The Mac failed in this area; will Apple's iPhone 16 succeed? Thoughts…

At the recent iPhone 16 event something stood out to me – the same thing I've been noticing Apple mention more and more. And no, it wasn't the hot topic of the year – AI (or Apple Intelligence, in this case), and it wasn't the new camera button.

It was that Apple is trying harder and harder to attract video game publishers and developers to port their triple-A games to the iPhone. Not just that, but the Cupertino company really wants you to know that the iPhone is, on top of all else – a capable console-grade handheld gaming device.

Notice I was careful not to say "mobile gaming," but "handheld gaming," as mobile gaming implies short, touch-screen games meant for (usually addictive) casual entertainment on the go.

But handheld gaming implies a Steam Deck competitor, a Nintendo Switch competitor, an ROG Ally competitor…

And as a daily Steam Deck user, and a huge fan of it – it got me thinking – is this a joke? Or is it a promising attempt to position the iPhone as a serious gaming console, alongside those others mentioned?

I love my Steam Deck; could the iPhone actually replace it?

The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming PC that runs Linux, and is developed by Valve, which owns Steam – the largest video game digital distribution service. You may also know Valve as the maker of the Half-Life and Portal video game series.

The Steam Deck starts at a very reasonable price of $399, considering it's a powerful handheld gaming PC, capable of running even some of the heaviest triple-A games, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

It's a purpose-built device, and it's great at its job; it took the world by storm, and single-handedly caused a spike in the handheld gaming PC industry.

And Apple seems to have taken notice. Or, at the very least, had planned to get its iPhone in there for a while.

According to the healthy fruit logo company, the A18 chip on the new iPhone 16 "benefits world class gaming." The phone's new thermal design is supposed to keep it cool and able to perform under heavy (triple-A gaming) loads for longer, without throttling. In Apple's words, that's "up to 30% higher sustained performance for gaming."

The phone also supports ray tracing, which is a pretty popular term in modern gaming, essentially a technique for achieving far more realistic lighting and reflections in modern games, than what we've had before.

Apple, you have the hardware, but…

In that latest iPhone 16 event, to demonstrate its new phone's ray tracing capabilities Apple showcased a game called War Thunder Mobile. And this is where my first major red flag stems from, when I try to look at the iPhone as a serious Steam Deck (or any handheld gaming PC) competitor – mobile games?

No, Apple, we'll need some actual console games, modern ones, ported to the iPhone, and in an ideal world – an official iPhone gamepad accessory for them.

Likely aware of that, or at least the first half, Apple was quick to also mention that the iPhone 16 will also obviously support the triple-A console games that we previously had on iPhone 15.

Those more notably include Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil Village, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Death Stranding, and… not many others.

See, this is the main problem – the amount of modern triple-A games you can play on your shiny new iPhone is nowhere near what you can play on a Steam Deck (tens of thousands), or a Nintendo Switch (also thousands)...

We clearly have Capcom and Ubisoft as publishers willing to port their triple-A games to the iPhone, but we'll need a whole lot more for it to become a handheld gaming replacement serious gamers might want to consider.

And that's a hard task. Should Apple succeed in attracting more publishers and developers, and in turn deliver more console games to its smartphones, the iPhone will indeed become significantly more attractive to people like me.

I don't like that I'm forced to use a Windows gaming PC if I want to experience the latest and greatest games. The Steam Deck is filling that void for me, with its far more debloated and purpose-built Linux-based operating system, not to mention its massive library of essentially Windows games that just work on it, via a compatibility layer…

In short, I want Apple's iPhone to succeed in this increasingly more visible endeavor.

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Apple's MacOS greatly failed to compete with Windows in triple-A gaming; does the iPhone have a real shot at Apple gaming redemption?

We all know Windows remains the dominant gaming platform for those of us gamers who don't own an Xbox or a PlayStation. Linux is increasingly gaining popularity too, spearheaded by the Steam Deck.

Apple's desktop operating system, MacOS, however, never achieved even close to such triple-A gaming heights, and that's a harsh truth Apple obviously doesn't want you to remember, or notice it's still the case.

But I believe the iPhone has a shot. If Apple manages to attract more publishers to start releasing their games to the iPhone, alongside the usual PC, Xbox and PlayStation, its smartphone could really gain from it. Us gamers on the go will too.

Perhaps in a perfect world (and I know this likely won't happen) Apple could team up with Valve and develop a compatibility layer for Steam games to run on the iPhone, similarly to how they run on the Steam Deck.

But since we don't live in a perfect world, the best we could hope for is simply more modern triple-A games coming to the iPhone, even if they won't be in the tens of thousands, or likely even just thousands.

In any case – keep it up, Apple. I noticed; a lot of us noticed.

Would you play triple-A games on your iPhone, if it had more of those, and a compact, official gamepad?

Now, I know unless you've played the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch, you might not see value in having "real" console-grade games on the go; in this case – on your phone.

I've heard the arguments – "What's the point in playing on a small screen? Why not just play on your computer or console, and on your TV?"

The point is convenience.

Not everyone has a gaming console, or a computer at home that's powerful enough to run the latest triple-A games.

In addition, the convenience of being able to carry your long, in-depth, often cinematic and greatly engaging experiences in your pocket can be quite magical. You can immerse yourself in your favorite game on the go, or in your bed, without needing anything more than the phone you already have in your pocket.

With that in mind – what do you think about this? Will Apple succeed in turning the iPhone into at least a remotely attractive handheld triple-A gaming device? And whether it does or not – do you want this?

Would you play, say, Cyberpunk 2077, or whichever your favorite game is, if it were available on your iPhone, an icon tap away? Again – with a gamepad you can slot your iPhone into, of course…