Apple is reportedly cooking up two iPhone controllers, so I need both to include my favorite iPod feature

Rumour has it Apple is working on two gaming controllers, and I’m already reminiscing about the iPod. Yes, the company that ushered in the age of full touchscreens is apparently working on gamepads, and if it’s really getting back into buttons, I need it to bring back the mighty click wheel.

First highlighted by a MacRumors reader, the Apple controllers emerged as references in the latest macOS 26.7 release code. Dubbed T6502 and T1057, the gamepads apparently include staple elements like a D-pad, dual thumbsticks, shoulder buttons, and analog triggers. The latter adds an accelerometer and gyroscope, though, suggesting that it could be a “Pro” version.

Those findings have now been corroborated by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who says the gamepads are actually controllers for the iPhone. The tech journalist specifically says the gamepads will likely launch under the Beats brand and were actually engineered by executives for the sub-brand. That makes sense, given that the accessories would theoretically work with non-Apple devices if they use USB-C, but it does crush my click wheel hopes and dreams.

For those of you unacquainted, the click wheel is the big touch-sensitive pad on the front of every iPod. You could say it was Apple’s way of soft-launching touchscreen navigation, as it fused rotational, capacitive gestures with physical, clicky buttons to create an incredibly intuitive way to scroll through menus and playlists. It even doubled up as an eventual Atari-style paddle controller once iPods started shipping with arcade-inspired games like Brick.