Happy #NewiPhoneDay, everybody! Apple announced the much-awaited iPhone 15 series at today’s big iPhone event, bringing four new models: the regular iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

As usual, it’s the Pro line that gets the most love — titanium-clad, optical zoom up to 5x on the telephoto lens (and 10x on the ultrawide), more premium-looking, and more powerful and efficient than any smartphone on the market right now. The Pro models are priced from P70,990 (around $1,006) in the Philippines and $799 before taxes in the United States.

Apple says the iPhone 15 is “the best mobile gaming platform in the world,” and it’s hard to argue otherwise, especially with the App Store and Apple Arcade attracting many high-quality games, including the exclusive NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition. And with the launch of the Apple’s 3nm A17 Pro 5G chip on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the Cupertino-based technology giant has doubled-down on that claim, revealing a lineup of AAA titles coming to the Pro variants later this year or early 2024.

The roster includes native, console-quality versions of Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Yes, that’s not a typo. You will be able to play console games on your iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, thanks to Apple’s latest and most advanced chip yet. Let that thought simmer for a bit.

Mobile Gaming on iPhone 15 Pro 😲 pic.twitter.com/baose09c5f

— Call of Duty: Mobile News 📲 (@codmINTEL) September 12, 2023

AAA titles such as native, console-quality versions of Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are coming to the Apple iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max later this year or early 2024

That’s not all: The company also teased hardware-accelerated ray tracing, allowing for the fastest ray-tracing performance on any smartphone — up to 4x faster when compared to software-based solutions on the A16 Bionic, mind you — as well as a more immersive experience when playing compatible games. Additionally, the A17 Pro introduces new software features that take advantage of its CPU power and neural engine to enable better graphics in games like Honkai: Star Rail, Genshin Impact, and The Division Resurgence.

SEE ALSO: Resident Evil Village looks great on the iPhone 15 Pro

If Apple can get more big-name developers and publishers onboard its platform, then pretty soon, the only thing standing between iPhones and Windows-based gaming handhelds is physical storage since Apple devices don’t support storage expansion of any kind. Controllers? Apple already allows you to connect a variety of wireless gamepads, including the Xbox Series X and Sony PS5 DualShock controllers, to iOS devices. Plus, you can stream console-level titles from the Game Pass library on your iPhone if you have a good internet connection and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.

Despite being in the rumor mill for months, the iPhone 15 event has kept a lot of surprises under the table. The gaming side of Apple’s keynote was particularly promising and perhaps more exciting than anything else announced today, at least in our opinion. A lot of people in the industry, us included, have long wondered if Apple would be interested in making a gaming-focused device. Turns out, the answer was in its pocket all along.

The Apple Wonderlust event livestream. Jump to the 1:09:18 mark for the gaming presentation

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