that. And for a limited time, we’re offering special pricing on an impressive upgrade. Featuring a 144Hz refresh rate, this 16-inch UXbox 2K portable monitor is currently available for only $219.99 (regularly $329) with no coupon required.

That’s more than 30% off a product that is primed to provide immersive gameplay on the go via versatile connectivity.

Not being huge PC gamers, we aren’t particularly familiar with NZXT, a company based in Los Angeles that makes high-performance gaming PCs and the gear that goes with them. So when we saw today’s M1 Mac mini setup looking like a giant ad for NZXT, we thought we’d give it a look. The user loves his NZXT Relay lineup of gear, including powerful speakers and a wired headset with a surprisingly functional stand.

Serious gamers will soon have a compact and highly equipped new input device to try — the Logitech Pro X 60 Lightspeed Gaming Keyboard. The Swiss peripherals giant said this week it designed the sleek board with leading gamers.

Drop, owned by gaming powerhouse Corsair, rolled out the compact new CSTM65, a 65% mechanical keyboard, the company said Wednesday. It allows a high degree of personalization much like the larger, recently released CSTM80.

Believe it or not, a video game you know and love could turn into a fulfilling, lifelong career. And we’re not just talking about esports, where pro gamers compete for cash and prestige. For instance, driving simulator Gran Turismo could set you up for success on a real racetrack. Or factory simulator Satisfactory could prepare you for a role in project management.

The Apple A3 series processors make the latest Macs into powerful gaming machines. And macOS Sonoma includes tools to make porting PC games to Mac much easier. As a gamer myself, these are very welcome moves.

But right now, Apple is taking a “build it and they will come” attitude. History shows there’s an important step needed to turn Mac into a serious competition for PC and gaming consoles: CEO Tim Cook and Co. need to put their money where their mouths are and financially encourage top game developers to bring their products to macOS.

That might even include buying one or more game developers.

Apple said Tuesday it will add four new games and more than 30 updates and events to Apple Arcade in August.

New games include a revival of Sega’s classic rhythm game Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go, puzzle games Nekograms+ and Kingdoms: Merge & Build, and indie puzzle-remix game finity.

“Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go is coming soon to Apple Arcade with exciting new songs and a series first Story Mode only found on the service,” said Ian Curran, president and chief operating officer of Sega of America.

Razer, known for gaming gear, sounded off Tuesday with its first in-ear monitors (IEM) — Razer Moray.

Designed for gamers and streamers, the new wired earbuds emphasize THX-certified audio, natural noise isolation and lightweight comfort for long gaming and streaming sessions, the company said.

A stealth announcement at WWDC23 is that Apple has significantly lowered the barrier of entry to port PC games to the Mac. A new Game Porting Toolkit “provides an emulation environment to run your existing, unmodified Windows game,” says Aiswariya Sreenivassan — a GPU, graphics and displays software engineer at Apple.

It’s a big gap to clear, which is why the Mac has been left behind in recent years. PC games are compiled for the Intel x86 architecture that the Mac just finished moving away from. The unified Apple silicon architecture bears little resemblance to the standard gaming PC with discrete graphics cards and memory. Apple’s Metal 3 library is very different from DirectX, Unity, Unreal and Vulkan — the usual suspects across the computing pond.

Apple’s new tools could open the floodgates for Mac ports of popular PC games. According to a game engine programmer I spoke with, the Game Porting Toolkit demo is “really impressive.” If the tools work as well in practice as in Apple’s demo, they “would be incredibly useful,” said the developer, who works for a major game developer and asked to remain anonymous.

Ugreen unveiled its new 6-in-1 USB Steam Deck Dock Thursday, saying it provides gamers with a range of high-speed connectivity, 4K@60Hz output and fast charging.

And it’s on sale at Amazon. See below.

We could all use more space on our devices and a bit more fun and flair for said storage. The Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive combines a massive 2TB of storage with RGB LED lighting, and it’s now on sale for only $69.99 (regularly $104).

The Gamevice Flex is an iPhone game controller that mimics the design of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con with the controls set on either side of the display. Similar iPhone controllers make you take the case off your handset to play but the Flex wraps around the handset even if it’s in a protective case.

The wired controller includes a full set of buttons, sticks, bumpers, etc. so you can enjoy games like Fortnite from Xbox Cloud Gaming or similar services, or almost anything from Apple Arcade.

I spent quite a few hours testing Gamevice Flex – here’s why I like it.

Steelseries, known for gaming headsets, has jumped into the desktop speakers pool with a big splash. Its new Arena line of desktop speakers is the company’s first product of that type.

And it includes what the company calls the world’s first 5.1 surround sound speakers you can run with a single USB connection to a Mac, PC, gaming console or TV.

In the very near future Apple Arcade will lose 15 games, according to a new section in the Arcade area of the App Store labeled as “Leaving Arcade Soon.”

So if you subscribe to Apple Arcade or think you might — it’s $4.99 a month — consider downloading those games before they’re gone.

And according to new information about the situation, some games may return, but Apple Arcade subscribers who had them will have to re-download them.

Microsoft confirmed Friday it’s developing a low-cost streaming device that would allow users to play Xbox games and stream media without needing a full console. That could directly compete with Apple TV.

Meanwhile, Apple’s product — sometimes criticized as overpriced — may see a less-expensive iteration later this year, according to analysts.