Mobile gaming has become the craze nowadays. If anyone said that Call of Duty multiplayer games could be played from the convenience of one’s smartphones a decade ago, many would have rolled their eyes or raised their eyebrows. Now, we have serious and highly competitive esports leagues centered around playing games on a smartphone. Even lower-midrange devices can play triple-A equivalent titles such as Genshin Impact. Given the monstrous raw processing power of the A15 Bionic in Apple’s latest smartphones paired with supreme optimization, it comes as no surprise that these devices absolutely crush any game that attempts to stand in their way. Even an iPhone from 2-3 years ago will still perform splendidly. Knowing this, it’s about time that the company turns its iPhone into a legitimate portable console with the rumored Apple Game Controller.

Hold your horses. Right now, Apple has just filed a patent for this invention. It’s labeled as the “magnetically-attachable gaming accessory.” According to the abstract of the patent, the endgoal for the product is an easy-to-use and portable magnetic attachment for Apple devices in order to provide an ergonomic physical interface for gaming.

Contrary to the bevy of options you have for game controllers on Android, there aren’t many third-party options for the iPhone (if any). More often than not, what most do is just connect spare PlayStation or Xbox controllers that they have lying around the house.

This diagram found on the patent looks a little bit like a Nintendo Switch. It would definitely be interesting to see the Apple iPhone magnetically enveloped inside a frame when it’s time to game. The two controls found on either side (124 and 134) don’t look like they’ve been finished though. If Apple does something similar to Nintendo with joycon functionality which will enable split-screen or local multiplayer, that would be an absolute game-breaker.

For some reason, another example resembles a Nintendo 3DS, at least in our perspective. Of course, the top screen is substantially larger than the bottom one. If there’s room for a gamepad though, then this would make playing games so much more convenient rather than tapping on the screen directly. We just hope that the connection between the controller and the device is stable enough for competitive play (since most looking to buy controllers are likely to have that in mind).

We’ll have to wait and see for updates on the Apple Game Controller. The UNBOX PH team will be closely monitoring this situation to see if there are any updates within the near future.