A short demo has surfaced showing New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe running at 60fps on an iPhone 14 with iOS 26. The video highlights what appears to be an experimental emulator build capable of handling a Nintendo Switch title smoothly on Apple hardware. While the clip has generated some buzz, it should be understood as a technical experiment rather than a usable method for consumers.
The video was posted by Threads user Azyz, who shared the first boot sequence of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe running on iOS 26 along with some gameplay. He described it as “purely experimental for the time being” while noting that more structured resources may appear from the community in the future. For now, the demo mainly serves to show what is technically possible rather than providing a public solution.
Emulation on iOS has a long history, with projects like Delta, RetroArch, iGBA officially available in the App Store, proving that older console libraries could be made playable on iPhone and iPad. However, Switch emulation is far more demanding, requiring optimized CPU and GPU handling, controller input support, and stable performance across different devices. Seeing a flagship title run at 60fps on an iPhone 14 points to both the raw performance of Apple silicon and the advances in emulator development.
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The demo remains an early proof-of-concept, not a polished solution that everyday users can replicate. Nintendo’s strict protection of its intellectual property ensures that distributing commercial game files or offering guides will always carry legal risks. What this video really shows is the technical ceiling of the iPhone 14, and how far Apple’s devices can be pushed in experimental environments.
As emulation continues to mature on iOS, specially with many emulators being officially available in the App Store, one has to wonder whether it will be possible to get hands on a Switch emulator for iPhone someday. Given the success and popularity of Switch, I would not bet on that happening anytime soon.
