Apple's recently unveiled iPhone 5S will sport a powerful 64-bit A7 processor — a dramatic leap from the previous model.
Joining Apple execs onstage Tuesday was Donald Mustard, creative director of ChAIR Entertainment, makers of the Infinity Blade franchise. He spoke about the new phone's potential for gaming, showing off videos from the forthcoming Infinity Blade III. Like ChAIR Entertainment, other game developers will have new opportunities in the iPhone 5S.
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Mobile gaming will benefit from the hardware improvements provided by the 64-bit chip, but players most likely won't see those improvements immediately.
The iPhone 5S's A7 chip is the first mobile device to use 64-bit architecture, a huge leap for all the technology.
"It will empower game developers that wish to make really immersive, high-fidelity games, going to delight consumers who wish to spend time playing those games on those devices," said Clive Downie, CEO of DeNA West, makers of the games The Drowning and the Mobage mobile gaming platform.
Apple showed a graph displaying how the A7 chip gives the iPhone 5S double the performance of the iPhone 5, but Geremy Mustard, Donald's brother and co-founder of ChAIR Entertainment, said it felt like a lot more than that. Infinity Blade III is the only game that will come out before the iPhone 5S launch built for its 64-bit architecture.
"One of the things we've found is that it really is quite a bit more powerful," Geremy Mustard said. "Having a native 64-bit means instructions process more efficiently and we actually get a much higher boost for that."
Many developers explained to me that some of the 64-bit chip features — such as the ability to utilize more than 4 GB of RAM — would not immediately be noticeable on this generation of iPhone. What users will probably immediately see from the A7 chip is better performance and better battery life.
"The A7 chip has double the amount of registers compared to the A6. The amount of registers available to the applications can boost performance, especially for apps that do heavy computing, like high-end games," said Teppo Soininen, chief operating officer for Mountain Sheep, creators of Minigore. "The A7 chip is faster: 1.7GHz compared to the 1.3GHz A6. The A7 will most likely have a better memory bandwidth, and it will most likely be more energy efficient, which means you get more computing power for the same amount of power."
Soininen said by doing this, Apple was future-proofing the iPhone, so the company can further the integration of iOS and OSX down the line.
"A few generations from now, when the iPhone 5 support discontinues, Apple will be able to push out a fully 64-bit iOS. At this point most iOS applications will already be 64-bit and fully able to utilize the power of a 64-bit system."

With games looking better and better, some might wonder if console-quality gaming on mobile devices isn't too far off.
"In some aspects, we're there. Especially with the announcement of controller support for these devices, we are two steps closer to having console-quality games in our pockets," Geremy Mustard said.
"I think the interesting thing for games is how close to desktop PC or console level specs we are getting," said Dave Hawes, technical director at Eutechnyx. "The trend has been going on for a while, and some top-end mobile games are looking like yesterday's triple-A games. Traditional wisdom has been that consoles will always be a step ahead using the new technology with more power supply, more physical room and more capacity for heat control. I think Apple's announcement shows quite clearly that the phone iteration versus console life cycle means the gap is actually closing, and it's closing faster than I would have previously predicted.”
Of course, that all depends if consumers actually want console-quality games on a phone. The mobile play experience is different; people play in shorter bursts when they have free time, while console gaming is a more planned experience that lasts for longer durations.
"You need to balance the power of these phones against the amount of available time consumers have," Downie said. "People are playing at 10-minute bites. They aren't playing for hours like on a console. The hardware is offering more, but the available time consumers have is the first hurdle."
"When will apples catch up with oranges?" Soininen said. "For mobile gaming to catch up with console gaming (with regards to performance), user demand will have to change. If this happens, hardware providers will jump on board and design the necessary hardware. Companies like NVIDIA already have technology that would allow way more advanced graphics on mobile devices. Mobile gamers are just not willing to cough up the money that would justify this leap. The value proposition on mobile is different."
Also, mobile programmers do their best to make games that work on as many devices as possible when they release games, to capture the biggest market section. There are still iPhone owners using a 3GS, although that won't be receiving the iOS 7 upgrade.
"The difference between the quite popular iPhone 4 and the new iPhone 5S is, performance-wise, quite significant, which makes it more difficult to immediately unleash 5S's full potential. However, there are some visual enhancements developers can easily do for the new hardware without removing support for previous models," said Johannes Vuorinen of Frogmind Games, makers of Badland. "I am happy the iPhone 4S is now the low-end model being sold, since it performs much better than the iPhone 4."

The budget iPhone 5C's impact on mobile gaming shouldn't be overlooked either. While the 5S offers developers new power, many games are still causal and don't require tons of power.
"It used to be that iPod touch was an entry point into the world of iOS gaming for many teenagers , and I have a feeling many of them will be graduating to 5C this holiday season," said Doodle Jump creator Igor Pusenjak.
With many mobile games still launching on iOS first or exclusively, the 5C could bring more players to those titles.
"Consumers that might be new to smartphones might gravitate toward it. Before, they couldn't enter the Apple brand because of the price point," said Downie of DeNA West. "It's got the combination of the power that it provides, great display, plus Apple branding, and $99 price going for it. It could be a market-changer in China or Western markets because it's highly sexy at a price people can afford."
What do you think the new iPhones hold for gaming? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Images: Mashable, Nina Frazier
BONUS: Photos From the iPhone 5S and 5C Announcement
Apple CEO Tim Cook opens the event.
Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, demonstrates iOS 7, Apple's forthcoming mobile operating system. Federighi announced it will be available for free Sept. 18.
The new device comes in five colors.
Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, reveals the pricing for the iPhone 5C.
The new device comes in three colors.
Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, reveals the iPhone 5S.
Schiller speaks about the iPhone 5S.
The iPhone 5S can scan your fingerprint.
The musician played his new song "Tripwire."
People arrive for the product announcement.
Members of the press await Apple's product announcement outside the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters