Whenever a company like Sony or Microsoft release a new games console they need to have games available for it on launch day. In order to do that game developers need development kits of the hardware months beforehand. It may not be final hardware, but the performance and architecture is mostly in place for them to work with.

It looks as though Apple is now thinking along the same lines for the launch of iPhone 5: have games available that take advantage of its enhanced performance from launch.

With that in mind, game developers have apparently started receiving a model of the current iPhone 4 that carries the name iPhone 4S. The only difference being the 4S has an A5 processor inside just like the iPad.

The A5 chip offers a serious performance boost for games and is expected to appear at the heart of the iPhone 5. The developers thought to be receiving these 4S handsets are some of the most well-established and IP-rich companies out there. If we had to guess we’d say it is companies like Capcom, EA, id Software, and possibly a few independents that have impressed Apple with their work.

Matthew’s Opinion

If Apple is supporting developers by sending them prototype hardware before a launch, it suggests that we could see a number of games appear that are iPhone 5 and iPad 2 specific. That wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened, but it could cause a few upsets amongst iPhone 4 owners.

Saying that, game developers realize that there is a huge number of older iPhone model owners. So while many of them will be using the performance of the A5 processor, they will also be ensuring new games also work on the iPhone 4 and just scale up for iPhone 5 and iPad 2.

What this prototype hardware distribution also makes clear is the fact Apple knows the importance of games on the iPhone. It is starting to follow the same model as the console manufacturers suggesting it wants in on new games at the same time, if not before they hit other platforms.

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