Apple Support page says the company is working with Microsoft on adding support for Xbox Series X controller to Apple devices
Apple and Microsoft are working on adding support for the Xbox Series X controller to Apple devices, according to an Apple Support page spotted by a Reddit user.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple has been dismantling its controller wall piece by piece: tvOS 13 first brought the Xbox One S and DualShock 4 to Apple TV in 2019, and months later Apple went further by selling Microsoft's Xbox Wireless Controller directly in its own online store. This Support-page confirmation extends that arc to the newest hardware — the Xbox Series X controller — and notably frames it as joint work with Microsoft rather than a unilateral Apple addition.
The cooperation matters because Microsoft is simultaneously pushing Xbox beyond the console box through Game Pass and cloud streaming, so its controller working natively on iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV serves Microsoft's subscription reach as much as Apple's gaming credibility.
First-order effects
- Once the support ships, owners of the Xbox Series X controller can pair it with iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV without adapters or workarounds, putting the current-generation Xbox pad on equal footing with the PlayStation 5 and prior Xbox controllers Apple already supports.
- Microsoft gains a native input path for Xbox Cloud Gaming sessions on Apple devices, where subscribers currently depend on whichever controllers Apple happens to support.
Second-order effects
- Nintendo and Sony face the same pull: with Xbox pads selling through Apple's own store and pairing across Apple platforms, keeping Switch and PlayStation controllers off iOS becomes a competitive disadvantage rather than a moat — a dynamic that later coverage of Joy-Con and Pro Controller support in iOS bears out.
- Apple's retail channel becomes a de facto accessories shelf for rival ecosystems, pressuring Microsoft to keep Apple devices first-class citizens in every controller generation to protect its cloud-gaming funnel.
Third-order effects
- If each new console controller generation lands on Apple platforms as a matter of routine coordination between the two companies, gamepads complete their shift from proprietary console peripherals to standardized cross-platform input devices — with Apple TV positioned as a low-cost living-room endpoint for subscriptions like Game Pass.
- The pattern points toward input compatibility becoming table stakes negotiated between platform holders, eroding one of the last hardware-lock-in levers console makers hold over where their games are played.
The trend: Console controllers are converging into universal cross-platform peripherals as Apple and Microsoft coordinate support generation by generation, feeding the shift of gaming access from owned consoles toward streamed subscriptions on any screen.