You Won't Find Sony's Logo On This PlayStation-Approved iPhone Game Controller
Sony has long been regarded for the quality of its PlayStation controllers, beating out the best of the competition with the PS5's DualSense controller design, which incorporates haptic feedback and adaptive triggers into its fancy black-and-white visual layout, giving the impression of heft without losing its visual uniformity along with the PlayStation 5 and its lineup of accessories. If you weren't already aware, the Bluetooth chip in the DualSense controller can even speak to your iPhone. This means you can connect the two devices and use the state-of-the-art PlayStation 5 controller to play games on Apple Arcade.
If you don't want to connect a wireless controller to your iPhone for gaming, however, we can't blame you. If you're on the go, using your phone as a mobile gaming device is likely better facilitated by a controller that allows you to see a closer view of the phone, specifically by giving it a place to rest directly on the controller's chassis. Controller manufacturer Backbone creates controllers in this style (which is why we gave them a shout in the handheld gaming section of our list of 12 best uses for old iPhones), and now the team at Backbone is slated to partner up with Sony to create a new controller designed specifically for iPhone users remotely connecting to their PlayStation consoles via Remote Play, combining the best of both worlds.
Backbone One - PlayStation Edition is a collaborative effort
Backbone CEO Maneet Khaira took to the PlayStation Blog on July 28 with a formal announcement detailing the new partnership, including all the nitty gritty details about the controller's unique feature set. It's worth noting that the controller links to the official Backbone app and is promised to work with any App Store game, Apple Arcade game, or Remote Play game on either the PS4 or PS5. For the latter, you'll want to make sure your internet connection is up to snuff, and we strongly recommend upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 before doing any serious cloud gaming or remote gaming over the network.
The Backbone One – PlayStation Edition controller is designed after the PS5 visual layout, including the "elegant colors, materials, and finishes" of the DualSense and its peripherals, all the way down to the face buttons. Using the aforementioned Backbone app, you can quickly view updates to the PlayStation catalog. The controller doesn't need to be hooked up to an external charger between uses since it pulls its energy directly from the iPhone placed in the center of the controller. That said, it doesn't seem like there's any haptic feedback or adaptive trigger support here — though the 3.70-inch tall and 1.28-inch deep controller can contract from a max length of 10.14 inches down to just 6.94 inches when not in use.
You can purchase the Backbone One – PlayStation Edition controller for iPhone directly from the Backbone website for $99.99. Purchase orders are valid in "the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom" for now, according to the company, though it sounds like more countries will be able to purchase the DualSense-themed iPhone controller soon.