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Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons work as Bluetooth controllers for Macs

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The Nintendo Switch seems to have been quite a hit, acting as both a home console when connected to a TV and a mobile console with its own LCD touchscreen while on the move. Developer Sam Williams has discovered that the Joy-Con controllers for the Switch have a potential third function: acting as Bluetooth controllers for a Mac.

Wow, bonus Nintendo Switch feature I wasn’t expecting: JoyCons easily double as OSX bluetooth controllers

Williams tweeted a photo showing the controllers being used in a PacMan game on a 2016 MacBook Pro.

By default, left and right controllers show up as separate devices, but Williams believes that a driver should enable them to be combined as a single controller. The joystick also appears to simply report nine different states, rather than providing values for an analog signal.

Another developer in the thread noted a potential fourth use for the Switch: when plugged into a MacBook, it acts as an external battery pack, charging the Mac rather than the behavior you’d expect (the MacBook charging the Switch).

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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