10,939
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
no edit summary
Throughout its history the Macintosh has spanned four CPU instruction set architectures that represent the four commonly known generations. From its launch in 1984 up until 1996, Apple sold Macintoshes with the Motorola 68k family of CPUs. In the early 90s, Apple partnered with Motorola and IBM to combine IBM's POWER with Motorola's 88k to produce the PowerPC (PPC) architecture they used in Macs from 1994-2007, naming some of them accordingly as Power Macintosh. They switched to x86 in 2007, justifying it with the explanation that PPC failed to be competitive with Intel's Pentium M series. And in 2020 have started a transition from x86 to ARM, further integrating with its more popular iOS mobile spinoff.
Macintosh computers have always included a platform-exclusive operating system that never had a consistent name.<ref group=N2N> It used to be called System or System Software until version 7.6, when it was renamed Mac OS in 1997. Version 10 was named Mac OS X (Ten, not Ex) in 2000, and when version 10.8 was released in 2012, it was shortened to OS X. When version 10.12 was released in 2016 it was rebranded as macOS to match the style of their other OSes at the time: iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and watchOS. They kept using the 10.x versioning until the release of macOS 11 Big Sur in 2020, and continue to increment every year.</ref> An important divide relevant for Mac emulation is "Old World" vs. "New World" motherboard ROMs, with Old World used for System 1-7 on 68k/PPC targets, and New World generally used for Mac OS 8-10 PPC targets, since New World ROMs were stored with the OS, they are available legally from Apple for free online in OS updates. A quick way to distinguish an Old World from a New World Mac is that all New World Macs have onboard USB ports, while no Old World Macs do. Mac OS 8.5 dropped support for 68k CPUs. Mac OS X, which has UNIX underpinnings different from its predecessor, was introduced in 1999 requiring a PowerPC G3 at minimum,<ref group=N2N>With the exception of one orphaned early G3 laptop. Though that didn't stop some users from programming OS X bootloaders for most PCI-based Macs, especially those with G3/G4 upgrades.</ref> and ported to x86 in 2006. With version 11 in 2020, macOS is now being ported to ARM (like its mobile cousin [[iOS emulators|iOS]]).
A ton of Macintosh emulators have appeared over the years, some early in the system's release (mostly for competing m68k microcomputers) and others as late as a few years ago. As a PC platform in its own right with its own userbase and varying degrees of unique software and hardware features, most major emulators of other platforms maintain a macOS port, or are ported to macOS by external collaborators, in addition to a number of emulators originating on the Mac over the years. It should be noted that we do not aim to be the last word on Mac emulation; there's a community called E-Maculation that covers this more thoroughly, as they offer builds for many of the emulators shown here on their forums. We'll either be further ahead or severely behind.
<references group=N/>
==Emulators==
===68k===
|[[MAME]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|<abbr title="Latest development version">git artifacts</abbr><ref group=NN2>[https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-windows/master CI-Windows] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-linux/master CI-Linux] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-macos/master CI-Macos]</ref></br>[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}[https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/apple/mac128.cpp#L1518 *]
|-
|}
<references group=NN2/>
;Basilisk II
|[[MAME]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|<abbr title="Latest development version">git artifacts</abbr><ref group=N2N3>[https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-windows/master CI-Windows] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-linux/master CI-Linux] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-macos/master CI-Macos]</ref></br>[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}[https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/apple/macpdm.cpp#L1195 *]
|-
|-
|}
<references group=N2N3/>
;SheepShaver
:An open-source "run-time environment" that includes a PowerPC emulator for non-PowerPC host systems. Originally commercial software named ShapeShifter, it is the companion app of the 68k Mac emulator Basilisk II. It boots System 7.5.2 through (due to a lack of MMU emulation) OS 9.0.4, runs most Mac applications at full speed on any modern PC, and can interface with and copy files to and from host hardware. It hasn't seen significant development in a while, not to mention that it is riddled with hacks and workarounds, which accounts for why some applications such as the default bundled Internet Explorer flat-out crash. Like Basilisk and vMac, it needs a firmware image from a working Mac.
