Playing triple-A games on Apple's smartphones probably isn't your go-to gaming method, but the fact that Death Stranding runs on an iPhone is still wild. The iPhone 17 should be a stepping stone in this area, merging the gap between console and mobile closer than before. And it might just be possible, as new leaks allege that the forthcoming handset is getting a major RAM upgrade, aping that of Xbox's humble yet scaled-back console.
Prolific leaker Digital Chat Station recently claimed in a Weibo post that the iPhone 17 will rely more heavily on Apple Intelligence AI at a "large scale," thanks to its pairing with at least 12 GB of RAM. They add that pairing the A19 Pro with TSMC's N3p node should significantly boost performance. The A19 processor should vastly improve performance, speed, and energy efficiency across the entire iPhone 17 series.
Hopefully, it means I can start leaving my trusty power bank at home. The upgrade to 12 GB of RAM is a notable improvement, though. At present, even the best iPhones contain only 8 GB. Sure, it's decent, but you can easily find more than that in gaming phones like the RedMagic 10 Air at a fraction of the price. Comparatively, it'd overcome the Xbox Series S and my preferred portable gaming console, the Asus ROG Ally Z1, purely on the RAM front.
Whether this upgrade is the foundation for the base iPhone 17 is unknown. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple reserves it for the iPhone 17 Pro while letting the standard iPhone 17 continue with the iPhone 16's 8 GB setup, much in the same way that the brand reserves 120Hz refresh rates for its premium models.
It'd certainly stick out as an upselling point for the Pro model, especially when paired with the Pro iteration of the A19 chipset. But is it enough to warrant Apple's typically hefty price point?
Cheaper alternatives like the Nothing Phone 3a offer fantastic gaming experiences at a similar spec point, albeit without completely breaking the bank. I'd like to see Apple lean into cultivating experiences like the fantastic Backbone app or RedMagic's Game Space, giving players a handy hub for all their games. Something like Asus' Armoury Crate wouldn't go amiss either. There were rumors of an iPhone Games app last year, but we've not heard much in the way of updates since.
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