A player-led experimental project has demonstrated Cyberpunk 2077 running locally on an iPhone 17 Pro Max for the first time. This prototype allows the game's macOS version to run directly on iOS devices via a compatibility layer, rather than streaming from a Mac or the cloud.
Cyberpunk 2077 launched a native Mac version supporting Apple silicon in 2025. Its executable adopts the modern ARM architecture, shared with iPhones, and natively uses Apple's Metal graphics API. This eliminates the need for real-time translation of Windows x86 instructions to ARM, with the main challenges lying in addressing differences between macOS and iOS in file handling, input, program behavior, and system libraries.
Developers unveiled the demo on September 23, stating that the visuals combine medium and high quality settings at approximately 900p resolution, with frame rates slightly exceeding 30 FPS. The MetalFX framework is enabled, and since the game code is natively adapted for Apple's architecture, no just-in-time compilation is required during runtime.
The test device was an iPhone 17 Pro Max equipped with the A19 Pro chip. Developers stated that if the project is released publicly in the future, users will need to provide their own copy of the game's macOS files and sideload the generated application; once the files are on the device, gameplay will not require a Mac or an internet connection.
Current results can also be compared with the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Cyberpunk 2077. The latter targets 30 FPS in Quality Mode and up to 40 FPS in Performance Mode, with a 720p output target in handheld mode. Based on the displayed metrics, the iPhone prototype appears to maintain slightly above 30 FPS even at higher quality settings.
However, a strict direct comparison between the two is not currently possible. The Switch 2 version uses Nvidia DLSS, where the display resolution may not equal the initial per-frame rendering resolution; the iPhone demo also enables MetalFX, and developers have not clarified whether the 900p figure refers to internal rendering or the reconstructed output. The project is also experimenting with ray tracing, but it can currently only be toggled entirely on or off, lacking the granular settings available on the desktop version.
The specific implementation of this compatibility layer has not been disclosed, and there is currently no downloadable version or public source code available, meaning external parties cannot independently reproduce the demonstration results for now.