Some Users Experiencing Issues With Game Controllers in macOS Monterey 12.3

Following the macOS 12.3 update that was released on March 14, some Mac users have run into issues with game controllers after installing the new software.

xbox series x controller microsoft
Complaints on the Apple Developer Forums and Reddit suggest that some Xbox, PlayStation, and other third-party controllers are not functioning over Bluetooth. Not all users appear to be affected, as some people have said that their controllers are operating as expected, so it's not quite clear what's going on.

Those who are experiencing problems connect their controllers to their Macs using Bluetooth and then are unable to use the controllers in Mac games. Some with problematic controllers have been able to use the controllers on the web, but for some, the controllers do not work at all. From the Apple Developer Forums:

Also experiencing the same issue. My Nimbus + Controller won't work with Apple Arcade after updating to Monterey 12.3. I'm able to connect via bluetooth, but none of the buttons work. I'm sure there are a lot of Mac Gamers with the same issue and hopefully Apple fixes this soon.

Other users have been able to get their controllers working for some games, but not others:

Same problems here. My controller is working in some games, but not everywhere:

- macOS: 12.3 (21E230)
- Xbox Wireless Controller:
- Manufacture ID: 0x045E
- Product ID: 0x02FD
- Firmware: 9.0.3
- Additional type: Gamepad

Working in apps:
- Steam
- Pac-Man Party
- The Pathless

NOT working in apps:
- Sonic racing
- Asphalt 8+
- Agent Intercept

Those with controllers experiencing issues have attempted to remove the controller from the Bluetooth menu and re-connect it, but that does not appear to fix the problem. There is no known fix for problematic controllers at this time, so it may be something that Apple has to address in a future software update.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Top Rated Comments

msfdc Avatar
27 months ago

Thank you for publishing this on MacRumors frontpage, Juli, this will give more visibility to the issue
Booting into safe mode solved the problem for me.
Once you have the controller works properly under safe mode, you can reboot the system and the controller should work fine in normal mode.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scotty321 Avatar
27 months ago
The Mac has games?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Treq Avatar
27 months ago

The Mac has games?
Not as many as Windows, but yes and on my Mac studio Max they play buttery smooth. Downloaded shadow of the tomb raider and played it at 4k with ultra settings with no issues whatsoever for about an hour. When I was done I checked how hot the chassis was… cool to the touch. Like cold metal. Not even a little warm. My 2018 mini with an i7 would be too hot to handle if I watched a 4k movie for 15 min.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stiligFox Avatar
27 months ago
Man, 12.3 has been a mess... completely borking Navi GPUs, borking M1 Macs with replaced logic boards, and now this...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ImperialForces Avatar
27 months ago
Apple needs to double down on gaming. Most of the people I know who would never buy a Mac typically bring up “Macs can’t play games”.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
27 months ago

Most of the people I know who would never buy a Mac typically bring up “Macs can’t play games”.
Think about what you just typed, does that make a lot of sense to ask their opinions about gaming on Macs? :D
It exists just not to the same abundance as platforms that game vendors specifically target.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...