Apple approves the first PC emulator for iPhone and iPad

Apple has reversed course and approved UTM SE, the first PC emulator for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. The app lets you emulate old versions of Windows, macOS, and much more on your iPhone or iPad.

The first PC emulator for iPhone and iPad

Apple revised its App Store Guidelines to allow game emulators in April, bringing the change to the European Union and around the world. This change has led to the launch of a number of game emulators on the App Store, including the popular Nintendo emulator Delta.

The PC emulator app UTM SE, however, was rejected by Apple in June, despite the changes to the App Store Guidelines. Furthermore, Apple rejected the app not only from the worldwide App Store, but also from third-party app marketplaces in the European Union.

Apple’s explanation at the time was that only “retro game” emulators were allowed, not PC emulators, even though playing retro games is one of the biggest reasons people use PC emulators like UTM. The decision led to widespread backlash and potential action from the European Commission.

In a post on social media this weekend, however, the developers of UTM SE confirmed that Apple had a change of heart. UTM SE can now be downloaded from the App Store. It will also soon be available via AltStore PAL in the EU. There doesn’t seem to be an explanation from Apple about what led to this reversal.

UTM SE is a PC emulator that allows you to run classic software and old-school games.

• Supports both VGA mode for graphics and terminal mode for text-only operating systems
• Emulates x86, PPC, and RISC-V architectures
• Run pre-built machines or create your own configuration from scratch
• Built from QEMU, a powerful and widely used emulator

One thing to note is that apps distributed on iOS cannot use a JIT compiler. This means the functionality and performance of the emulators running through UTM SE on iPhone and iPad will not be as powerful as on other platforms.

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