An unofficial port of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom runs on Apple Silicon Macs at frame rates above those of the Switch 2 and a mid-range PC. The MacNativeGames project, which targets ARM64 processors, reaches 90 fps in gameplay and 120 fps in menus on the MacBook Air M4 and Mac mini M4, at 1440p with PlayStation and Xbox controller support.
The difference from emulators lies in how the game runs. Switch emulators have existed for years and some are macOS-compatible, but emulating the CPU demands more resources. A native port runs the code directly on the processor, with lighter load and potentially smoother graphics. Apple Macs share the console's ARM64 architecture, an edge many PCs lack. The project resembles nxnative on M1 Macs, which runs Switch games natively on Apple chips.
Image: ly05010419 — https://github.com/ly05010419/MacNativeGames
The port uses Apple's Metal 4 API and MetalFX upscaling, which reduces stuttering. Hitches remain when exploring new areas of Hyrule, despite automatic shader compilation.
An installation that demands technical skill
The GitHub download does not include game files. Users must supply a Tears of the Kingdom ROM in XCI or NSP format and complete an install that relies on Xcode and a series of terminal commands. It is not built for the average user.
A similar attempt exists on PC: an emulator alternative demonstrated by NotRexed. On an Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti, however, visuals fluctuate between 32 and 59 fps, well below the Mac version. Optimization work continues on both platforms. The Mac port also runs other Zelda games, including an experimental Breath of the Wild build based on Wii U code, and iPhones.
No comments yet. Be the first!