Apple is pushing mobile gaming to rival video game consoles. But how do the phones match up?

For years, phone games followed a formula. They typically required only a few taps to play, were often tied to social media and grossed billions. Recent sensation Monopoly GO!, true to its name, earned more than $2 billion for owner Hasbro in its opening months.

But lately, Apple has been flipping that script. While its App Store continues to offer hundreds of thousands of more traditional mobile games, it’s also catered to big-name developers — bringing new console games like “Resident Evil” and, most recently, “Assassin’s Creed Mirage” to iOS. The newest iPhone and iPad have powerful enough chips to run these games. And even if they can’t match the fidelity of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, they far outclass the 8-year-old Nintendo Switch.

In fact, when paired with an attachable controller like the Backbone, the iPhone even resembles a slimmer Switch Lite. But just trust me; don’t keep it attached for hours like I did — even if you can throw it into your jacket pocket. It’s much harder to use as a proper phone when it’s encircled by buttons!

I spend most of my gaming hours on PC and consoles, but since Apple loaned me an iPhone for this project, I’ve steadily increased my mobile gaming diet — all while cajoling Here & Now’s Scott Tong to sample Apple Arcade, the company’s game subscription service. Arcade certainly has some bangers, from the adorable stealth game “Sneaky Sasquatch,” to the hilarious “What the Car!” to the classic, Escheresque “Monument Valley.”

While these games are built for small screens, the “Resident Evil 4” remake fits the shrunken dimensions rather uneasily. It ran relatively well (honestly, about as well as the PC version ran on my Steam Deck), but many of its details didn’t translate to a six-inch screen despite its high resolution and bright OLED pixels. The game’s omnipresent shadows obscured just a bit too much; all but the closest enemies were a bit too small to make out. These problems compound with on-screen controls since your fingers will leave very little real estate to play comfortably.

But I’d still recommend this version of “Resident Evil 4” to curious iPhone owners with no other means to play it. It’s cinematic enough that you could cruise through on lower difficulties and still get a pulse-pounding experience. That’s really who Apple’s trying to recruit anyway — not the freaks like me who already have a half-dozen gaming devices, but a fraction of their vast user base interested in a more accessible entry point into the hobby. The extra dollars the Apple faithful might spend on such services could help offset slowing iPhone sales, after all.

Apple’s latest gaming push — not just on iOS but on Mac too — also recalls an earlier era: when CEO Steve Jobs courted PC gamers in the 1990s, only to later lose them to Microsoft. This time around, Apple has the technological advantage, with whip-fast processors and pristine picture quality.

The tech giant’s hopping aboard an accelerating train. Nearly a decade ago, the Nintendo Switch proved that folks wanted to play meatier games on the go. Valve’s Steam Deck, while more niche, continued the trend in 2022. Just this month, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer intimated that the company was looking into a handheld device of its own.

The iPhone 15 is already positioned as a rival — and the upcoming iPhone 16 will only be more of one. At roughly $1,000, it’s not a very attractive alternative to buying a $300 Switch or $400 dollar Steam Deck as a pure gaming device. But if you already like iPhones, Apple’s betting that their new gaming potential can be one more reason to win your business.