# Apple's iPhone controller may wear a Beats logo

> Two gaming controllers are in development at Apple, and the first one out may not carry the Apple name at all.
- Title: Apple's iPhone controller may wear a Beats logo · Engadget
- Summary: Two gaming controllers are in development at Apple, and the first one out may not carry the Apple name at all. Apple is testing the gaming controller market…
- Keywords: apple, beats, gaming, hardware, iphone, technology, Apple's, controller, may, wear, logo, Engadget
- Source: Engadget — https://engadget.com/2256955/apples-rumored-gaming-controller-for-iphone-could-feature-beats-branding
- Author: Jackson Chen
- Published: 2026-09-13T18:02:36+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: apple, beats, gaming, hardware, iphone, technology
## Apple wants into gaming hardware
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple has spent more than a year building gaming controllers for iPhone, a product category it has never sold under its own name.
## Code in macOS gave it away
A MacRumors reader found references in a macOS release candidate to two hardware devices with dual thumbsticks, shoulder buttons and D-pads.
## Two controllers, two codenames
The devices are known internally as T6502 and T1057. Beats executives are handling the product engineering and the concept work, not Apple's own hardware team.

> these two controllers codenamed T6502 and T1057 are being developed under the Beats brand
## Apple already sells rivals
Its online store carries third-party controllers from Backbone and SteelSeries, so Apple knows the demand exists before committing its own logo to a pad.
## Beats is the low-risk lab
Gurman suggests Apple is using Beats to test unfamiliar territory. Skip the premium materials and styling, and the controller lands at a friendlier price.
## The audience already overlaps
Gamers and Beats owners share a lot of taste and culture, making the brand a natural fit. Gurman gave no timeline for an Apple-branded controller.
## Key takeaway

Apple is testing the gaming controller market behind the Beats brand, where a cheaper, louder product carries less risk than an Apple-logo launch.