Accessing Apple Silicon MacBook Accelerometer and Gyroscope via IOKit HID
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todsacerdoti
3mo ago· 8 min readenCode
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Summary
This article documents a GitHub project that enables reading the undocumented MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope sensors in Apple Silicon MacBooks via IOKit HID. The project provides technical details on accessing these sensors that Apple doesn't officially expose, and showcases several creative applications built using this capability, including haptic feedback apps, gesture recognition tools, and novelty applications that respond to physical interactions with the MacBook.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledreading the undocumented mems accelerometer + gyroscope on apple silicon macbooks via iokit hid
Haptyk: Free macOS app that turns your typing force into real mechanical keyboard sounds using the accelerometer
Slap your MacBook, it yells back. Uses Apple Silicon accelerometer via IOKit HID
Turns taps on your MacBook into instant actions using the built-in accelerometer in Apple Silicon MacBooks
Programmatically control Mac keyboard & display brightness, accelerometer data, fan speed, and more
reading the undocumented mems accelerometer + gyroscope on apple silicon macbooks via iokit hid - olvvier/apple-silicon-accelerometer
