Apple has relaxed its restrictions on retro gaming emulators for its devices, allowing notable emulators like the Delta Emulator to be available on the App Store. However, while some retro gaming systems such as the NES, Game Boy, SNES, and N64 are supported, GameCube and Wii emulation may not be possible on the iPhone.

The developer behind DolphiniOS, a fork of Dolphin, explained that the lack of support for the emulator’s ‘Just in Time’ compiler is the reason for the restriction. Apple does not allow apps to use JIT recompilers on iOS, citing potential security risks as a possible reason for this decision. Translating PowerPC code to ARM for the iPhone‘s CPU to understand is necessary for running GameCube or Wii games on the device, but without JIT support, bringing these emulators to the iPhone is currently not feasible.

Running Dolphin without its JIT compiler is feasible, but expect significantly slower performance, evident in the example videos below.

The recordings were made using the iPhone 15 Pro Max, currently the most advanced iPhone on the market.

OatmealDome points out that although they could release DolphiniOS on the App Store featuring only the interpreter, user feedback would probably focus on substandard performance, and the App Review team might reject it for being impractical to use.

The developer mentions that an App Store debut for DolphiniOS seems improbable unless Apple relaxes its JIT compilation restrictions.

For now, DolphiniOS remains inaccessible through the App Store. It can be acquired through AltStore here.