Apple slipped support for Nintendo’s upgraded classic gaming controllers into yesterday’s batch of Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV upgrades as a pleasant little surprise. Nintendo’s current SNES and N64 controllers now function with upgraded Apple devices running macOS 13, iOS 16, and tvOS 16 and higher, as discovered by developer Steve Troughton-Smith and verified by MacStories.
While neither MacStories nor Troughton-Smith was able to test whether the Sega Genesis and NES controllers work with Apple’s devices, we assume Apple did. The Verge has reached out to Apple for confirmation, and we will update this piece if we get a response.
Apple mentions “many other Bluetooth and USB gaming controllers are supported by the Game Controller framework on macOS 13, iOS 16, and tvOS 16 and later” in the release notes for macOS Ventura and iPadOS 16, but doesn’t identify which ones. This similar comment was included in the release notes for iOS 16 and tvOS 16, implying that this capability was accessible on iPhone and Apple TV with last month’s upgrade.
Nintendo first made its vintage controllers accessible for use with its Switch Online service, which includes access to SNES and NES game libraries. It also has an N64 game library, but it costs $49.99 for a year of access on top of the $3.99 per month Switch Online membership.
However, since both Steam and Apple have introduced support for the original controllers, you don’t need a Switch Online membership to play games with them. In addition to the PS5 DualSense and Xbox Series Controllers, Apple enabled Switch Pro and Joy-Con controller compatibility to the iPad and iPhone in June.
