The Spine Professional sport controller that launched Tuesday wraps round your iPhone and connects by way of USB-C, however it will possibly additionally hook up with your Mac or iPad by way of cable or Bluetooth. Plus, it provides remappable rear buttons to the usual mixture of sticks, triggers, D-pad and extra.
Spine already makes the perfect iPhone sport controller, and my hands-on expertise with this new premium model discovered that it takes cellular gaming to an entire new stage.
Spine Professional evaluate: The very best iPhone sport controller will get higher
Cellular gaming lengthy since moved previous Indignant Birds and Bejeweled. You’ll be able to play the brand new Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown in your iPhone, Capcom introduced a number of Resident Evil video games to iOS, there’s the good NBA 2K25, plus an entire lot extra on Apple Arcade. And don’t overlook cloud-gaming providers. The standard of the video games you’ll be able to take with you anyplace is superb.
My iPhone features a 6.7-inch display, so the high-resolution graphics in AAA video games look superb. It’s not the identical as gaming on an enormous TV, however you’ll be able to’t convey that enormous display with you within the automotive, on a aircraft, to the break room at work, and so forth. The very best gaming console is the one you might have with you.
You’ll be able to play all these AAA video games in your handset’s touchscreen, however you’ll take pleasure in your self way more utilizing an iPhone sport controller. Bodily buttons, thumbsticks, triggers and extra are far simpler to make use of than on-screen ones. That makes for much less frustration and extra enjoyable.
The Spine One was once the most suitable choice for a wrap-around iPhone sport controller. However now there’s the Spine Professional with further premium options for many who wish to stage up.
Spine Professional
5.0
Spine Professional is constructed for gamers who demand extra — extra precision, extra consolation, extra freedom. Designed with full-sized ALPS joysticks, rear buttons, and a bigger ergonomic form, it delivers pro-level management for each session.
- Full of premium options
- Practical but additionally comfy to carry
- Designed for handsets however may also be used with tablets, laptops and extra
Desk of contents: Spine Professional evaluate
Spine Professional iPhone sport controller: The very best will get higher
Photograph: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
You’ll be able to consider the Spine Professional as an Xbox or PlayStation controller that’s been minimize in half, then a telescoping bar inserted within the center. The ensuing accent wraps round your iPhone (or Android) with a USB-C connector plugged into the handset’s knowledge port. The mixture appears quite a bit like a Nintendo Change.
The telescoping bar expands to suit a variety of handset sizes. I exploit an iPhone 16 Plus, simply concerning the largest one Apple makes, and it slips in simply. Plus, the controller comes with swappable plastic inserts to make it higher match a variety of gadgets, and even play with out eradicating your cellphone case… so long as it’s comparatively skinny.
Spine Professional is barely bigger than earlier iPhone sport controllers from this firm, which helps make it comfy to carry. At 7.0 inches by 3.75 inches by 1.8 inches, it’s nonetheless very moveable, however it doesn’t match within the case made particularly for the Spine One.
Actually, this firm put a lot thought into its premium controller. That even features a sweat-resistant coating so your arms don’t slip.
Buttons, thumbsticks, triggers and extra
Photograph: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
I’ve spent extra hours than I can rely with a sport controller in my arms, and Spine Professional is as usable and as comfy to carry as any of them. My fingers naturally fall into the fitting locations, and nothing feels awkward.
In fact, the iPhone sport controller makes use of the usual structure, with left and proper thumbsticks, a D-pad on the left, AYAB buttons on the fitting, two triggers on prime… it’s all there.
A whole lot of effort went into these controls. The thumbsticks are console high quality, and the XYAB buttons are properly clicky with out being loud. The triggers are bigger than on earlier fashions from this firm.
Plus, the brand new Spine Professional provides a pair of remappable rear buttons for many who need extras. The controller comes with an app that permits you to reassign one other controller button to both of those. To grasp the benefit, contemplate that once I play Lara Croft and the Guardian of Mild, I’ve to take my finger off the left thumbstick to alter weapons, which suggests I’ve to cease operating. With this controller, I can assign my favourite weapons to the again buttons and change whereas I run and gun.
The identical Spine utility allows you to remap the opposite buttons — I normally do that to alter across the XYAB buttons to the location I want. The app allows you to create Controller Profiles with all these button remaps so you’ll be able to simply change them between video games.
Photograph: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Play on iPhone, iPad and Mac
I’ve gone on vacation with two sport controllers: one for iPhone and one for iPad. That’s not mandatory anymore with the Spine Professional. It could possibly hook up with your Mac or iPad both over Bluetooth or with a cable related to the controller’s USB-C port.
To make sure, I related the controller to my iPad with Bluetooth, then with a USB-C cable, and each labored simply positive. This flexibility is among the very best options of the Spine Professional.
When hooked up to an iPhone, the controller attracts energy by way of the USB-C port. The identical goes whenever you’re wired to a different laptop over a USB-C cable.
A Bluetooth connection means a battery, although, and Spine says the one in its new controller runs for 40 hours on a single cost. Juice it again up by plugging the USB-C port into an influence supply.
You can even use the USB-C port to cost your iPhone when gaming in your handset.
The proof is within the gaming
There’s an enormous number of video games playable with the Spine Professional. Apple constructed all of the software program wanted for a sport controller into iOS, iPadOS and macOS, so if a sport helps any controller, it helps this one. Whether or not that’s standalone video games, Apple Arcade titles, cloud gaming providers, or no matter. That’s quite a bit.
To substantiate this, I performed Lara Croft and the Guardian of Mild on my iPhone with the Spine Professional, then I switched to the Amazon Luna cloud-gaming service and loved some Lego Star Wars. To check Apple Arcade help, I performed some Oceanhorn 2 — the perfect RPG on Apple’s gaming service.
I then related the sport controller to my iPad by way of Bluetooth and performed some Diablo Immortal.
All of those went brilliantly, each wired and wi-fi. I couldn’t be happier.
Spine Professional evaluate: Ultimate ideas
I can consider no approach you’ll be able to enhance your cellular gaming greater than by getting a wrap-around iPhone sport controller. And there’s no higher choice for that than the brand new Spine Professional.
The design is comfy and extremely purposeful. However the perfect characteristic is that it helps each wired and wi-fi connectivity, so it may be used along with your iPhone but additionally your iPad and Mac. It’s successfully two controllers in a single.
★★★★★
Pricing & availability
The Spine Professional is a premium product, with a prolonged listing of high-end options, and it’s priced accordingly: $169.99.
The sport controller launched Tuesday, and will be ordered now.
Purchase it from: Spine
The Professional doesn’t substitute the Spine One within the firm’s lineup. As an alternative, it’s the brand new premier model. Those that don’t want all the extra options can get the usual mannequin for $99.99. Don’t miss my evaluate!
If each are out of your worth vary, I like to recommend the GameSir X5 Lite, which I not too long ago reviewed and actually appreciated, particularly the low value.
Spine Professional
5.0
Spine Professional is constructed for gamers who demand extra — extra precision, extra consolation, extra freedom. Designed with full-sized ALPS joysticks, rear buttons, and a bigger ergonomic form, it delivers pro-level management for each session.
- Full of premium options
- Practical but additionally comfy to carry
- Designed for handsets however may also be used with tablets, laptops and extra
Spine supplied Cult of Mac with a evaluate unit for this text. See our critiques coverage, and take a look at extra in-depth critiques of Apple-related gadgets.
