jprx/darwin-vm

Run iOS/ macOS in Qemu. Virtual iPhone 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12 and M5-M1 Apple Si Macs supported.

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Run iOS/ macOS in Qemu. Supports emulating iPhone 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, and 12 (A19-A14) and M5-M1 Macs (tested with Macbook Air and Mac Mini). You can debug the kernel, edit the root filesystem, and run a root shell + custom programs. Features: (some kernel messages were removed from the above log to make it easier to read) This is not a full iPhone/ Mac emulator. Don't expect the screen, wifi, bluetooth, graphics, GUI apps, or full springboard to work. This just boots iOS / macOS to a barebones root shell so you can run custom command line programs, debug the kernel, and mess around with low-level Darwin internals. If you've ever compiled Linux + busybox and booted in qemu (with -kernel and -initrd) for kernel development, this is like that but for Darwin systems. darwin-vm has been tested with the following systems: ✅ = boots to root shell…

jprx/darwin-vm on GitHub A short preview, not the full document.

Read the full README ↗ · Preview checked 2026-10-29T13:31:31.112Z

Inside the original README — Document outline
  1. darwin-vm
  2. What this is not
  3. Tested Configurations
  4. Setup
  5. Quickstart
  6. 1. Preparing Files
  7. 2. Fixing Permissions
  8. 3. Build qemu-sptm
  9. 4. Run the VM
  10. 5. Add custom programs to the VM
  11. 6. Running a custom / development kernel
  12. 1. Select a Mac and macOS version. You need to know:

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Documentation belongs to its respective authors. Reported project/model license: MIT. A listing is not a grant of reuse or training rights. Confirm the document’s own terms at the source.

What this repository does

Run iOS/ macOS in Qemu. Virtual iPhone 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12 and M5-M1 Apple Si Macs supported.

Repository facts

Owner
jprx
Primary language
Python
Stars
1,158
Forks
99
Open issues + pull requests
8
License
MIT
Archived
No
Default branch
main
Created
2026-08-27T22:24:31.000Z
Last push
2026-09-23T20:12:12.000Z

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