Fortnite Now Runs at 60 FPS on A12 iPhones

Richard Leadbetter, writing for Eurogamer:

When Fortnite first appeared on iPhone, we were quick to laud a genuine technological achievement — a visually cut-down version of the full game that was still recognisably Fortnite, that played the same way, that run the same code and allowed users to buddy up with their friends running on console and PC. Recently, Epic took the mobile version of Fortnite to the next level; the latest iOS devices run the game smoothly at 60 frames per second, just like their console equivalents — and the story of how that became possible is absolutely fascinating.

The truth is that aside from minor modifications to unlock the frame-rate and add the option to the game’s menu system, no substantial code revamp was required at all. Fortnite on the latest iPhones runs at 60 frames per second simply by virtue of the new Apple A12 Bionic silicon - or rather its increased power and crucially, its superior thermal performance.

An interesting real-world measure of how far ahead of the rest of the industry Apple’s chip team is. How long will it be before Fortnite runs at 60 FPS on high-end Android phones?

★ Thursday, 27 December 2018