The iPhone 15 Pro Max Feels Like Apple’s Own Gaming Smartphone

So, there’s been one big point of discussion with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and it’s applications for gaming. Unlike the base 15 lineup for the phones, a lot of focus is on the Pro Max’s A17 Pro chip, set to run console releases like Resident Evil Village on the same device I use to order cheat-day meals. It’s kind of a huge deal when it comes to mobile games- who just a decade ago would have been viewed as nothing but chibi sprites and rhythm games.

Yet, having spent time with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, you can feel just how far mobile games have come. From the USB-C ports to the controller support to, well, the chip, there’s all the building blocks of a good time with the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Gaming on the iPhone 15 Pro Max

So, does it run games? Short answer, yes. Your standard hallmarks of mobile games all run excellently on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, from diminutive casual games to the more resource-hungry Genshin Impact.

What’s really impressive is the kind of games you can run here. Aside from your usual suite of mobile titles, there’s also the Pro Max’ console game lineup. Having put some time into Resident Evil Village, I’m incredibly optimistic about the future catalogue of titles on the device. The engine handles the game surprisingly well, looking great on the phone screen.

What really caught me off-guard though is the actual graphics settings- just like on a console release there’s a performance and visual mode, letting you kill werewolves and run from 8-foot-tall vampires at 60fps if your heart so desires. Right off the bat the game looks stellar- Resident Evil Village is a title remembered for a lot of it’s character animation, and it’s impressive to see them uncompromised when Capcom brought the game to iPhone.

Sure, if you hyperfocus you may notice Mia’s hair is a bit more solid than it was on PS5, or some textures are not as crisply detail as they’d be on a device more than six times the size, but I think those are all negligible when it comes to actually having the title run at all. Don’t try to be greedy with the settings, though- as someone who tried to lock the framerate to 60 without changing anything else you’re sure to struggle once the game puts a gun in your hand.

While it defaults to on-screen controls I really recommend getting a controller. You’re playing the console version of Resident Evil Village, and that means you’re going to want to have proper controls- not just on screen buttons for what the game asks of you. There’s also the heating- with great power comes some heating issues, so if you’re going for a long session I really recommend not needing to touch the phone.

Other Mobile Titles

Knowing that the iPhone 15 Pro Max already handles its console gaming well, there’s also plenty to say about your regular mobile titles. Most of that can be summarized as the following: excellent.

60fps is an easily attainable benchmark, letting you combo with your characters to your hearts content in the resurgent mobile action genre. I’m not too surprised it runs this well- last year’s 14 Pro Max was already excellent for gaming, and with the lofty console-level aspirations of running games like Resident Evil Village, it stands to reason that we’d see it handling the mobile landscape plenty well.

That being said, the max-settings-max-framerate Genshin dream remains just that. Even with Apple’s strongest iPhone yet, it looks like Genshin Impact’s maximum settings are just a little too strong for it- and you’re going to get things like slowdowns and frame drops. I don’t think that’s a knock against the phone itself- it plays 99% of things incredibly well, it just continues the persistent question of which phone Max-Setting-Genshin is actually for.

For the rest of the HoYoverse catalog, it runs pretty well- Star Rail and Honkai Impact 3rd both run at max settings just fine, and the turn-based nature of the former means that you can enjoy the extra lavish animations without having to worry about response time.

Transforming Into A Console

Where the iPhone 14 Pro Max really shines, though, is with its new USB-C port. The phone supports external monitors, letting you essentially turn it into a mini console to play. Just get a HDMI to USB-C adapter and you can have your monitors mirroring your phone screen while you play on a controller.

While it may seem like a novelty or a party trick, I actually do recommend playing games this way- not just because it’s an impressive feat for a smartphone, but also because of its biggest drawback- heating. Despite being much lighter than its predecessor and designed with cooling in mind, the iPhone 15 Pro Max can get very hot- thanks in part to the aluminum frame. It’s hotter than you’d expect for most phones, and when playing with it in my hands its not uncommon to feel some discomfort, especially on the side buttons.

That being said the heat itself doesn’t cause any performance issues- so plugging it in really is an optimal way to just grind your dailies and not worry about the discomfort of a hot phone. I don’t think it’s entirely fair to blame a device for running too hot if it’s not also chugging- though I do wish there was some sort of official cooling pad to come with the phone.

Closing Thoughts

While iPhones have typically presented themselves as jack-of-all-trades devices, it’s really nice to see some sort of gaming affinity with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Just seeing Resident Evil Village run well is a great first impression- I hope this means that we’re going to see more big titles make their way here too. The amount of times I’ve thought I’d rather be running around Castle Dimitrescu instead of being in a boring meeting is more than zero- and it’s nice to see that fantasy realized.

If you’re using an outdated model, you’re definitely sure to feel the quality in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s the case with most iPhones- version-to-version you won’t see as much an improvement, but if you’re like me and the type to hold out for years it’s definitely a big enough gap to make it worth its asking price.

That being said, the 15 Pro Max is really a case of more luxury features rather than an improved baseline performance. Mobile games as a whole are optimized enough that they’ll run well on most devices, and the iPhone Pro Max models are all good enough at running games at higher settings that there’s not much more room to improve, save for the seemingly impossible peak of Genshin. I’m more interested in what doors this will open up, particularly with Apple Arcade- knowing that they’ve made a more powerful phone could potentially mean even bigger and better games for it. Still, getting to see one of the first modern triple-A releases running on the device is something else, and it feels like gaming on your phone is about to mean a lot of new things for users.

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