Apara
Apple Silicon
GitHub
Windows software, with the reasoning shown
Apara gives Windows software an explainable, reversible home on Apple Silicon.
apara
The mark is one closed path: two different forms on one continuous ground, divided by a seam that stops before the base. So is the software.
Two worlds. One object.
A Windows program expects Direct3D, an x86 processor, and a Windows filesystem. A Mac offers none of them. Apara is the ground both can stand on.
Construction state
Drawing A-01
One geometry spans them. The route crosses through the ground — beneath the boundary, never around it. That is why the seam stops before the base.
Drawn, then machined
Same geometry, same seams. What the blueprint promises, the object performs.
Open the Core
Every seam is a real boundary. Nothing inside is decoration.
The architecture
The binary is read, the plan is recorded, the runtime is pinned, graphics are translated, the window is native, and every environment can be checkpointed and rolled back.
One application. One recorded plan.
Architecture, imports, graphics, anti-cheat signals — read before anything runs. The route is decided, recorded, and pinned to the runtime it was measured with.
And then it is just an app
The reasoning becomes the interface
Runtime, graphics route, confidence, caveats, file access, checkpoints — reviewed in one native Mac window.
Measured on real games
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: 81 fps in its built-in benchmark at High, 1728 × 1117.
Compatibility without mythology
D3DMetal is Apple’s, under Apple’s licence, and is not part of Apara. Kernel anti-cheat is a platform boundary, not a bug to bypass. A failed route is evidence, not something to hide.
Apara
The public Mac build is not published yet. The campaign page sets out what has been measured, where the boundaries are, and what funding changes.
The system in plain language
Apara gives each Windows program an isolated environment, pins the runtime it was measured with, explains its graphics route, and lets you checkpoint and roll back every environment. A game’s own DLSS can now run on Apple MetalFX. The project is open source and built for Apple Silicon Macs.
Read the campaign Visit Apara on GitHubOctober 2026 · where Apara stands
Every claim below comes from a run on a real Mac, recorded in the project’s own investigation notes, tests and compatibility profiles. Each one carries a label, and nothing is rounded up.
DLSS, on a Mac / 01
Hogwarts Legacy offers NVIDIA DLSS on a Mac running Apara. Choose it, and Apple’s MetalFX Temporal upscaler does the work, fed by the game’s own depth, motion vectors and exposure.
What the game hands over / 02
Apara completes D3DMetal’s NVIDIA libraries in the runtime, points the game at them, and gives the game the GPU identity its DLSS path asks for. D3DMetal’s bridge then passes colour, depth, motion vectors and exposure to MetalFX.
Reconstructed / 03
1153 × 746 in, 1728 × 1117 out. Apple’s own Metal performance HUD reports it as MetalFX Temporal scaling, from the first frames of a normal Play from the Apara library.
Measured / 04
Mean fps over 60 s of the same main-menu 3D scene, 1728 × 1117, VSync off. One game on one Mac so far. The switch is off by default, and DLSS Frame Generation does not work yet. Full method
Benchmarks
Three recorded runs. Each one gives its settings, its hardware and the reason the numbers are what they are, so the next run can be compared against it.
Average fps · higher is better
81 fpsRosetta 2 + D3DMetalHigh · TAA · 18 Sept 2026
50 fpsNative Apple SiliconHigh · experimental · 25 Sept 2026
Mean fps over 60 s · higher is better
Worst frame across 1,080 frames · lower is better
Capabilities
Graphics, performance, installs, the runtimes underneath, the stores on top, and the safety that holds it together.
Graphics
Apara reads which graphics API a program uses and picks a route the runtime can actually serve. A launcher and its game can each get their own.
Apple’s Direct3D 11 and 12 to Metal translation. It is Apple’s software from the Game Porting Toolkit: download it from Apple, or, as a beta tester, get it through Apara. Apara detects it and places it for you.
Used for GTA V Enhanced, Hogwarts Legacy, Path of Exile, AC Valhalla, CS2A game’s own DLSS runs as MetalFX Temporal upscaling through D3DMetal. A per-program switch, off by default.
Hogwarts Legacy, 19 Oct: 130.5 fps against 90.5 nativeDirect3D 8, 9, 10 and 11 through Vulkan to Metal. The default for older Direct3D games.
Dota 2, Warframe, Brawlhalla, Team Fortress 2Wine’s own Direct3D, and the route for DirectDraw. The fallback when nothing else fits.
Gothic II, Cave Story, IkachanVulkan games go straight through to MoltenVK, with no Direct3D layer in between.
GZDoom: 281 fps at 1728×1117; vkQuakeOne environment can keep a launcher on DXVK and its game on D3DMetal, set and shown per executable.
Rockstar launcher + GTA V; Steam + CS2vkd3d-proton over the KosmicKrisp Vulkan driver, for the runtime that needs no Rosetta. D3DMetal exists only for Intel code.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: 50 fps, HighPerformance
Apara records how a program actually runs on this Mac and says what is holding it back, with the numbers behind the answer.
Records a running program for 60 seconds and names the likely cause: CPU, GPU, memory or something else, with the evidence.
Named the right cause first in 6 of 6 test runs, 3 gamesApple’s Metal performance HUD and its log, switched on per program.
The source of the MetalFX readout aboveA frame cap that is kept only if frames actually get steadier. Works with DXVK games and a patched DXVK.
CS2 at a 40 fps cap: 4.5–4.9 ms stdev, against 5.0–5.4Recommends a graphics route and a frame cap from this Mac’s own recorded launches.
Rules over local measurements, nothing uploadedInstalls and compatibility
From the setup program to the first frame: the installer, the Windows components it needs, video playback and old games.
NSIS, MSI and Inno Setup installers run without their windows. WiX Burn installers run through tested profiles. One checkbox shows the installer’s own pages instead.
7 of 7 completed unattended, 19 OctDirectX, .NET 4.8, Visual C++, PhysX and OpenAL, fetched from their publishers, hash-checked and recorded.
Each placed file is hashed; drift is reportedMedia Foundation playback through a bundled GStreamer.
Cutscenes play on both runtimesDirectDraw, Direct3D 8 and Direct3D 9 titles, including 32-bit ones, under Rosetta.
Cave Story, Ikachan, Gothic II, Team Fortress 2Old DirectDraw games that ask for 640×480 now fill a Mac display, centred, instead of drawing in a corner.
Cave Story, Ikachan, Tiberian Sun; whole-number scaling not yetNot only games: productivity software runs in the same isolated environments.
Microsoft Power BI Desktop, TallyPrimePlatform
Two runtimes, each pinned by content hash, and a way between them that can be undone.
The default: Windows x86-64 and 32-bit code through Apple’s Rosetta 2, with D3DMetal available.
Every game in the library below runs this wayx86-64 Windows code translated by FEX, with no Rosetta. Direct3D 11 and 12, video, audio and input work on it.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider and GZDoom run on itOne click moves an environment between Rosetta and native, with a checkpoint first and automatic restore if the move fails.
Progress bar timed from this Mac’s own runsA Windows-on-Arm virtual machine for software Wine cannot serve. A prototype ran Counter-Strike 2 at 54–79 fps. On hold, and not in the app.
Blocked by a memory leak in the prototype’s graphics driverTrust
Every program lives in its own environment, and every change to it can be seen and undone.
Each program gets its own copy-on-write environment. Access to your Mac’s files is off until you grant it.
A 2 GB environment clones in 0.18 sTake a checkpoint before you change anything; restoring one takes a safety checkpoint first and keeps your sign-in.
Automatic before restores and runtime movesEach environment records the exact runtime it was measured with, by content hash, and can go back to the previous one.
Several runtimes side by sideApara shows its route, confidence and caveats before anything is installed, and warns when another build of a game is recorded as failing.
Rationale and provenance on every decisionGames that need kernel anti-cheat are named and refused before you download them. Apara does not bypass anti-cheat.
Vanguard, Javelin, BattlEye, EasyAntiCheat and othersStores
The Stores shelf downloads each launcher from its vendor and refuses the installer unless its signature matches. Names only: Apara ships no store artwork.
Games library
Every title Apara has run on a real Mac, and what happened: the graphics route it took, the processor path, the store, and the result in the project’s own words. Partial and blocked results stay on the list. All tests: Apple M4 Max, macOS 26.
| Game | Status | Route | Runs on | Store | Result | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow of the Tomb RaiderDirect3D 12 | Plays | D3DMetalnative: vkd3d-proton | Rosetta 2 · native | Epic | 81 fps built-in benchmark, High, 1728×1117. Native runtime: 50 fps (experimental). | Sept 2026 |
| Hogwarts LegacyDirect3D 12 · Unreal Engine 4 | Plays | D3DMetalDLSS as MetalFX | Rosetta 2 | Epic | 130.5 fps DLSS Quality via MetalFX, 90.5 native (menu scene). Frame Generation not yet. | Oct 2026 |
| Counter-Strike 2Direct3D 11 | Plays | D3DMetalper executable | Rosetta 2 | Steam | ~150 fps average in a live match. Matchmaking works when started through Steam. | Aug, Oct 2026 |
| Grand Theft Auto V EnhancedDirect3D 12 | Plays | D3DMetallauncher on DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Rockstar | Story mode plays (sessions of 311 s and 440 s). GTA Online is blocked by BattlEye. | Aug 2026 |
| Assassin’s Creed ValhallaDirect3D 12 | Plays | D3DMetalper executable | Rosetta 2 | Ubisoft Connect | One 105-minute session played and exited cleanly; full screen fixed. | Aug, Sept 2026 |
| Path of ExileDirect3D 12 and 11 | Plays | D3DMetalVulkan fails | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Gameplay in the Twilight Strand on both Direct3D 12 and 11. | Aug 2026 |
| World War ZDirect3D 11 | Plays | D3DMetalDXVK loses the device | Rosetta 2 | Epic | 90–98 fps in Tokyo, chapter 1, at the game’s own low preset. Signed in; online confirmed. One crash after ~5 min, not reproduced. | Aug 2026 |
| MuckDirect3D 11 · Unity | Plays | D3DMetalDXVK draws terrain black | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Real gameplay reached after a Unity scripting-engine fix. | Aug 2026 |
| Dota 2Direct3D 11 | Plays | DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Steam | A full Normal match, about 12 minutes. Frame rate not measured. | Aug 2026 |
| WarframeDirect3D 11 | Plays | DXVKlost-device recovery on | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Playable and stable: orbiter, 6+ minutes, clean quit. | Aug 2026 |
| BrawlhallaDirect3D 11 · Adobe AIR | Plays | DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Steam | A training match in offline play. Online play not yet verified. | Aug 2026 |
| The Sims 4Direct3D 11 | Plays | D3DMetalprofile setting; the session’s route was not logged | Rosetta 2 | Steam + EA app | Plays; a session saved and ended normally. The old crash was the EA app, not the game. | Aug 2026 |
| XCOM: Chimera SquadDirect3D 11 · Unreal Engine 3 | Plays | D3DMetal | Rosetta 2 | GOG Galaxy | Menu and gameplay. First launch compiles shaders for several minutes. | Aug 2026 |
| Team Fortress 2Direct3D 9 | Plays | DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Plays windowed and full screen; limited by the CPU. | Aug 2026 |
| Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!Direct3D 11 | Plays | DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Title, menu, cinematic and the cooking tutorial. | Aug 2026 |
| Rogue LegacyOpenGL · FNA | Plays | OpenGLon Apple’s GL | Rosetta 2 | Epic | Reaches gameplay. Its Direct3D 11 and Vulkan paths fail. | Aug 2026 |
| Gothic II: Gold ClassicDirectDraw · 32-bit | Plays | WineD3D | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Intros, cutscene and third-person play. | Aug 2026 |
| GZDoom + FreedoomVulkan | Plays | Native VulkanOpenGL does not draw | Rosetta 2 · native | Download | 281 fps at 1728×1117 under Rosetta. Also runs on the native runtime. | Aug, Sept 2026 |
| Cave StoryDirectDraw | Plays | WineD3D | Rosetta 2 | Download | Gameplay. Fills the screen with the experimental full-screen setting. | Oct 2026 |
| IkachanDirectDraw | Plays | WineD3D | Rosetta 2 | Download | Gameplay. Fills the screen with the experimental full-screen setting. | Oct 2026 |
| Nobody Wants to DieDirect3D 12 · Unreal Engine 5 | Partial | D3DMetalNanite and Lumen | Rosetta 2 | Epic | Shaders compile and the opening cinematic plays. No frame rate yet. | Aug 2026 |
| vkQuakeVulkan | Partial | Native Vulkan | Rosetta 2 | Download | The attract demo renders and plays through native Vulkan. | Aug 2026 |
| Spelunky ClassicDirect3D 8 | Partial | WineD3DDXVK draws black | Rosetta 2 | Download | Intro scene only. | Oct 2026 |
| Tiberian SunDirectDraw · cnc-ddraw | Partial | cnc-ddraw | Rosetta 2 | Download | Main menu only. Installs unattended through Apara. | Oct 2026 |
| FPS ChessDirect3D 11 · Unreal Engine 4 | Partial | D3DMetalDXVK draws dark | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Main menu renders correctly; gameplay not reached. | Aug 2026 |
| Trackmania Nations ForeverDirect3D 9 | Partial | DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Download | Played in August; an October retest drew a black (DXVK) or white (WineD3D) window. Being rechecked. | Aug, Oct 2026 |
| SoulWorkerDirect3D 11 | Partial | DXVK | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Reaches login and character select once; GameGuard then escalates to a kernel driver and relaunches fail. | Aug 2026 |
| Apex LegendsDirect3D 11 | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | EA via Epic | EasyAntiCheat refuses to load; the game never starts. | Aug 2026 |
| EA SPORTS FC 26Direct3D 12 | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | EA app | EA Javelin kernel anti-cheat. | Aug 2026 |
| F1 25Direct3D 12 | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | EA app | EA Javelin; its own dialog says Wine is not supported. | Aug 2026 |
| THE FINALSDirect3D 12 | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | Steam | Kernel anti-cheat; no window appears. | Aug 2026 |
| War ThunderDirect3D 11 | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | Steam | BattlEye stops the launcher. A native Mac version exists. | Aug 2026 |
| GTA OnlineDirect3D 12 | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | Rockstar | BattlEye and its kernel driver. Story mode is unaffected. | Aug 2026 |
| VALORANT— | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | Riot | Riot Vanguard is a kernel driver, and every Riot game needs it. The Riot Client itself reaches sign-in. | 2026 |
| The BridgeUnity | Blocked | — | Rosetta 2 | Epic | The intro video loops on a blank screen. | Aug 2026 |
No game matches. Try another filter.
“Plays” means gameplay was reached and recorded; it is not a promise about every part of a game. Native Apple Silicon runs are experimental. Results come from the project’s compatibility profiles and investigation notes; a profile records the exact build that was tested.
Development progress
New features, compatibility fixes, measured performance and the Mac app itself, from the project’s commit history. Experimental work is marked.
Not yet
A failed route is evidence. These are the gaps the current build has, and why.
Hogwarts Legacy resets it to Off at load. The cause is not established yet; the likeliest remaining gate is inside D3DMetal’s bridge, which is Apple’s.
The development build is not published yet. There is no download, and no date is promised here.
Old games now fill the screen, but at a fractional scale. Integer scaling needs a Wine change that is designed, not written.
The Xbox app starts, then stops: 429 of the 479 Windows Runtime classes it needs do not exist in Wine. A virtual machine route is on hold.
Vanguard, Javelin, BattlEye and similar drivers need a Windows kernel. Apara names them before you download, and does not bypass them.
The native runtime cannot map memory below 4 GB, which 32-bit Windows code needs. Those games run under Rosetta 2.
Apple ships D3DMetal for Intel code only, so the native runtime uses vkd3d-proton instead, at a cost measured above.
Apara is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple, NVIDIA, CodeWeavers, the Wine project, or any game publisher or storefront named on this page. Product and game names identify what was tested; all trademarks belong to their owners. D3DMetal is part of Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit and is supplied by the user. All measurements: Apple M4 Max, macOS 26.
