Virtualization & Emulation
Virtualization & Emulation
Running other operating systems, other architectures and other consoles on a Mac, without buying any of them.
Apple Silicon complicates this: native virtualization is fast but ARM-only, and anything x86 has to be emulated instead. UTM covers both paths, Parallels covers Windows properly, and the rest of the list emulates consoles rather than computers.
Virtual machines on macOS, built on QEMU.
Commercial VMs with tight macOS integration.
Build a Windows installer ISO on macOS.
One Mac-native front end over dozens of emulator cores.
Libretro front end — every core, one interface.
GameCube and Wii emulator, mature and native.
Nintendo Switch emulator written in C#.
Nintendo DS and DSi emulator focused on accuracy.
PlayStation 2 emulator, native on Apple Silicon.
PSP emulator, fast and near-complete.
PlayStation 1 emulator with accurate timing.
Every emulator here needs software you supply. Emulation itself is lawful in most jurisdictions; obtaining a console’s BIOS, firmware or games from anywhere other than hardware and media you own is not, and none of these projects ship any of it. The Switch is the unsettled case — see Ryujinx for where that project went.