3 Effective Methods of Running iPhone Apps on Mac

Do you own a Mac powered by Apple Silicon and want to access the iPhone application? Well, you don’t need to take out your iPhone for running iPhone apps on Mac. Earlier, it was not possible to do so without using an emulator. However, that’s not the case with today’s Macs. Let’s find out the ways to run iPhone apps on Mac.

What Do You Need to Run iOS Apps on Mac?

To effectively and quickly run an iOS app on your Mac, there are certain things that you require. Make sure you are running macOS Big Sur or newer. Also, ensure that your Mac computer is powered by one of Apple’s custom silicon chips, including M1, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, or M1 Pro.

And most importantly, check that your Mac has ample storage space available to run apps. If you find your Mac running out of application memory, you need to free up drive space by deleting unnecessary files and apps; else, you will not be able to run iOS apps.

How to Run iPhone Apps on Mac?

The incompatibility between iOS and Mac does not allow their apps to run on other ones. iOS apps would not run on Mac and vice versa. Apple computers with an Apple Silicon chip allow running iPhone apps without using an emulator.

So, you can only run iPhone apps on Macs with the Apple Silicon chip. But, how would you verify if your Apple computer runs over Silicon chips? To check this, click on the Apple logo displayed in the top left corner of the screen, tap on About This Mac, and if it says M1 under the Chip section, you can run iOS apps.

Apple computers that integrate M1 include MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020), Mac mini (M1, 2020), iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021), and MacBook Air (M1, 2020). Using iOS apps on Mac helps in easily transferring data or workflows from iPhone to Mac.

Use Professional App to Launch iOS Apps on M1 Macs

Downloading and running iPhone apps on Mac is quite easy; simply open the Apple Store on your Mac. Press ‘Search Field’ and enter the app you would like to download. Choose iPhone and iPad options in the search results. Next to the app search result, hit the ‘Get’ button. Once it gets downloaded, you can run the downloaded iOS application on your Mac.

If you are not able to run an iOS app on your Mac computer, use a professional app to simplify the task. Apps such as iMobie M1 App Checker for desktops allow users to run iOS apps on M1 Mac seamlessly. Download, install and launch it on your system and select ‘iPhone App’ mode.

Choose the required app and hit ‘Download’ to get the .ipa file. Next, sign in with your valid Apple ID. Go to the App Library and press the Transfer icon to store the .ipa file on M1 Mac. Open this file on your M1 Mac. Now, you can run an iOS application.

What if your Mac doesn’t integrate Apple Silicon chips? Does it still allow you to run iPhone apps? Yes, here we discuss some alternative ways to access iOS apps on macOS.

Use Emulator to Run iOS Apps on Non-M1 Macs

A handful of emulators are available for Mac, but installing and managing them is not that easy. These programs emulate specific types of services or devices. If you have an older version of Mac, you would have to download an emulator to run iOS applications. Make sure you have the best computer specifications to run emulators.

Earlier, third-party websites were used to download emulators. But ensure you do not download any virus. If you already have the application for your iPhone, you can simply run it on your Mac. Go to the Applications folder and open the App Store on your Mac.

Since you already have the app for your iPhone, you can get it by clicking on your account in the lower left corner. Go under the Account section and press the iPhone & iPad Apps button. Find the app and hit the iCloud download button. Now, you can download the app to your Mac.

Use Apple Configurator 2 to Run iPhone Apps on Mac

This configuration tool allows users to deploy various Apple devices. Connect your iPhone to your Mac using a USB cable once you download Apple Configurator 2. Press ‘Add’ and then navigate to Apps on the menu.

Sign in your Apple ID. Find the required app and click ‘Add to download it’. Leave the warning message and click Shift + Command + G in the Finder to open ‘Go to folder menu’. Paste here ‘~/Library/GroupContainers/K36BKF7T3D.group.com.apple.configurator/Library/ Caches/Assets/TemporaryItems/MobileApps’.

Double click on the IPA file and open the Terminal on your system. Next, paste ‘sudo xattr-rdcom.apple.quarantine’ without clicking enter. Press the spacebar and drag your app from ‘Applications’ to ‘Terminal’. Now, hit ‘Enter’. Submit your password and click ‘Enter’. Now, you can run your app.

The Conclusion

Mac computers with ARM-based chips will have an architecture similar to iOS devices. Thus, Mac users can natively run iPhone apps without making any further modifications or without using an emulator.