Last week, Apple officially introduced the latest additions to the iPhone family, which includes the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max equipped with the company’s 3nm A17 Pro chipset.
We said the launch of those top-performing iPhones marked an “exciting time for mobile gaming.” And now, after seeing actual footage of the Apple iPhone 15 Pro running the full-fledged, console-version of Resident Evil Village while hooked up to an external monitor and connected to a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, it’s pretty clear that the American tech giant is on the path to revolutionize the smartphone industry once again.
Recall that Apple claimed the iPhone 15 is going to be “the best game console” during its keynote event. You can see the iPhone 15 Pro flex its gaming muscles in a video by YouTuber Vincent Zhong, where he played Resident Evil Village at a rock-solid 30 frames per second, with the resolution set to 1,560 x 720 — all while tethered to a bigger display via the iPhone’s USB-C port and a Bluetooth controller.
HOLY SMOKES! For some reason I didn’t think about this when Apple mentioned the iPhone 15’s external monitor support thanks to USB-C..
— Vadim Yuryev (@VadimYuryev) September 20, 2023
But you can now play games at impressively high quality using an external monitor and game controller.
Apple legit just made a gaming console! https://t.co/mbqGqxn8xs pic.twitter.com/2IxLv6GDIY
Legit? The full video can be found here
And though the experience wasn’t perfect — Zhang noted that the screen-mirroring effect was “definitely not as good as on the phone” — running a console-quality game at 30 fps on a smartphone sure is promising, especially with the iOS ports of Resident Evil 4 Remake, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage coming to the Pro variants later this year or early 2024.
Another reason why we’re excited: The RE Engine that has been used to develop Resident Evil Village was also tapped to make the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, Monster Hunter Rise, Devil May Cry 5, and Street Fighter 6, to name a few. It is also being used to develop Exoprimal and the sequel to Capcom’s hit action-RPG Dragon’s Dogma.
Given how versatile the RE Engine is, it’s not a stretch to think that Capcom’s other AAA titles could gradually release on the App Store as well. And that’s just Capcom. Apple is sure to launch more powerful smartphones next year, too. It’s too early to say, obviously, but 2024’s iPhone cycle might introduce us to a full roster of handsets capable of running modern console and PC games. The iPhone 15 is just the start for Apple’s serious foray into mobile gaming.
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