Get the fastest and smoothest gaming performance with BlueStacks - the world's most popular, safest and FREE Mobile Gaming Platform for Windows and Mac. Apple Silicon performance and support videos for Android Studio, Twitter. Android Emulator For Macbook Air M1 Back in 2012, When I started using Android Apps and playing Android games on my Windows PC there were not many Android emulators out there to choose from. But now in 2021, this situation is quite opposite to that. My Journey to Setup Android Emulator for M1 MacBook Pro. On roundup of the best FAQs on www.medium.com ▼.
- Android Emulator For Apple M1
- Android Emulator For M1 Macbook Pro
- Android Emulator For Apple M1
- Android Emulator For Macbook Pro
- Android Studio Emulator Mac M1
- Android Emulator For M1 Macbook
From the announcement made on November 10th, 2020, users have had high hopes for the new Apple M1 devices. With its powerful Apple Silicon processor smashing benchmarks all over the place, users and developers were both asking if a native Dolphin build would be possible. Now we have the answer.
Apple's M1 hardware is incredibly powerful and excels at running Dolphin. This announcement has been in the works for some time, eagle eyed users may have noticed that earlier this month macOS builds were now being designated as 'Intel'. That's because delroth and Skyler had set up a new buildbot using a service called MacStadium for creating Universal macOS binaries. These builds are available immediately and natively support both macOS M1 and Intel macOS devices.
Tackling macOS on ARM¶
It is an understatement to say that Apple dropped a bomb on the PC industry with the M1 ARM processor. ARM is a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architecture that was specifically designed for efficiency with portable devices. With a tight instruction set instead of the ever ballooning mess that is x86, ARM was able to get away with literally less processor while performing optimized tasks, giving it exceptional power efficiency. However given unoptimized workloads, an ARM processor would need many more cycles to perform it than an x86 CPU. All combined, ARM was the processor of choice for battery life in portable devices, but when pushed they had poor overall performance compared to Intel's x86 processors. It was a processor for casual things like phones, and not really meant for 'real work'. But that is the past.
Intel's iron grip of process superiority has long slipped, and the ARM instruction set has carefully expanded to more efficiently handle more tasks while not sacrificing power efficiency. Yet even with ARM reaching datacenters and even some interesting hardware giving us a glimpse at what could be, ARM's reputation as being weaker than x86 has remained firmly entrenched.
But with M1, Apple has completely shattered this foolish notion. Not only can the M1 perform the same tasks as their former Intel processors, they can do it faster even when using their Rosetta 2 translation layer! All of this while still providing considerably better single threaded performance compared to Intel. Let's just say they had gotten our attention.
We immediately put it through its paces. Using the Rosetta 2 translation layer with Dolphin's x86-64 JIT, the M1 easily ran most games at full speed and handily outran like-class Intel Macs. The experience wasn't entirely smooth due to jitter from Jitting a JIT, yet the processor proved itself more than capable of handling Dolphin. But the fact it had to do it through a translation layer was a huge performance bottleneck. Developers thought, why not just use Dolphin's AArch64 JIT for native support? And thus, the race was on as several people tried to figure out the hurdles of getting Dolphin's AArch64 JIT to run on the M1.
Unfortunately, getting the AArch64 JIT to work wasn't exactly trivial. Apple requires W^X (Write Xor Execute) conformance for native macOS M1 applications. What it does is make it so that areas of memory must be explicitly marked as for WriteorExecute, but not both! Because it's easier and hasn't been forbidden on any of the prior platforms that Dolphin supports, the emulator previously just marked memory regions used by the JIT as for WriteandExecute. This requirement from Apple is mostly a security feature to prevent bugs in programs that read untrusted data from being exploited to run malware. Outside of emulators, the primary place that you'll actually see self-modifying code is web browsers, which is often a vector for attack on a computer.
This was thankfully a lot less strict than on iOS devices, which strictly forbid mapping memory as executable whatsoever and made iOS untenable for us to officially support. Apple even provides documentation for helping developers port JITs to macOS on ARM. Skyler used a method described in the documentation that would change the mapped memory between Writeable when emitting code to Executable when executing code. Since Dolphin wasn't designed for this, there were a few hiccups along the way, but eventually everything was massaged into working with the new restrictions.
Once that was out of the way, the focus shifted towards maintainability and setting up the infrastructure. Beyond getting it to run correctly, this was by far the hardest challenge to official M1 support. Dolphin's infrastructure is rather complicated and sensitive to changes. Moving macOS builds over to a universal binary (x86-64 and AArch64 all in one) along with getting the hardware necessary to build macOS universal binaries was a challenge and could have proven to be an expensive endeavor. In the end, MacStadium made the move extremely inexpensive by providing us with free access to M1 hardware, so we were able to focus on making Dolphin's buildbot infrastructure handle the new builds.
Putting the M1 Hardware To The Test¶
So now that it runs, you're probably wondering how does it run. There's a few things we need to keep in mind. Dolphin's AArch64 JIT isn't quite as mature as the x86-64 JIT. While things aren't as bad as they were a couple of years ago and compatibility should be roughly the same thanks to efforts from JosJuice, it is still the less complete of the two JITs.
One of the differences is instruction coverage. Any PowerPC instruction that isn't included in the JIT has to fallback to interpreter, which costs a huge performance penalty. Most common instructions are covered by both JITs at this point. There is one important feature missing in the AArch64 Jit, though: memchecks. Thankfully, this only affects Full MMU games such as Star Wars Rogue Squadron II, III, and Spider-Man 2. There are some niceties missing from AArch64 JIT, too, like JitCache space reuse used to prevent spurious JitCache flushes.
AArch64 does have its advantages, though. Namely, the processors have 31 registers, compared to the 16 available in x86-64 processors. The PowerPC processor we are emulating has 32 registers, and while it is rare for all of them to be used within a single code block, more registers is always nice to have. Another difference is that AArch64 and PowerPC have 3 operand instructions while x86-64 only has two.
As you can see, it makes emulating some instructions much cleaner and easier than on our x86-64 JIT. Alright, enough with the boring details. How does the M1 hardware perform when put up against some of the beasts of the GameCube and Wii library? We also included data from two computers featured in Progress Reports previously for comparison.
There's no denying it; macOS M1 hardware kicks some serious ass. It absolutely obliterates a two and a half year old Intel MacBook Pro that was over three times its price all while keeping within ARM's reach of a powerful desktop computer. We were so impressed, we decided to make a second graph to express it.
The efficiency is almost literally off the chart. Compared to an absolute monstrosity of a Desktop PC, it uses less than 1/10th of the energy while providing ~65% of the performance. And the poor Intel MacBook Pro just can't compare.
Taking Things a (Lock)Step Further¶
After doing strenuous performance testing on the macOS M1 and its Apple Silicon, it was clear that it was powerful. The problem is that if you give developers a new toy, they eventually decide to push things further and further. This was the first time we got to see Dolphin's AArch64 JIT really stretch its legs on something other than a phone or tablet with an ultra aggressive governor that's also limited by graphics drivers. What is the absolute worst idea that we could come up with given this new found power? Netplay.
This was the real test to see if the AArch64 JIT and x86-64 JIT truly equals. We couldn't exactly test this before because the Android GUI lacks netplay support, but macOS runs the desktop version with no compromises. That includes having full netplay support. Now, testing this was mostly a joke because there are tons of differences between the JITs. Everything from instruction coverage to known rounding errors. The chances of this working was next to zero. But there was no reason to stop and think if we should - technology had made it so we could.
And it actually worked! We just can't be certain exactly how well yet due to limited testing. Every single game we've tested on netplay so far has managed to synchronize, albeit with Dolphin's desync checker giving a false positive. Testers have tried everything from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Mario Party 5 to things like spectating The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. All of the sessions stayed in sync.
This might not be true for all games. Up until earlier this month, games like Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, F-Zero GX, and Mario Kart Wii would immediately desync due to physics differences. Thanks to the work of JosJuice, those rounding bugs in the AArch64 JIT and interpreter (...we'll get to that in the Progress Report) are now fixed, meaning these games should at least have a chance to sync on netplay.
Because of limited libraries, we don't have a great idea of what games will work and what games are problematic. As a stress test, Techjar and Skyler played the Super Mario Sunshine Co-op Mod. The physics calculations in Super Mario Sunshine are extremely sensitive to CPU rounding bugs and it provided a tough test for both JITs. Oh yeah, they also enabled the 60 FPS hack just to make things even more interesting.
Everyone knowledgeable on Dolphin's JITs thought that cross-JIT netplay would be impossible, at least without tons of dedicated fixes. Yet here we are, able to experience it first hand. And it can only get better from here, as we are now able to monitor and test JIT determinism on netplay. While you might be excited to dive right in, it's important to note that we were only able to test a few games and we have no idea what compatibility will look like when unleashed on the wider library.
Note:Yes, we're aware that Windows and Linux AArch64 devices existed before the M1. There was no allure to testing netplay on those because they could not run Dolphin reasonably. We really didn't expect this to work or we probably would have tried it sooner.
In Conclusion¶
There's little else we can say: The M1 hardware is fantastic and higher tiers are on the way promising even better performance. But what we have is already efficient, powerful, and gives us a mainstream AArch64 device that isn't Android and uses our AArch64 JIT to its fullest potential. The only big downside is the proprietary graphics API present in macOS that prevents us from using the latest versions of OpenGL and forces us to use MoltenVK in order to take advantage of Vulkan. That is a very small price to pay to get a glimpse at some really cool hardware that redefines what an ARM processor can do. There's undeniable excitement for the next generation of AArch64 hardware to see how much further that this can go.
EDITORS NOTE: A small error was noticed in our 9900k performance testing. This has been corrected. However, the differences are very minor and do not affect our conclusion.
Back in 2012, When I started using Android Apps and playing Android games on my Windows PC there were not many Android emulators out there to choose from.
But now in 2021, this situation is quite opposite to that. There are over 30 Android emulators available for Windows 10 OS and Mac OS.
So, if you are not an expert then it is really hard to pick the right one for your needs.
To give you the best advice I have decided to test most of these Android emulators myself. So that you don’t need to spend hours and days downloading and installing all of these Android Emulators.
After testing the simulators for days finally, I have come to my conclusion.
I have tested more than 20 Android emulators on my Windows PC and most of one most of them were not really good. But there are some really amazing Android emulators out there that we can use to play games or use any of our favorite Android Apps like Snapchat Instagram WhatsApp or any Other Android App. Here’s the list of the Best Android emulators for PC.
Here’s the overall difference between the major Android emulators.
| # | Best Overall | Best For Gaming | Best For Developers | Lightweight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Bluestacks | Gameloop | Android Studio | Youwave |
| Link | Download Bluestacks | Download Gameloop | Download | Download |
| Price | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Platform | Windows & Mac | Windows OS | Windows OS | Windows OS |
Before installing any Android emulator it is the most important thing you should know,
Most of the Great Android emulators Use a lot of your PC resources that means multitasking will become very difficult. Especially if your PC has a low configuration like an i5 processor and maybe 8GB RAM.
Even if you have a low configuration PC or laptop then you can still use these emulators but the thing is that The simulators will work better if you close all other softwares.
Once you have tried some of these Android emulators on PC, don’t forget to share which one is your favourite one and which App do you use the most.
So without any further ado let’s see the list of best Android emulators for Windows 10 PC and Mac.
1. Bluestacks – The Best Android Emulator
Bluestacks Android Emulator is probably the best emulator to use to run Android Apps on MAC or Windows 10 PC. The performance of the Bluestacks is excellent. You will experience unmatched Android performance with this emulator.
Bluestacks is easy to install and use. The User Interface is so good. Even a third-grade student can use Bluestacks emulator without any guidance.
It does not require any virtualization, and it is easy to install and play android games on Windows PC using BlueStacks Android Emulator.The great performance and user experience of Bluestacks come with a catch. Bluestacks slows down many PCs and Laptops significantly.
We need to keep installing some kind of Apps every day to keep using Bluestacks for free. This is the worst thing about Bluestacks App Player.
- Available for both Windows OS & MAC OS.
- Price: Free or $2 per month for premium features.
2. Nox App Player – Great Android emulator for macOS
Nox App Player Android Emulator is perfect for gamers. If you want to play Android games on Windows 10 PC, then you can use Nox App Player.
You can control and play games with a mouse and keyboard. Due to its speed, many use it to test their Android games.
It has a lot of exciting features like one-click to hide or show root. It has keyboard mapping, where you can use a keyboard if you want to click anywhere while playing games.
- Available for both Windows & MAC.
- Price: Free
Nox Player has built-in GPS controller settings, through which you can play GPS based games like Pokemon on Nox Player in Windows OS.
3. Gameloop – Great Android Emulator for Gaming
Gameloop emulator has launched just a year ago but this emulator has become very very popular within no time.
- If you want to play Android games then look no further, Gameloop is the best emulator to play games on PC for free.
- Right now this is the second most downloaded Android emulator on Windows PC with over 400 Million installs.
- The reason why this emulator became so famous within a short time is that it was developed by the Tencent company.
In case, if you don’t know about the Tencent company then you should know that it is the same company behind developing the most amazing games on Android mobiles that is PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile.
This is the official Android emulator to play PUBG and Call of Duty games on Windows 10 PC
If you’re looking to play only Android games on your Windows 10 PC then this is the only in Android emulator that you need to use there is nothing that can be compared to the Gameloop emulator.
When it comes to Android gaming performance on your Windows 10 PC, Gameloop is the best.
The only problem with the Gameloop emulator is that it is not available for Mac devices & It only supports Android games it does not support any other Android Apps as BlueStacks does. You can download Gameloop for free using the download link below.
- Price: Free
- Available Platforms: Windows 10
4. MEmu Android Emulator
- MEmu is another fascinating Android emulator for Windows 10 laptops.
- The latest version of Memu Player supports Android Nougat, and it is compatible with AMD and Intel Chipsets.
- It has a lot many features as it comes with root access. If you are looking for productivity and gaming, then the MEmu android emulator can be chosen.
- Memu is a free emulator.
- Memu emulator is not available for Mac OS devices.
5. Android Studio – No 1. Android emulator for Testing Apps
- If you are new to Android emulators, then initially, you need to get your hands-on this Official Emulator.
- This is the official Android emulator released by Google for testing Apps in different Android versions.
- It is highly recommended for Android App developers.
- Developers can choose from 100’s phone models to emulate and see how the App works on different phones.
- It has a complete guide and documentation to make it easy to use, and you need to try it.
- Keep in mind that the setup of Android Studio very complex and I only recommend this for Android Developers, not for normal users.
6. Andy OS – Android emulator for low-End PCs
Android Andy OS is another unique emulator for PC. It stands unique when compared to other android emulators due to its unique features.
It allows you to use your phone as a remote control to play games. Using your desktop browser, you can install apps directly in Android Andy OS Emulator. It requires Virtualbox to be installed on your system.
Android Emulator For Apple M1
7. YouWave – Great Choice for Windows 7
- YouWave is another Android emulator for Windows 10 PC. It has a lot of exciting features and is the best choice for Windows 10 PCs. It has got easy to use user interface and has gained popularity in a short period.
- YouWave Android emulator works with all Windows versions. It supports Android 5.1 Lollipop and has SD Card functionality. It supports dynamic rotating and can play multiplayer online games.
8. Windroy Emulator
Windroy is said to be one of the best Android Emulators for Windows as it runs on the Windows Kernel. It does not require any Virtual Box support the same as BlueStacks.
Android Emulator For M1 Macbook Pro
It is handy and easy to use. You need to make sure the path you install Windroy should not have spaces.
9. GenyMotion -Best Android Emulator for Enterprises
GenyMotion Android emulator for Windows 10 PC has salient features like OpenGL and support for hardware acceleration.
It is a bit different form of BlueStacks due to its unique features. It is faster when compared to BlueStacks as it is built on X86 architecture.
Genymotion is a cloud-based Android emulator. You can use Genymotion on AWS, GCloud, and other servers. Genymotion is primarily for developers who want to test their Android Apps performance and scaling up issues.
The price for using Genymotion on the cloud is $.05 per minute. As you can see it is definitely not for regular use.
10. Remix OS Player
- Remix OS Player is the new Android Emulator by Jade, and it comes with Marshmallow.
- It is straightforward to install and simple for productivity and gaming.
- It has a sidebar that helps you to customize the configurations. It does not support AMD Chipset.
11. Droid4X
- Droid4X is the lightweight Android emulator for your PC. This is good for users with old desktops and laptops.
- It has some exciting features, you can try this Droid4x once.
- It comes with Play Store pre-installed in it, and it allows you to configure your keyboard as a controller while playing games.
- It is fast and does not lag any of your games, and it is the right choice.
- Droid4x has been discontinued by the developers. I do not recommend this emulator for beginners.
12. Jar Of Beans
- Jar Of Beans is an Android Jelly Beans Android emulator for Windows 8/10 PC.
- It has priority worldwide and easy to install. You can configure settings as you want and can also create a Virtual SD Card.
- You can download apk and connect them using jar Of Beans.
- I do not recommend this for regular Android emulator users. Anyway, if you wanna give it a try then you can download it.
Android Emulator For Apple M1
8. AMIDuos
AMIDuos is one of the recent Android emulators for Windows 10 PC and is perfect for gamers. It is straightforward to install and has an excellent user interface. It is said to be a smooth Android emulator and has things like gaming and productivity well.
It is not said to be developer-friendly as it does not have device-specific configurations, but on the user side, it is perfect to use android apps on Windows PC.
Note: This Android emulator has been discontinued by the developers. So, it is not wise to use this anymore.
14. Many Android Emulator
- Many Android Emulator is one of the underrated Android emulators.
- It comes with in-browser support, and it supports all android versions.
- So, if you are an android app developer, then you can use this to test your Android app in all versions without leaving it. It is easy to download, install, and check your applications.
15. Xamarin
- Xamarin Android Emulator is a must need an Android emulator if you want to work with a visual studio as it comes built-in with this.
- It also has Xamarin studio and OpenGL support. Xamarin is not suitable for normal users who want to run Android Apps on PC or Play Android games on Windows 10.
- Xamarin is for people who want to develop Android Games and Applications.
16. LDPlayer – Best Android Emulator for Windows 10
LDplayer is recently released by XUAN ZHI INTERNATIONAL CO., LIMITED. The good thing about the LDPlayer is that you choose the Android OS version. This is the reason LDPlayer has become a choice for many people.
It works with all versions of Windows and is said to be the lightweight android emulator. Android Emulators for Mac Free download.
17. KoPlayer
KoPlayer is another best android emulator in this list, and it is best to play an Android game on Windows 10 Laptop. It has a lot of features that make KoPlayer unique from other Android emulators. You can record the emulator screen while playing games so that you can record the shared video of your gameplay. You can also use multiple accounts simultaneously.
Android Emulator For Macbook Pro
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about Android Emulators.
If you are an Android developer, then you can use Android Emulators to test your Apps to know how it works.
There are many such reasons to use Android Emulators. If you are also looking for Android Emulators for Windows 10 PCs or Mac Laptops, then you have landed on the right page.
Android Emulators Conclusion
Have you ever thought of playing Android games on Windows PCs or MAC? Yes, you heard it right. Not only Android games, but you can also use any Android Application on Windows PC using Android Emulators.
Some applications look excellent in your mobile, and using them on the PC will be more impressive, and those same Apps will give you an incredible experience. There are many more such reasons to use Android Emulators on Mac OS laptops or Windows 8/7/10 PCs.
Note: Most of the Android Emulators would drain up your CPU, So I recommend not using any other software while running Emulators. This way, you will not run into any issues.
Android Studio Emulator Mac M1
These are some of the best emulators for Mac & PC. If you have anything to add, please do let us know through comments.
Android Emulator For M1 Macbook
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