You Can Now Emulate Windows on Your iPhone

It's been a rocky road, but UTM SE is now available on iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS. The free PC emulator offers a collection of pre-built machines and can run Windows, Linux, or old versions of macOS.

Apple revised its App Store policy to accommodate "retro game emulators" earlier this year. This led to an influx of console emulators (and emulation frontends) on the App Store—PPSSPP, Delta, RetroArch, and so on.

The only thing missing from this App Store renaissance was a good PC emulator. And, as recently as last month, Apple has argued that "a PC is not a console." It initially rejected UTM SE's app submission, and it barred UTM SE from being listed on third-party app stores in the EU.

Evidently, Apple has had a sudden change of heart. UTM SE is the first PC emulator to benefit from the revised App Store guidelines, and it may soon be joined by similar apps like iDOS (which has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the App Store since 2010).

Setting up a VM in UTM SE is a relatively straightforward process. Open the UTM Gallery, find the operating system that you want to emulate, and follow the setup instructions. I went with Windows XP because it's one of the easier options (newer Windows versions are far more intimidating), and it took all but a few minutes to reach the Windows XP installation screen (which I'm still sitting on).

As for the emulator's performance—well, it's far from perfect. Like all iOS apps, UTM SE is barred from utilizing JIT compilation, meaning that it's impossible to recompile emulated code as native code. This JIT-less version of UTM isn't as fast or responsive as it should be, even when emulating a relatively old operating system like Windows XP.

I suspect that UTM SE will do a good job emulating MS-DOS or macOS 9, as these platforms are far less demanding than modern operating systems. However, retro gamers who specifically want to play DOS games should probably wait for iDOS to gain App Store approval.

Note that JIT compilation is supported when sideloading UTM on iOS. But I don't suggest going down this route unless you're willing to pay $100 a year for an Apple Developer account.

You can install UTM SE for free on the iOS App Store. It works on iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS. If you own a Mac, I strongly suggest trying UTM on macOS and mirroring your display to an iPad—it's an easy way to get around the JIT debacle.

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