Is Apple Secretly Building Its Own Gaming Hardware?
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New code found in the macOS 26.7 release candidate hints that Apple may still be developing its own first-party game controllers, breathing new life into a series of rumors we’ve been hearing intermittently for years.
Reports of Apple’s ambitions for the gaming market have always been a bit mixed, often seeming to walk a fine line between wishful thinking and bits and pieces of leaked supply chain and other insider info.
However, while it’s certainly become obvious over the past seven years that Apple takes gaming pretty seriously on the software side with services like Apple Arcade, its acquisition of Sneaky Sasquatch, and embracing AAA gaming on the iPhone, the idea that it could eventually produce its own game console seems to have never been much more than speculation.
While that’s likely still at least partially true — Apple has no desire to compete directly with Sony or Microsoft — it’s often been suggested that the Apple TV could become so much more than just a streaming box. Even the late 2022 third-generation Apple TV 4K packs in an A15 Bionic chip that delivers far more power than nearly every other set-top box out there, and it’s long been speculated that the next-generation Apple TV 4K will take that to the next level.
It’s been a long wait, but that new model could be just around the corner. In fact, many believe Apple will unveil it on Wednesday during its “Surprise and Shine” iPhone event. A fourth-generation Apple TV 4K — assuming Apple even still calls it that — will undoubtedly pack in at least an A17 Pro chip as a minimum, which means it will officially gain the same AAA console gaming capabilities that came to the iPhone 15 Pro three years ago.
Although we first heard rumors of Apple-designed game controllers in 2020, six years later it’s never been clear whether those were based on skunkworks projects or pure speculation. Still, the fact that the rumor originated from a source who had a reliable track record at the time gave it more credibility.
Still, in 2020, an Apple game controller was an interesting idea, but hardly a necessary one. Apple had already supported official third-party game controllers since 2015, and the releases of iOS 13 and tvOS 13 in 2019 had opened up full support for PS4 and Xbox controllers to be used with the iPhone and Apple TV — and even began selling them in its retail stores. Subsequent software updates embraced PS5 controllers and more advanced Microsoft controllers.
Needless to say, that provided little incentive for Apple to build the hardware itself. Nevertheless, MacRumors forums member pdfu, who has been on a roll lately at finding code hints, recently found evidence of two unreleased game controllers in macOS 26.7.
Identified as T6502 and T1057, the mystery devices are assigned to GameController profiles, which strongly suggests that will be their purpose. Both profiles reference standard controller inputs, including a D-pad, dual thumbsticks, shoulder buttons, and triggers. However, T1057 adds Bluetooth connectivity alongside accelerometer and gyroscope motion support, whereas T6502 lacks motion sensors and appears limited to wired USB connections.”
References to dedicated hardware plug-ins point to these being actual devices rather than placeholders, although there’s no way of knowing what stage of development they’re at. From what’s been found so far, neither profile suggests a layout substantially different from a standard PlayStation or Xbox controller.
Still, the presence of code references doesn’t necessarily indicate that these devices will ever see the light of day. The macOS 26.7 release candidate was full of references to unreleased products, so it’s clear that someone at Apple forgot to sanitize it before letting it out the door. These game controller references may not be new — it may simply be the first time they’ve snuck out. It’s notable that all these leaks vanished in the second macOS 26.7 RC that Apple later released, confirming they were never supposed to be there in the first place.
There has been some speculation that this year’s Apple TV 4K could lean more heavily into being a game console, but while the new chip inside will undoubtedly have serious gaming chops, there have been no indications from reliable sources that Apple intends to position it that way. In fact, most accounts suggest Apple is making a bigger play for home automation and home security than gaming on this front.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
