The Apple TV remote is so bad someone's using a Game Boy instead

Game boy Color Apple Tv Remote
Game boy Color Apple Tv Remote (Image credit: Otto Climan)

What you need to know

  • Someone hacked a Game Boy Color to turn it into an Apple TV remote.

The Apple TV remote is almost universally agreed to be one of the worse remotes ever to find its way into someone's home. And while there are third-party solutions you can buy, nothing can compete with this hacked Game Boy Color that has a double life as an Apple TV remote.

Created by YouTuber Otto Climan and spied by Gizmodo, the creation can still function as Game Boy when needed, but it can also do double duty as an Apple TV remote. Which is more than the actual Apple TV remote can do!

If you're wondering, the answer is no, Apple never commissioned Nintendo to make a custom version of the GBC for its schwag catalog or as a gift for employees. Instead, Otto Climan started with an original Game Boy Color handheld that they upgraded with a backlit LCD display because the GBC arrived well before Nintendo stopped using dim screens that strained your eyes. For the custom white case adorned with Apple's older rainbow logo, Climan turned to a company called Retro Modding (who also made the custom GBA featured in our retro gaming buyer's guide) that supplied him with matching white buttons and, more importantly, a matching white flash cartridge.

That flash cartridge handles everything needed to turn the Game Boy into an Apple TV remote and the rest, as they say, is history.

Another bonus – the Game Boy is so thick it won't get lost down the back of your sofa cushions like the Apple TV remote!

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.