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Wait a moment to see “PLAYSTATION (r) 3 Controller” appear in the Bluetooth Devices list with “Connected” appearing underneath the text, once it displays “Connected” you can now disconnect the USB cable and use the Playstation 3 controller wirelessly with the Mac.Press the circular “PS” button on the middle of the Playstation controller to turn it on, the lights on the controller will blink as it pairs with the Mac – the Bluetooth preference panel will likely show a device available but not yet connected as it pairs the Mac with the PS3 gamepad.Connect the Playstation 3 wireless controller to the Mac using the mini-USB cable.Turn Bluetooth ON in OS X (either through the Bluetooth preference panel or the menu bar item) if it’s not enabled yet.
On the Mac, go to the Apple menu and choose “System Preferences” then go to “Bluetooth”. Optional but recommended, disconnect any nearby Playstation 3 power supplies so that you don’t inadvertently power on the PS3 during the gamepad setup with the Mac. The process of connecting and using a PS3 controller with a Mac is the same with basically every version of OS X beyond Lion, including MacOS Catalina 10.15, MacOS Mojave 10.14, High Sierra 10.13, MacOS Sierra 10.12, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite, etc. Connect a Playstation 3 Controller to a Mac in MacOS Mojave, Catalina, Sierra, OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, & Mavericks Assuming you meet those requirements, let’s get the controller connected to the Mac and start using it with Mac OS X. You’ll also need a game or app that supports controllers, most of which do. Note the USB cable is only needed to set up the PS3 controller initially, and for charging it when necessary, the setup will be for the wireless usage of the Playstation controller through Bluetooth.
To get started, you’ll need a Mac with any modern version of Mac OS X, Bluetooth support, a standard Sony Playstation 3 wireless controller that has a charge, and the Mini-USB cable that connects the Playstation 3 controller to a console or USB port to charge it.