The short version
- nxnative, an open-source project on GitHub, converts Switch games into apps that run on iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Macs.
- It isn't a traditional emulator. In the project's words, the game's own code "runs directly on the Apple chip", with Switch graphics rebuilt on Apple's Metal.
- Its README lists around 86 games, including Tears of the Kingdom and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and some run at 60fps where the Switch manages 30.
- It's free, unofficial and unsupported by Nintendo or Apple. You have to supply your own game files and console keys, and an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
How it works
The Switch runs on an Arm processor, and so do iPhones, iPads and Apple silicon Macs. That shared base is the trick.
A normal emulator has to pretend to be the whole console, translating instructions and graphics calls as the game runs. nxnative skips most of that. It takes the game's program files and packs them into a native Apple app, with a stand-in for the Switch's system software and a layer that turns Nintendo's graphics calls into Metal. Shader translation borrows from the Ryujinx emulator, and the project credits code from yuzu, Atmosphère, LibHac and others.
Image: Zerocade
It's the same family of idea as the static recompilation behind fan PC ports of N64 games, and our x86 vs Arm explainer covers why matching chip types matters so much.
What you need
Image: Zerocade
The project is a command-line tool, not an app you download from a store. According to its README:
- A Mac running macOS 26.6 or later, with Xcode 27.1, Homebrew and Python 3.12 or newer.
- Free disk space of about twice the game's size plus 10GB. The first build of each game takes 30 to 60 minutes.
- An iPhone 15 Pro or newer, or an iPad with an M1 chip or later, on iOS or iPadOS 26. Older iPhones can't read the compressed texture format Switch games use.
- Your own game dumps and console keys. The project ships none, and says it isn't affiliated with Nintendo or any publisher.
The finished app has to be sideloaded. Memory is the other limit: iOS gives an app about 3.4GB by default, or around 6GB on a recent iPhone with Apple's increased memory entitlement.
What's reported working
The README gallery lists around 86 titles, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Hades II, Persona 5 Royal and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Some, such as Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, are marked as running at 60fps on specific game versions, against 30fps on Switch. Earlier community reports also had Monster Hunter Rise at 60fps on an M1 MacBook Air.
These lists come from the project and its users, not formal testing, and we haven't run it ourselves. Games not on the list "aren't supported yet": the script still tries, but the app may not start.
The catches
- No online play and no amiibo.
- Short stutters the first time a new scene appears, while shaders compile.
- Game-specific bugs, such as missing sound in Fire Emblem Engage after switching apps.
- A separate community Mac app, NX2Apple, puts a friendlier front end on it, but it's a different project.
The legal side
The code is released under the MIT licence, and the project ships no games or keys. That doesn't make it safe from Nintendo. Yuzu's developers paid about ₹20 crore ($2.4 million) to settle with Nintendo in 2024, and Ryujinx shut down later that year after contact from Nintendo. Converting games you own sits in a grey area that varies by country, and dumping your own keys and games needs a modded Switch. Our emulation legality explainer covers where the lines usually fall.
What to watch: whether Nintendo responds. A project this visible, running Nintendo's biggest games on Apple hardware, rarely stays quiet for long.
