MacNativeGames Project Brings Zelda to Apple Silicon
A new open-source tool allows users to play Tears of the Kingdom natively on macOS.
Updated on Oct. 21, 2026 in Gaming
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Developer liyong has released MacNativeGames, an open-source project that converts The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom into a native ARM64 macOS application. The tool enables the game to run directly on Apple Silicon without traditional emulation layers.
Why it matters
By recompiling the game to use Apple's Metal 4 API directly, the project achieves significantly higher performance than standard emulation. It also avoids distributing proprietary Nintendo code by requiring users to supply their own game files and keys.
The application supports native controller input for PlayStation DualSense and Xbox hardware. It also offers MetalFX upscaling capabilities up to a maximum resolution of 4K.
The players
liyong
This software developer created and released the open-source MacNativeGames project.
Nintendo
This multinational video game company owns the intellectual property for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Apple
This technology corporation develops the macOS operating system and the M-series ARM-based chips found in modern MacBook hardware.
The details
The project functions because both the Nintendo Switch's Tegra X1 and Apple's M-series processors utilize the same ARM64 architecture. To bypass graphics translation, the software uses a crowdsourced text registry of discovered shaders to pre-build objects, allowing the application to speak directly to the Metal 4 API.
Timeline
October 21, 2026: Official project and article release.
Culture Shift
This development represents a move toward native recompilation as an alternative to resource-heavy virtualization. The project marks a performance leap over the existing x86 recompilation project by NotRexed.
Users can now play the title with native controls and improved frame rates on their existing Apple hardware. However, adoption requires technical proficiency, as users must manually compile the software using Xcode command-line tools.
The takeaway
The project highlights the technical potential of native recompilation for cross-platform gaming on ARM-based hardware. Enthusiasts should note that they must provide their own game files to utilize these conversion tools.
Further reading
Explore the latest developments in Gaming to see how open-source tools are changing title accessibility.
Source note: This article includes information reported by TweakTown.
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Do you support the development of unofficial native ports for games on hardware not officially supported?
