A Clearer View: Logitech iPhone Gamepad Leaks Again, but Release Date and Price Still Unknown

Back in mid-June, we saw a leak of a possible Logitech gamepad controller for the iPhone 5 or the new iPhone 5s ( before we knew that it was called an iPhone 5s). Now, another leak shows a much cleaner, color render of a similar Logitech game controller, spurring hopes that an iPhone of some kind will get its first gamepad-conversion hardware soon.

The new leak came from all-around trustworthy tech leaker @evleaks, which simply tweeted out "Logitech gamepad for iPhone," giving no other details about a possible release date or price, but offering a front and back view of the possible gamepad, along with iOS 7 displayed on the screen of what looks like an iPhone 5.

Logitech gamepad for iPhone pic.twitter.com/Fhhnw5fVVP

— @evleaks (@evleaks) October 1, 2013

Of course, we knew that Apple was going to allow for gaming hardware on its iPhones even before gaming site Kotaku leaked the first blurry photo of an unfinished version of the Logitech iPhone hardware.

 At WWDC, in early June 2013, Apple hosted a session with game developers, revealing that Logitech and Moga were slated to release game controllers this fall, right after the release of iOS 7.

Some details were released around that time, including two types of game controllers that Apple had in mind for the iPhone. One was a form-fitting wrap-around game controller that physically encased the iPhone, featuring a D-pad, pause button, and the diamond configuration XYBA buttons which we now see in the @evleaks image. The blueprint also included left and right shoulder buttons and a pause button, all which are evident in the renders leaked on Tuesday.

The other Apple developer design included a standalone "extended gamepad" which would add two shoulder buttons or triggers per side, along with two joysticks in a very PlayStation-esque configuration.

Apple's move into more intensive mobile gaming - hinted by the change in Jobs-era policy against allowing physical hardware game controllers to accompany the iPhone - was further confirmed when the iPhone 5s and iOS 7 was revealed to work under a 64-bit architecture. Such intensive processing power is immediately useful to mobile games developers, and Apple additionally hammered that point in by introducing the graphics-intensive Infinity Blade 3 at the same press event.