Emulators on macOS: Difference between revisions

: ''This page is about emulators that run on macOS (previously Mac OS X).''

{{for|software that emulates macOS on other hardware|macOS emulators}}  

The Mac has had two main operating systems over its history: The "Classic" Mac OS versions 1 through 9, and Mac OS X (Ten, not pronouced as "Ex") which is now referred to simply as macOS. Classic was a closed-source proprietary OS, whereas macOS is based on an open-source Unix variant called Darwin. This Unix base helps with Linux compatibility.

; CPU Architecture - PowerPC | x86 | x64 | Arm64

macOS has supported three major cpu architecture changes: IBM PowerPC (PPC), Intel x86/x64 and most recently Apple Silicon (Arm64). There have also been minor architectural changes such as moving from 32-bit PPC processors to the 64-bit PPC G5, or from Intel's 32-bit x86 to 64-bit x64. Each time there was a hardware transition, Apple provided ways to continue to support older software on the new systems.

Rosetta was a software emulation layer that helped PPC applications to run on x86/x64 Macs. It was built into 10.4.4 Tiger, but was an optional install in macOS 10.6 Snow Leopard and not available at all for 10.7 Lion. Rosetta 2 currently facilitates x64 software to run on Arm Macs. While Rosetta performs very respectably for most software, it adds extra overhead which can reduce performance on demanding games and emulators.

Apple also introduced Universal Binaries that bundle software for different architectures into a single app bundle. For example, Universal 2 app bundles contain x64 and Arm versions of software in one app. This is very useful for portability, or for people who don't know or care about their Mac's specs. If you know what CPU your Mac has, the advantage of getting the specific version for your CPU is that it will have a smaller file size than the universal binary. However the size difference is usually tiny, so just using the universal binary is usually the way to go.

One issue with this is that a lot of emulators are cross-platform, and Metal is only for Apple's platforms. The Vulkan backend for Windows and Linux is similar to Metal, but does not have support on macOS. So, many emulators will develop a Vulkan backend and use a translation layer, like MoltenVK or KosmicKrisp, which will take Vulkan instructions and convert them into their respective Metal equivalent. However not every Vulkan instruction has a Metal version, so either workarounds have to be designed, or some features cannot be supported at all. There are two Vulkan-to-Metal translation layers: MoltenVK and KosmicKrisp. MoltenVK is older and was originally developed when Macs were still using Intel CPUs. KosmicKrisp is newer, and is targeting Arm chips and Metal 4 which is a closer match to Vulkan. KosmicKrisp is still in early development but has the potential to be superior to MoltenVK, with the drawback of dropping support for Intel Macs.

OpenEmu has not been actively developed for several years, and there has never been an official Arm release. However, there is an actively developed fork called [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest OpenEmu-Silicon] that is a Universal Binary and has added several more cores and features such as cloud sync, retro-achievements and alternate cover-art sources.

[[Fightcade]] is a desktop matchmaking frontend for playing many arcade fighting games online with other players. There is currently no Arm build.

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{Ya}}

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{Ya}}<ref group="note" name=command-line>Command-line only application. No app bundle provided.</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

|[https://github.com/finalburnneo/FBNeo/releases/latest {{FinalBurnNeoVer}}]||{{Na}}

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{Ya}}

| {{Na}}<ref group="note" name=compile>Must compile from source.</ref>

| {{Na}}<ref group="note" name=compile>Must compile from source.</ref>

| {{Na}}<ref group="note" name=compile>Must compile from source.</ref>

<small>(Official)</small>

<small>(forked bsnes)</small>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note">Only available as a core. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

|[https://dolphin-emu.org/download/?ref=btn {{DolphinVer}}]<ref name="dolphin">The last Dolphin release to support macOS 10.15 Catalina is [https://dolphin-emu.org/download/release/2503a/ 2503a], and the last development build is [https://dolphin-emu.org/download/dev/afee9a56e96766d4622b1694398704e4c8d57b25/ 2503-270].[https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2025/06/04/dolphin-progress-report-release-2506/#macos-minimum-version-bumped-to-macos-11-big-sur]</ref>||{{Na}}

|[https://github.com/ioncodes/gecko/releases {{GeckoVer}}]||{{Na}}

|[https://dolphin-emu.org/download {{DolphinVer}}]<ref name="dolphin" />||{{Na}}

|[https://github.com/ioncodes/gecko/releases {{GeckoVer}}]||{{Na}}

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=cemu>Arm support and the Metal renderer are in the nightly builds, but are not included in a major release yet.</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=cemu>Arm support and the Metal renderer are in the nightly builds, but are not included in a major release yet.</ref>

([[Ryujinx]] Fork)<ref>This fork has merged LDN and other previously incomplete features. Mostly focused on maintenance, crash fixes and QoL improvements.</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=ryujinx-x86>While the builds are currently universal, x86 is unsupported and will be removed in future releases</ref>

(Ryubing with SwiftUI)<ref>This fork is based on Ryubing, but has a complete SwiftUI overhaul</ref>

|[https://git.ryujinx.app/projects/Kenji-NX/releases/latest {{KenjiNXVer}}]

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=ryujinx-x86>While the builds are currently universal, x86 is unsupported and will be removed in future releases</ref>

[https://github.com/Eden-CI/Master/releases Nightlies]

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{Ya}}  

| {{Ya}}

|[[VisualBoy Advance|VisualBoy Advance-M (VBA-M)]]

| {{Ya}}

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{Ya}}

|[[VisualBoy Advance|VisualBoy Advance-M (VBA-M)]]

|Azahar<ref name="azahar">This project is a continuation of PabloMK7's Citra and Lime3DS</ref>

|Mandarine<ref name="mandarine">This project is a fork of Citra</ref>

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=panda-backend>Available on the SDL build only. Not available on the Qt build.</ref>

|{{Na}}<ref group="note" name=borked>This is an experimental Citra fork. Changes made here might be merged into [https://github.com/azahar-emu/azahar Azahar]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

|{{Na}}

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

|{{Na}}

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

|{{Na}}<ref group="note" name=command-line>Command-line only application. No app bundle provided.</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

|[https://github.com/ARMSX2/ARMSX2/releases?q=%22ARMSX2+macOS%22&expanded=true {{ARMSX2MacVer}}]||{{Na}}

| {{~}}

| {{~}} <ref group="note" name=rpcs3-KK>There is an experimental KosmicKrisp PR [https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/pull/17902 here]</ref>

| {{Ya}}<ref group="note" name=rpcs3-compat>Always download the compatibility database and use it to create a custom config for each game</ref>

|[https://github.com/shadps4-emu/shadPS4/releases/latest {{shadPS4Ver}}]||{{Na}}

| {{Ya}}<ref group="note" name=arm-only>Only Arm Macs running Rosetta are supported</ref>

| {{~}} <ref group="note">There is an Arm build available but there is no x86->Arm recompiler yet</ref>

|[https://github.com/par274/sharpemu unreleased]||{{Na}}

| {{Ya}} <ref group="note" name=arm-only>Only Arm Macs running Rosetta are supported</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=vita3k>Experimental Arm build available. Has major issues on some titles. Updater will automatically update to the x86 version</ref>

| {{Ya}}<ref group="note" name=compat>Compatibility varies greatly depending on the title</ref>

|[https://github.com/MaddTheSane/Boxer/releases/latest Fork]<ref name="boxer">The fork of Boxer supports x64 and Arm</ref>||{{Na}}

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=compile-arm>No official Arm build. Needs to be built from source</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{Na}} <ref group="note" name=dukex>Fork of Xemu. Early in development and does not work properly at time of writing</ref>

(Xenia Dev Branch)

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=shareware>Shareware. Requires license to unlock full version.</ref>

|VirtualC64

|Denise

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=shareware>Shareware. Requires license to unlock full version.</ref>

|vAmiga

| {{Green}} {{License|GPLv2}} ({{License|Copyleft}})

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=openemu>Command-line application. Best played using OpenEmu. Arm builds of OpenEmu and cores available [https://github.com/nickybmon/OpenEmu-Silicon/releases/latest here]</ref>

|[https://github.com/SourMesen/Mesen2/releases/latest {{MesenVer}}]||{{Na}}

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

|{{Na}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

| {{~}}<ref group="note" name=command-line>Command-line only application. No app bundle provided.</ref>

| {{Ya}}<ref group="note" name=compile>Must compile from source.</ref>

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

|[https://github.com/Septercius/rpcemu-dev/releases/latest 0.9.4a]||{{Na}}

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>

|{{~}}<ref group="note" name=paid>Requires paid version to access extra emulation features</ref>