Wonderful news — you can plug your Nintendo 3DS into an iPod Hi-Fi if you absolutely must

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Steve Jobs Ipod Hifi
Steve Jobs Ipod Hifi (Image credit: Lou Dematteis/Reuters)

What you need to know

  • Apple's iPod Hi-Fi first went on sale in 2006.
  • The Nintendo 3DS went on sale in 2011.
  • A new YouTube video shows what happens when you connect the two together.

Do you have a spare Nintendo 3DS and Apple iPod Hi-Fi gathering dust somewhere? Maybe. Did you know that you can combine the pair to listen to music? Probably not. But you do now!

In fact, we all know thanks to a new YouTube video by the Will it Work? channel and it's all surprisingly easy to get up and running. All you need is a couple of adapters and some cables — and you'll even be able to use the iPod Hi-Fi's remote to control playback as well. What's more, you'll be able to charge your 3DS right from the iPod Hi-Fi itself, although there are caveats to be had here — watch the video below to see the whole story on that.

In this video, I'll attempt to dock a Nintendo 3DS to Apple's iPod Hi-Fi speaker and see if we can get the three main features to work: Charging, listening to audio, and navigating the tracks with the little white remote.

Apple first released the iPod Hi-Fi back in February of 2006 while Nintendo's 3DS first debuted in early 2011 depending on what part of the world you're in. I hadn't realized that they were so close in terms of when they were on sale — although they didn't overlap thanks to Apple's decision to prematurely kill off its $350 music box.

If you've ever wondered what would happen when you mix an old game console with an even older speaker, now is the time to get your answer! Those wanting to relive their 3DS days can also check out our collection of the best Nintendo 3DS games you can buy, too.

Oliver Haslam
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.