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Why isn’t the ipad a portable console for TVs?

Why can’t you plug the iPad into an HDMI slot and use near-by iphones as controllers?

I think this is exactly what Nintendo was thinking when it came up with the Switch and it's pretty brilliant.

I have this daydream that there are some Apple engineers that looked at the Switch and said, "Dammit. We could have done this."

It is well possible to attach a TV and a gamepad to an iPhone - there is an official adapter that plugs into the iPhone's lightning port and gives you an HDMI port and a vacant lightning port.

I don't know what functionality does that provide though. That probably does just screen mirroring + charging.

If you're referring to the Lightning to Digital AV Adapter, unfortunately it doesn't do raw HDMI output: https://panic.com/blog/the-lightning-digital-av-adapter-surp...

My assumption is that the lag and artifacts makes it a non-starter for the average gamer.

The newer iPad Pro has a native USB-C output that supports 4K 60hz with an HDMI adapter.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MUF82AM/A/usb-c-digital-a...

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