I’ve long wanted Apple to make its own game controllers. A new report says this could happen.
But first, some background: the gaming controller I have in mind could detect whether you’re preparing to game on a Mac, Apple TV, or iPad and automatically pair with just that device.
If Apple did make its own gamepad, it wouldn’t be the first time the company did this. It made a gaming controller and, in fact, an entire game console with the ill-fated Apple Bandai Pippin (pictured) in early 1996.
It cost US$599 and was designed as a computer system aimed mostly at playing CD-based multimedia software, especially games, but also functioning as a thin client. The operating system was a version of the Mac’s System 7.5.2, and is based on a 66MHz PowerPC 603 processor and a 14.4 kb/s modem. It featured a 4×-speed CD-ROM drive and a video output that could connect to a standard TV.
Alas, the Pippin’s poor performance, badly reviews controls and dearth of games led to its demise. Apple only sold 42,000 Pippins, according to Nelson, and production was canceled in 1997. So I’m 99.9% sure that the tech giant won’t make its own game console again. But it could make its own game controllers, according to code found in audioOS 27 beta 8, and shared on the MacRumors forums by member pdfu.
There are GameController profiles for two hardware devices identified as T6502 and T1057, which Pdfu suggests could be Apple gaming controllers in development. The two controllers have different haptic designs and standard controller components, like a D-pad, dual thumbsticks, shoulder buttons, Home and Menu buttons, and analog triggers. T1057 also has accelerometer and gyroscope support, while T6502 doesn’t.
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