Hacker News Reader

Comment by AlphaWeaver | Hacker News Reader

Something that might be being overlooked - it looks like this supports pairing Xbox One controllers that use Xbox Wireless! This is a different standard than Bluetooth and should enable everyone who has Xbox controllers to easily use them in Apple Arcade. Impressive!

View on HN

That is a bit misleading: a lot of Xbox One wireless controllers work with Bluetooth, it seems Microsoft switched this during the production run. I have one at home for use with my PC, I don't own an Xbox, and it works without any receiver. My old 360 controller needs the wireless receiver though, that is the old protocol (or maybe not the same protocol? Not sure...)

In the beginning, the Bluetooth versions of the controllers weren't sold with the console, and they were specialty, mostly for PC gamers. There's still a fair number of controllers out there that can only connect via Xbox Wireless.

If the new Apple TV can actually pair with those, that's a big deal.

The iPad has had this for a while.

It's really an entirely different (and much better) gaming experience. It makes your iPad more like a Nintendo Switch.

Unfortunately most games ignore the controller because not enough people do this.

If Apple is serious about gaming, they'll need to actually ship a controller with the Apple TV at some point.

All Xbox controllers from the release of the Xbox One S (2016) and later have Bluetooth included. I'm pretty sure the ATV doesn't have any support for the MS-specific protocol, just the Bluetooth functionality.

How do I know which I have? I just bought an XBox One controller to use with my gaming PC, but I'm not much of a gamer (hence why I never had one before). It came with a dongle which I assume is RF, which I prefer to Bluetooth on Windows. I'm wondering if my controller ALSO supports bluetooth? Or if it's either/or?

All of them work with the MS-specific protocol, but only some work with Bluetooth. The top of the controllers look different https://i.imgur.com/i9490os.png

Great, thanks for the tip. Looks like mine supports bluetooth. Subtle differences!

I'm currently playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on my M1 Mac using an Xbox One S controller. It fully vibrates and requires no setup at all. Apple introduced this pairing of Xbox and PS4 controllers very recently for all its devices. Its great. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, not so much. I can't get more than a steady 30 FPS.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com