During Apple's WWDC keynote, the company revealed that it would begin supporting MFi (Made for iPhone) certified gaming controllers. Since then, new details have emerged, suggesting that Apple is planning to partner with both Logitech and MOGA to work on the controllers.

Apple has thus far provided reference images displaying two different controller types; one that is a standalone handheld controller and another that is an iPhone enclosure. Kotaku today posted an image of the latter controller type, which the site says has been manufactured by Logitech.

firstmficontroller

With Steve Jobs no longer around to tell us these things aren't elegant enough for his device, it appears we'll finally get a proper gamepad for the iOS this year. This will be one of them, made by Logitech.

Can't tell you who gave it to us or where it was seen, but we can vouch for this image's authenticity. The controller is large enough to fit an iPhone 5. When iOS 7 introduces third-party controller support in the fall we'll see this thing, plus a bunch of others, probably. Apple evidently won't be making its own.

The image, which depicts what is probably an early prototype, shows a d-pad on the left side of the controller with a set of buttons on the right side. It looks fairly slim, and also sports a lightning connector. As our sister site TouchArcade points out, given the thriving iPhone and iPad accessory market, this is just the first of many controllers that will likely hit the market later this fall.

Top Rated Comments

hogo Avatar
156 months ago
He really sounded like a douche with that opener about jobs.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jayse Avatar
156 months ago
The photo is blurry enough, so it must be legit!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Technarchy Avatar
156 months ago
iPhone already has pretty beefy graphic pushing abilities. Apple can easily encroach on the Vita and DS with a proper controller for the iPhone.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
APlotdevice Avatar
156 months ago
totally aggree!

NES Controller is pretty much outdated for current games... wont buy it.

but i would like a dual analog controller to play fps. i dont like the "touchscreen analog stick" ****.
It's a SNES-like controller, not a NES controller. The latter only had two buttons and is indeed too basic for all but the simplest games today. The former though still works perfectly for 2D games, of which there are a plenitude on iOS. Also these controls could concivably be used in tandem with the touchscreen, which again I believe does an acceptable job for analog input. (if virtual "analog sticks" aren't your thing, then I'll just say that a touchscreen is basically the same technology as a trackpad, just with the addition of a display)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theelysium Avatar
156 months ago
No, no , no logitec!

It needs to be a FPS style like the WiiU Pro!

You can no longer game with an NES style controller! Two analog sticks under each thumb & the buttons below, done!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
petsounds Avatar
156 months ago
Considering these were shown during a certain WWDC session, someone is seriously breaking their developer NDA by posting this. Their word obviously means nothing to them.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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