Amidst the excitement surrounding over 3.5 million users who have engaged with the new Nintendo Switch 2, user PatRyk (@Patrosi73) took a different route: attempting to run iOS on the original Nintendo Switch. And they succeeded! Sort of.
PatRyk dedicated two full days to find a method for running a complete version of iOS within QEMU, an open-source machine emulator and virtualizer capable of simulating various hardware architectures in software.
The outcome is a fully emulated iOS environment operating on the Switch’s Nvidia Tegra X1 processor.
The “world’s slowest”, yet most entertaining iPhone
Before anyone gets too carried away, let’s manage expectations: according to PatRyk, this iOS installation is barely functional:
Nevertheless, the simple fact that it boots up is quite impressive, particularly given that iOS notoriously runs only on Apple hardware (or, at best, via Apple’s Xcode simulator on a Mac).
But… why?
Simply put, why not? For PatRyk, this project appeared to be more about the joy of experimentation than about creating something functional.
“I’ve lost my mind (and 2 days of my life to install this),” they humorously noted in their post. “Behold: the world’s slowest iPhone.”
Is it usable? Far from it. However, as a proof of concept, and as a unique way to claim you’ve run iOS on a Nintendo console, it’s undeniably fascinating.
This project builds upon the QEMU Apple Silicon emulation initiative, which seeks to enable the operation of ARM-based Apple operating systems in virtual environments; more details can be found on its GitHub page.
Via MacMagazine
