AetherSX will not run on any Intel Mac.Īlthough you can use your keyboard to play games, we do recommend using a gamepad. Amazingly, the creators who ported it don’t even own a Mac! So the only requirement to run the emulator is an Apple Silicon Mac starting with the M1 and including anything faster, such as the M1 Pro, Max, Ultra, or M2. AetherSX2 RequirementsĪetherSX2 is actually a port of an Android application. So let your own moral compass be your guide.

In general, it’s legal to make backups of video games that you have paid for and then use them with an emulator, but if you download games from the internet without paying for them, it’s tantamount to piracy. It’s your responsibility to determine which is the case in your region. Legal Considerations When Emulatingĭepending on where you live, emulation may be legal, in a gray area, or against the law. This means it can run many games at much faster performance levels than PCSX2 and it requires less CPU power and battery consumption to do it. In our tests with PCSX2, we could never emulate PS2 games at full speed.ĪetherSX2 is the first PS2 emulator on macOS that runs native ARM code, which is the “language” that Apple Silicon processors understand. In other words, they have to run through the Rosetta 2 translation layer, which itself has a performance cost and occasional compatibility issues. What these macOS emulators have in common is that they are written to run on Intel Macs, and not the new generation of Apple Silicon machines. At the time of writing it’s an unofficial offshoot by a coder known as Tellowkrinkle. There’s also PCSX2, which is perhaps the best-known PS2 emulator. OpenEmu contains numerous “cores” that can emulate consoles like the PS1 or Atari 2600. There are quite a few emulators for various console systems for macOS. It’s got just the right amount of punch to emulate PS2 games perfectly. It also means that the emulation of older consoles has become a reality for Apple’s entry-level system. This doesn’t just mean you can play impressive macOS versions of games on thin and light computers like an M1 MacBook Air. Its CPUs perform just as well as much larger laptops, and it has more GPU power than a PlayStation 4. Why the M1 Is Perfect for Emulating GamesĪpple’s M1 processor is actually a gaming powerhouse. There’s no such thing as perfect emulation, but the results are often more than good enough for most players. However, emulation methods have become quite efficient over the years. That’s because you’re creating a computer within a computer in a sense. Therefore, emulation requires more processing power than the original system offered. AetherSX2 uses a technique known as “emulation” to make the PS2 game think that it’s running on original console hardware.

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