PC Emulator for iPhone and iPad first appeared in the App Store

Apple has unexpectedly changed its approach to emulators and approved UTM SE, the first PC-platform emulator for iPhone and iPad that allows you to run older versions of Windows and macOS on these devices. In April of this year, Apple revised the rules of the App Store, allowing the use of game emulators. This innovation led to the appearance of several emulators in the App Store, including the popular Nintendo Delta emulator.

However, despite these changes, in June Apple rejected UTM SE, a PC emulator, not only from the global App Store, but also from third-party app stores in the European Union. Apple explained this decision by saying that only “retro game” emulators are allowed, not PC emulators, even though retro games are often used on emulators like UTM. This decision caused a wide response and potential action by the European Commission.

This weekend, the developers of UTM SE announced on social media that Apple has reversed its earlier decision. UTM SE is now available in the App Store and will soon be available in the PAL EU AltStore. Apple did not provide an explanation for this change.

Importantly, iOS apps cannot use the Compute JIT. As a result, the functionality and performance of emulators running through UTM SE on iPhone and iPad will be lower compared to other platforms.