Some notes on running x86/64 software on modern ARM devices like Apple’s M-series, covering tools, emulation, and virtualization options.
So apparently there are tools out there now that allow you to run virtualised x86/64 software on ARM.
eg. Traditional older Windows apps on Apple M-series processors.
This one is free:
- https://getutm.app/
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UTM
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Run virtual machines on iOS
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- https://mac.getutm.app/
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Securely run operating systems on your Mac
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UTM employs Apple's Hypervisor virtualization framework to run ARM64 operating systems on Apple Silicon at near native speeds. On Intel Macs, x86/x64 operating system can be virtualized. In addition, lower performance emulation is available to run x86/x64 on Apple Silicon as well as ARM64 on Intel.
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- https://docs.getutm.app/
- https://github.com/utmapp/UTM
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UTM
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Virtual machines for iOS and macOS
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UTM is a full featured system emulator and virtual machine host for iOS and macOS. It is based off of QEMU. In short, it allows you to run Windows, Linux, and more on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
- https://github.com/utmapp/UTM#utm-se
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UTM SE
UTM/QEMU requires dynamic code generation (JIT) for maximum performance. JIT on iOS devices require either a jailbroken device, or one of the various workarounds found for specific versions of iOS (see "Install" for more details).
UTM SE ("slow edition") uses a threaded interpreter which performs better than a traditional interpreter but still slower than JIT. This technique is similar to what iSH does for dynamic execution. As a result, UTM SE does not require jailbreaking or any JIT workarounds and can be sideloaded as a regular app.
To optimize for size and build times, only the following architectures are included in UTM SE: ARM, PPC, RISC-V, and x86 (all with both 32-bit and 64-bit variants).
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And built on QEMU, which is a really solid piece of open source virtualisation / emulation software:
- https://www.qemu.org/
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QEMU
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A generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer
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- https://github.com/qemu/qemu
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QEMU
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Official QEMU mirror. Please see https://www.qemu.org/contribute/ for how to submit changes to QEMU. Pull Requests are ignored. Please only use release tarballs from the QEMU website.
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QEMU is a generic and open source machine & userspace emulator and virtualizer.
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And then if you wanted it in a more traditional paid for solution, seemingly Parallels Desktop 20.2 added early preview support for x86 emulation:
- https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-20-2-0/
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Parallels Desktop 20.2
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New improvements for Pro users (developers, testers, and tech enthusiasts)
A milestone: introducing the early technology preview of x86 emulation
I’m proud to share a significant milestone — starting with Parallels Desktop 20.2.0 you can use x86 emulation on Apple silicon Macs.
This functionality allows you to run some Intel-based (x86_64) virtual machines (VMs) on Apple silicon Macs via our proprietary emulation engine.
Since we first introduced Parallels Desktop 16.5 with support for Apple silicon Macs, the ability to run x86_64 virtual machines has been a limitation.
And today, after months of hard work, we’re releasing this early technology preview for tech enthusiasts who want to explore its potential.
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- https://kb.parallels.com/130217
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Run Intel-based virtual machines on Apple silicon Macs using Parallels Desktop x86 emulator
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Parallels Desktop 20.2.0 brings the early preview of the technology that allows running Intel-based (x86_64) operating systems on Macs with Apple silicon. While still in active development, the technology may be useful for tech enthusiasts who need to boot into their existing Windows 10 or some Linux VMs and access data or test some scenarios.
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- https://github.com/Sikarugir-App/Sikarugir
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Sikarugir
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A user-friendly tool used to make wine wrapped ports of Windows software for macOS.
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A wrapper project that's the successor to Wineskin
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This project supports macOS 10.15.4 or later.
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