The iPhone 17 Pro may pose a significant challenge to gaming phones.

The iPhone 17 Pro is now so good in sustained performance that we kind of no longer need gaming phones.

Apple's iPhone 17 Pro series features a new A19 Pro chipset, and initial tests indicate a substantial improvement over the previous chip. The Pro iPhones also include an upgrade to 12 GB of RAM, creating a compelling device.

However, the primary highlight this year is related to another aspect of the new iPhone: its redesigned structure.

Thanks to an aluminum unibody casing, the iPhone 17 Pro offers considerably better heat dissipation. This enhances performance not only during short benchmark tests, but also during more demanding, longer tasks.

The 3D Mark gaming benchmark results illustrate this point. The graph shows only a 20% performance decrease during a 20-minute test. Following the initial drop, performance stabilizes. The iPhone 17 Pro Max's efficient heat management allows its processor to maintain 81% of its peak capacity after 20 minutes.

However, the primary highlight this year is related to another aspect of the new iPhone: its redesigned structure.

By comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro Max exhibits a significant performance drop in the same test. Its stability score is only 65%, much lower than the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

YouTuber Dave2D, who originally shared these results, suggests that the iPhone 16 Pro Max's glass design would limit any potential benefit from the 17 Pro Max's vapor chamber cooling. The new model's vapor chamber directs heat toward the phone's edges, and the aluminum unibody releases heat more efficiently than glass or titanium.

This raises a key question: With the iPhone 17 Pro series' enhanced heat dissipation and powerful new processor, are dedicated gaming phones still necessary?

In a direct comparison with the ROG Phone 9 Pro, a leading gaming smartphone, the iPhone 17 Pro Max lags behind, but the difference is smaller than before.

During sustained gaming, the iPhone 17 Pro Max scores approximately 5,120 points, while the ROG Phone 9 Pro scores around 5,810 points.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is still behind, but the gap has shrunk to roughly 15%.

Last year, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, Apple's top phone, scored only 2,900 points after 20 minutes of intensive gaming, or half the score of the ROG Phone 9 Pro. This represents significant progress in a single year.

Phone Score

ROG Phone 9 Pro 5,810

iPhone 17 Pro Max 5,120 (-12% vs ROG Phone)

iPhone 16 Pro Max 2,900 (-50% vs ROG Phone)

Phone Score

ROG Phone 9 Pro 5,810

iPhone 17 Pro Max 5,120 (-12% vs ROG Phone)

iPhone 16 Pro Max 2,900 (-50% vs ROG Phone)

These results confirm that the combination of the new iPhone 17 Pro chip and the thermally optimized design is highly effective.

Given that many games are better optimized and rendered in greater detail on iOS, and that the iPhone now offers excellent sustained performance, great cameras, and strong battery life.

This leaves few compelling reasons to purchase a dedicated gaming phone.

Gaming phones still have certain advantages, including:

superior cooling systems

active cooling accessories

specialized controls like shoulder buttons

dual-port charging

However, most users would likely consider these features as extras, not enough to justify the compromises associated with gaming phones.

These compromises include poor camera quality and unappealing designs, which gamers must accept in exchange for advanced gaming features that are now rivaled by the iPhone's gameplay capabilities and powerful camera.

Using a gamepad with the iPhone to avoid obstructing the screen, gamers can now simply wait for AAA titles to arrive on mobile. Apple's new aluminum design and the powerful A19 Pro chipset have addressed the other key requirements.