We previously reported on the unannounced open-source project “Madeira,” which lets you play Windows PC games on iPhone. At the time, there were only test screenshots of a few games. On October 1, 2026, developer Will Faust officially released the project to GitHub
Three-layer technical pipeline: Wine, FEX-Emu, and DXMT combine into a single Mach process.
The backbone of Madeira is an iOS port of Wine, combining three existing open-source projects into a single pipeline. The first layer is FEX-Emu, which runtime-translates x86-64 Windows game instructions into ARM64 instructions on Apple chips, so the games themselves do not need to be recompiled. The second layer is a fork of Wine that runs in ARM64EC mode and moves the originally standalone wineserver into the same Mach process to run as a thread, reducing cross-process overhead; this is the key design that makes the entire solution viable under iOS’s strict process model. The third layer is DXMT, which converts Windows games’ Direct3D 11 graphics instructions into Apple’s native GPU API, Metal, so games can actually output visuals on the iPhone screen; the project also supports native Direct3D 12 and 32-bit games.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is running at 30+ FPS on an iPhone 18 Pro.
No PC, no streaming, fully on-device via Madeira.
x86-64 → arm64 with FEX
Windows → iOS syscalls with Wine
DX12 → Metal with the madeira-d3d12 runtimeWhat AAA game should we get running next? pic.twitter.com/Lo97xssNW2
— madeira (@madeira_app) September 25, 2026
What games can it run: from a slideshow to nearly 30fps
According to the status notes on GitHub, Thumper and ULTRAKILL are already playable. Marvel Cosmic Invasion has reached the game screen, but the controls are still unreliable, and it has also crashed for unknown reasons; several other games can reach the game screen but have low frame rates.
Even more attention-grabbing is the progress on AAA titles. A developer demonstrated Red Dead Redemption 2 running entirely on-device on an iPhone 18 Pro: initial attempts had single-digit frame rates and numerous graphical errors, practically a slideshow; later versions were able to reach nearly 30fps at close to 720p resolution, but the layout of the on-screen virtual buttons still needs improvement. Grand Theft Auto V also has a usable version; the demo video came from the project’s Discord channel, and its initial performance was rated as pretty good for an early version. The emulation layer even identifies the Apple SoC as an M5. Demo records also exist for Fallout 4 and 32-bit older titles such as Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, and Far Cry 3.
Mirrors edge running COMPLETELY on-device on an iPad.
No cloud, no stream.
Gaming is entering a golden era. pic.twitter.com/gezU13YuBM
— madeira (@madeira_app) September 21, 2026
Memory is another hurdle. Madeira implemented a mechanism similar to operating system swap, offloading memory data to iPhone storage. This kept Red Dead Redemption 2’s memory usage at around 7.6GB, and the developer says it can be reduced even further, giving iPhones with 8GB RAM a chance to run it.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is now running on an iPhone 18 Pro.
No PC, no streaming, fully on-device. Translating DirectX 12 to Metal with custom runtime that leverages DXMT’s airconv for SM5 shader conversion. This is an experimental build of Madeira with graphical glitches. pic.twitter.com/6jhUnErjeB
— madeira (@madeira_app) September 22, 2026
Steam is too bloated, so I made Madeira Dock.
The developer noted on the project’s Discord channel that the full Steam client consumes nearly 2GB of RAM just idling, which is too extravagant for phone memory. Their solution is Madeira Dock: a headless Steam client that only loads the Steam DLL needed to verify games, without the extra overhead of the full client, so players can log in directly with their Steam account and download games they’ve purchased. The developer specifically emphasized that this is not a tool to bypass Steam DRM; another option is to play DRM-free games from GOG.
Installation barrier: JIT, sideloading, and re-signing every 7 days
But don’t get too excited just yet: Madeira will never appear on the App Store. Emulating non-native architectures requires JIT (just-in-time compilation) to run at usable speeds, and since iOS 18.4, the App Store has banned apps from using JIT for security reasons, with only browser engines that go through BrowserEngineKit being exempt. Madeira’s JIT is enabled by attaching a debugger, and the project uses StikDebug to attach the debugger to the app.
To use Madeira, you must install it via sideloading, which requires an Apple ID signature. A free Apple ID can sign it, but the certificate expires after 7 days, so players must rebuild and reinstall the app once a week; the app’s container is retained after reinstalling, so game saves and environment settings won’t be lost. If you pay $99 (about NT$3,200) for an Apple Developer certificate, one signature lasts a year. As for hardware requirements, this release requires iOS 26 or later. The developer’s main development device is an A15-chip iPhone 13 Pro, and the project also requires at least an iPhone 13 Pro or newer model.
Madeira – GitHub
Conclusion: A New Crack in the iOS Gaming Landscape
The iPhone’s SoC performance has long exceeded what most mobile games require. Emulators such as Delta, PPSSPP, and Dolphin make games from old Nintendo and Sony consoles available on the App Store or through sideloading channels, but Windows PC games have long been the missing piece on iOS. Madeira brute-forces that piece into place with a three-layer combination of Wine, FEX-Emu, and DXMT. From single-digit frame rates in Red Dead Redemption 2 to close to 30fps, the pace of progress shows there is still a lot of room for optimization on this path. Weekly re-signing, enabling JIT via a debugger, and manual sideloading set the barrier high enough that it currently belongs only to players and researchers willing to tinker; a launcher ecosystem using it as a backend has already begun to sprout. Whether this crack will widen depends on how quickly the next few versions are optimized. For players who don’t want to tinker, two options still remain: jailbreak and bear the cost of losing the warranty and compatibility with security updates, or keep waiting. Madeira has at least handed the third option to users themselves.
Source: KOCPC Chinese