Henge is an app that lets you run macOS on iPhone and iPad, with no Mac needed to install it. It works on iOS or iPadOS 17 or later with an A14 or M1 chip or newer, and you do not need a jailbreak.
Developer levi released Henge on November 6 and published the code on Henge’s GitHub page. You need about 43 GB of free space and JIT turned on, and Henge has only been tested on an iPhone 17 Pro so far.
Henge Runs macOS on iPhone With Its Own Emulator
iOS gives apps no hypervisor, so Henge runs the Mac’s arm64 code through its own JIT, with its own MMU and devices. Henge does not use QEMU or Virtualization.framework.
Virtual Mac, an earlier project that put macOS on iPads, only worked on jailbroken models running iPadOS 16.3.1 or earlier. Henge runs on far more devices because it emulates the Mac’s chip instead of relying on Apple’s hypervisor.
To install, Henge downloads Apple’s restore image and restores it the way a Mac does, so nothing is decrypted or patched. macOS itself is not bundled in the app and comes from Apple during the install.
macOS draws through a virtual GPU that Henge replays with Metal, and Safari and Discord both work. On an iPhone, the screen works as a trackpad where you hold to drag and use two fingers to scroll. On an iPad, a Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse control the Mac directly.
Henge 0.1 is out, and with it allows you to run macOS on iOS/iPadOS! This has been a project of mine for about 2 weeks, and I’m very happy to finally release it! It’s in a good state, and ready to release. Download: https://t.co/qti10BV7qd https://t.co/DEup0TIJsB
— levi (@leviidev01) November 6, 2026
On an iPhone 17 Pro, macOS reaches the lock screen in about 15 seconds, and Discord opens in about 15 seconds and can log in and send messages. Henge is emulation, so it runs slower than a real Mac, and apps open more slowly for the first few minutes after you log in.
After a one-time Terminal command on the Mac, you get copy and paste and a shared folder between macOS and your device. Signing in to an Apple Account inside macOS fails with a verification error.
Henge Needs 43 GB of Free Space and JIT Before macOS Installs
You sideload Henge.ipa with SideStore or AltStore, or install Henge.tipa with TrollStore or TrollStore Lite. Henge also needs JIT compilation, the iOS feature emulators rely on for speed, before it can start a Mac. Henge accepts any of these methods to turn on JIT:
- StikDebug
- The StikJIT helper built into Henge, on iOS 26 or later
- TrollStore, which stops at iOS 17.0
- TrollStore Lite, which needs a jailbreak
- A jailbreak on its own
The amount of free storage on your device decides whether you can install at all, since macOS Sequoia needs about 43 GB. The 43 GB covers 17 GB for the download, which you can delete afterwards, and 26 GB for the Mac itself.
Open the Install tab, pick macOS Sequoia 15.6.1, and keep Henge open with your device plugged in. macOS Tahoe 26.6.2 and macOS Golden Gate 27.2 are also offered, but both are untested.
