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Revision as of 15:33, 2 May 2024
macOS
|
Developer
|
Apple
|
Type
|
Operating systems
|
Release date
|
2001
|
Latest release
|
macOS 14 Sonoma
|
- For emulators that run on Classic Mac OS, see Emulators on Legacy systems#Classic Mac OS.
- For software that emulates macOS on other hardware, see MacOS.
- This page is about emulators that run on macOS (previously Mac OS X).
The Mac has changed considerably over the years, both in terms of hardware and software. It is important to understand these changes so you can choose the best emulators for your Mac.
- Operating System - Classic Mac OS | macOS
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 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.
The first several releases of macOS up to 10.4 Tiger contained support for Classic applications, but this was later dropped.
- 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.
- Graphical Backend - OpenGL | MoltenVK | Metal
Another aspect to consider is the graphical backend of the emulator. For many years OpenGL was the main cross-platform standard for developing graphical software. However in recent times this has changed. More modern backends such as Vulkan and Metal are superseding it. OpenGL on macOS has now been marked as deprecated, meaning it is stuck on the older OGL 4.1. It doesn't receive any support or bug fixes and will someday be removed from macOS completely. Apple recommends for developers to create native Metal backends for their apps.
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 the MoltenVK translation layer, 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.
Using one of these backends is not mandatory, of course. Some emulators may use a different backend or handle graphics themselves.
- Before diving in;
- Remember that emulators can have different levels of completion or compatibility. If a game you are trying to run does not work properly with a recommended emulator, try a different one. All this means that to find an emulator that works well for your Mac you should understand its specs first. Choose an emulator that supports your CPU architecture natively where possible. The emulators shown here will indicate the processor architecture it supports. Generally you should choose an emulator that supports Metal where available if you are on a modern Mac. MoltenVK should be more performant than OpenGL, although there may be compatibility issues. OpenGL may work, but some emulators need to use a version newer than OGL 4.1 that macOS doesn't support. In cases like this the emulator will be marked as not having OpenGL support. This list shows the latest versions of the emulator software. If you have an older CPU and the latest version does not support it, some emulators will keep archives of older versions that might, check out their website.
- See each Wiki Category Consoles, Computers and Arcade for individual dedicated system pages to see more detailed comparisons and information about software emulators. Dedicated system pages provide more up-to-date listings and in-depth information on specific aspects like hardware features, peripheral support, and compatibility etc.
- Some games have native Source Ports on macOS, which can be better than playing through an emulator. Also see Game engine recreations and source ports page for a list for all platforms.
Frontends
OpenEmu
Many emulators for macOS can be played very conveniently with OpenEmu which provides an iTunes-like interface for your game collection and uses various different emulator cores to play them, including command-line only emulators such as MAME and Mednafen. The systems emulated are listed here. In keeping with their goal of simplicity, some advanced features such as upscaling are generally not available. There is also no Arm build of OpenEmu available at time of writing.
Fightcade
Fightcade is a matchmaking frontend for playing many arcade fighting games online with other players. There is no Arm build at the time of writing.
Game-Specific Emulators
Some emulators target specific games rather than emulating whole systems, with ScummVM alone supporting over 300 games from various systems and more being added all the time.
Other projects are more considered source ports rather than emulators. See here for a list of source ports that work on macOS.
Arcade
Most Arcade Cabinets
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
MAME
|
0.266
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
~ [N 1]
|
Sega Atomiswave
Sega Model 3
Sega NAOMI/NAOMI 2
SNK Neo Geo MVS
Arcade LaserDisc
Nintendo
NES/Famicom
Super Nintendo
N64
GameCube
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Dolphin
|
5.0
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Wii
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Dolphin
|
5.0
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Wii U
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Cemu
|
2.0-80
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Switch
Game Boy/Color
Game Boy Advance
DS
3DS
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Citra
|
Fork
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
Panda3DS
|
0.8
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
Sega
SG-1000
Master System
Mega Drive/Genesis
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
ares
|
v138
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Generator
|
0.4.8
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
Genesis Plus
|
1.3.5
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
Mega CD
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
ares
|
v138
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
32X
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
ares
|
v138
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Saturn
Dreamcast
Game Gear
Sony
PlayStation
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
PlayStation 4
PlayStation Portable
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
PPSSPP
|
1.17.1
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
PlayStation Vita
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Vita3K
|
0.2.0
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
~
|
Microsoft
MSX/MSX2
Xbox
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Xemu
|
0.7.127
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Commodore
Vic-20
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
CLK
|
2024-06-03
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Power20
|
4.9.5
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~ [N 17]
|
C64
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
VirtualC64
|
5.0b5
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Denise
|
2.2.1
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Frodo
|
4.4.4
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~
|
✓
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
VICE
|
3.8
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
Power64
|
4.9.5
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~ [N 17]
|
Amiga
Atari
Atari 8-bit family
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Rainbow
|
1.6.1
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
Atari 2600
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
CLK
|
2024-06-03
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Atari 5200
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Jum52
|
1.1.4
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
Atari ST
Atari Lynx
SNK
Neo Geo AES/CD
Neo Geo Pocket/Color
Coleco
ColecoVision
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
ares
|
v138
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
CLK
|
2024-06-03
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Mugrat
|
0.5.0
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
~
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
Gearcoleco
|
1.1.0
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
Bandai
WonderSwan/Color
Apple
Apple I + II + III
Apple Lisa
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
LisaEm
|
1.2.7
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
Macintosh 68k
Macintosh PPC
NEC
PC-98
PC-Engine/TurboGrafx/SuperGrafx
Fujitsu
FM Towns
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
Gamepad Support
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Tsugaru (津軽)
|
Releases
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
Sinclair
ZX Spectrum
Tandy
TRS-80
Dragon Data
Dragon 32/64
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
XRoar
|
git
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
Oric
Oric 1 / Atmos
Amstrad
Amstrad CPC
Acorn
Electron
BBC Micro
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
b2
|
2024/04/23
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
Horizon
|
2.1.1
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
RISC PC
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
RPCEmu
|
Releases
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✗
|
~
|
Thompson
MO5
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
MO5
|
2.6.7
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
TO7
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
Thom
|
1.6.5
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
TO8
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
TEO
|
1.8.7
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
✓
|
?
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 8]
|
Commander X16
Name
|
Latest Version
|
PPC
|
x86
|
x64
|
ARM
|
OpenGL
|
MoltenVK
|
Metal
|
FLOSS
|
Active
|
Recommended
|
X16 Emulator
|
r46
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
~ [N 2]
|
✗
|
✗
|
✗
|
✓
|
~
|
~ [N 18]
|
IBM PC Compatible / MSDOS
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Command line application. Best played using OpenEmu.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 No official Arm build. Needs to be built from source
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Must compile from source.
- ↑ Only available as a core. Best played using OpenEmu.
- ↑ Some games may work with an x64 Intel Mac, but performance will be sub-par.
- ↑ Suyu was a Yuzu fork. It has been discontinued.
- ↑ Yuzu has been discontinued. Various forks are available.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 Requires paid version to access extra emulation features
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 v3.5.0 builds are broken.
- ↑ No Audio. Must compile from source and run from command line.
- ↑ Not open sourced yet, but will likely be opened later in development
- ↑ Unofficial 32-bit builds available here.
- ↑ Based on PCSX2, so it is partially FLOSS. The ARM parts are currently closed source.
- ↑ Recommended on Apple Silicon except for where there are game-specific bugs that are fixed in PCSX2.
- ↑ Compatibility varies depending on the title
- ↑ Very early in development. There is currently no graphics backend.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Shareware. Requires license to unlock full version.
- ↑ Command-line only application. No app bundle provided.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 There is a fork of Boxer that supports x64 and Arm