During this week’s iPhone 15 keynote, Apple focused quite a bit on the gaming prowess of its new A17 Pro chip. In a new interview with Taylor Lyles on IGNA trio of Apple executives offer more details about the company’s plans to make the iPhone 15 the “best gaming console” in the world.
The iPhone 15 Pro is powered by the new A17 Pro chip, which focuses heavily on improving GPU performance. The new “pro-class” GPU offers a new 6-core design that Apple says not only improves performance but also energy efficiency. You can expect up to 20% faster GPU performance, along with hardware-accelerated ray tracing for the first time.
To dive deeper into the iPhone 15 Pro’s focus on gaming, IGN sat down with Jeremy Sandmel, Apple’s senior director of GPU software, Tim Millet, vice president of platform architecture, and Kaiann Drance, vice president of worldwide iPhone product marketing.
In the interview, Millet emphasized that Apple’s goal is not necessarily to directly compete with specific consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S. Instead, it is focused on building a platform and tools that directly appeal to game developers:
“I think we are focused on the developers and the game titles. Less about trying to compete with consoles. I think the console is just a convenient way for us to talk about classic games and the types of games we’re targeting, the ones that have been successful in implementing them there. “We have done everything we can to try to offer that same toolbox to developers and we are working hard with them.”
In response to the possibility of the iPhone 15 Pro overheating and not being able to maintain performance in high-intensity games, Drance explained:
“This is part of the benefit of us designing for a specific iPhone model. So at a system level, we can work across teams to understand how the performance we’re enabling works, how it will manifest in actual gameplay, and whether we’ll be able to not only hit those wonderful frames. rates and maximum performance and graphics that Jeremy talked about, but also whether we will be able to maintain them. “I know we do a lot on the SoC side, we do a lot on the software side to make sure this is a great experience.”
Millet added that part also falls on the developer to achieve the perfect balance between performance, quality and more:
The screen itself has some truly amazing scaling technology built into it. The GPU can scale. So with features like ray tracing and mesh shading and this really advanced computing architecture, the developer has access to all of these algorithms to determine what’s the best balance between compute, quality, performance, frame rate, and resolution. And then we bring it all together at the software and system level. We make sure there is a sustainable, high-performance, long-battery-lasting, comfortable-to-hold experience for someone to play these amazing games. That’s why we’ve designed everything for a great gaming experience, including ensuring performance and battery life are sustainable. We believe we have succeeded in doing so.
Sandmel takes note of the old saying that “the best game console is the one you have with you.” But that’s not Apple’s goal this time. Instead, Sandmel believes the iPhone “will be the best gaming console,” bar none.
In addition to the interview itself, it is worth highlighting Apple’s decision to grant a specific interview to IGN. It’s an example of the company stepping outside its usual marketing circles in an attempt to reach a new audience with a particular interest in gaming.
The full interview in IGN It’s worth a read for more details on why Apple is so ambitious in its push into gaming with the iPhone 15 Pro and A17 Pro chip.
We’ve seen Apple try several times to earn its place in the gaming world, but will the iPhone 15 Pro and the new A17 Pro deliver better results than before? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Thanks, Jake!
Follow opportunity: Threads, TwitterInstagram and Mastodon.
FTC: We use automatic affiliate links that generate income. Further.
