What I’ve seen are kids playing Fortnite and Roblox on whatever tablet they can get their hands on. I’ve also seen adults reveling in anything from Wild Rift and Pokémon GO to Candy Crush and Wordle on whatever phone they already own.
Even the most dedicated gamers I’ve met rarely consider buying a gaming smartphone, including the ones into handheld consoles like the Nintendo Switch. Still, they consider gaming when choosing their phones, opting for the more powerful ones that don’t have the tradeoffs of the specialized models.
While that’s bad news for the likes of RedMagic, it could be good news for Apple’s plans. The company is reportedly going to use a vapor chamber on the foldable iPhone Ultra, enabling better sustained performance of the A20 Pro chipset.
I think that will be one of the several reasons the iPhone Ultra could be not only the ultimate gaming smartphone but also the device that changes our perspective about mobile gaming.
Mobile gaming is already a thing, but gaming smartphones are not
The RedMagic 11S Pro is one of the few gaming phones out there. | Image by PhoneArena
I love shocking people with two facts about the video game industry. First, it generates almost three times the combined revenue of Hollywood and the global music industry. Second, over half of that $200 billion comes from mobile gaming, making mobile games bigger than movies and music combined.Yet, that billion-dollar industry is almost entirely based on devices that people don’t deliberately choose for gaming. In fact, gaming smartphones sell so poorly that Asus stopped making them, and there’s a chance you’ve never heard of RedMagic, despite its class-leading models.
I won’t blame you for this, because gaming phones have little more to offer than great performance. Most of them come with bulky designs, subpar cameras, poor software support, and hefty prices. More importantly, their performance isn’t significantly better than that of leading flagship phones to justify so many compromises.
Apple is already difficult to beat
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is probably the best phone to play games on right now. | Image by PhoneArena
Like it or not, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is probably the best phone you can play mobile games on. While it lacks the advanced cooling of the RedMagic 11S Pro, Apple’s top-tier flagship is fast enough for all but the most demanding mobile gamers.
Even more importantly, games on iOS and iPadOS are generally better optimized than their Android versions. That means you get very reliable, sustained performance regardless of the game you choose to play on your iPhone or iPad.
Apple users are also more likely to get earlier access to new games, and there’s a larger selection of premium titles on iOS. You can also play some AAA games on the latest iPhone models, though Apple still struggles to convince the leading developers to launch more games for its mobile devices.
The iPhone Ultra could make things even better
The iPhone 17 Pro was the first iPhone with vapor chamber. | Image by Apple
While it’s unlikely to outperform the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro Max, the iPhone Ultra is certainly going to have all the necessary hardware to run the latest games with ease. Adding a vapor chamber could help it have much better sustained performance than if it relies solely on passive cooling, which is crucial for longer game sessions.People are already using tablets to play mobile games, and the iPhone Ultra could provide the best of both worlds. You’ll get everything you’d want from a flagship smartphone, plus a tablet-like gaming experience that even the best gaming phones would struggle to compete with.
While the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the other Android foldables are also good for games, they don’t have the advantages of iOS. That means the iPhone Ultra could quickly turn into the best device for mobile gaming on the market, unless you’d rather go the tablet route instead.
The $2,000 problem
If there’s one thing that could hinder the gaming ambitions of the iPhone Ultra, it’s the price. Even with the optimistic $2,000 price tag, the foldable is likely to cost more than an iPhone 18 Pro Max and a Steam Deck combined.
I know I’d opt for a top-tier classic flagship and what’s probably the best handheld console ever made, but that would be a different experience. For everyone who’s deeply into mobile gaming, the iPhone Ultra could be a dream come true. And who wouldn’t spend a couple grand on a dream?
