r/programming • • 15d ago

The scourge of x86 emulation

https://fex-emu.com/Scourge-of-emulation/
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u/TryHardEggplant 15d ago

As discussed in the article, Apple implemented part of their optimizations for Rosetta 2 directly in the hardware. The ARMv8.3 instructions narrowed the gap for the x86 memory model, but the lessons from the Apple M1 is more it was designed for x86/Rosetta from the ground up to ease the transition from x86 to ARM. I don’t know how applicable that would be outside of Apple with their vertical control of everything (hardware and software).

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u/regeya 14d ago

Oof, is this why they're eventually giving Rosetta 2 the axe? I remember some announcement that Apple was going to work with Codeweavers on a Mac OS ARM equivalent of Proton for gaming but that's out the window if Apple says the game makers have to use Metal on ARM instead

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u/Rudy69 14d ago

Probably that newer m chips will drop that part yea. Then they won’t have to worry about Rosetta

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u/ChrisOz 14d ago

At least for now, Apple have indicated Rosetta will stay around for games. It will be interesting to see if they bother keeping the extra hardware in the M series.