iPhone Emulator... Why Not?

[whatda45]

One of the only things I (and many others) find better in the iTouchPhonePad than their respective competitors is the App library, particularly games.

[START of boring part]

The iPhone has proven itself as a gaming console, with a massive amount of innovative and exclusive games.

I only had a chance to find that out when I won my iTouch.
I have lots of fun with it, but my thoughts about it remain the same as they were before I got it... it's simply not worth the money for it's purpose.
With the launch of the iPad, I find myself excited about the game opportunities, but my point of view remains, I will not buy an iPad for the same reason I wouldn't buy an iTouch. I don't often use gadgets on the go, and I won't use it's other uses.

There's usually a solution for guys like me... an emulator.
Why shouldn't there be an iPhone emulator like there are emulators for the PSX, GBA, NDS and Wii? I mean, every platform has an emulator, working or in some kind of development, but as it turns out, the iPhone has none!

Since it's launch there have been people asking about an emulator, but answers as recent as this month all suggest that it's not likely to happen.

Why? I ask.
Is it impossible? Nothing is impossible. When there's a will there's a way. The programming community has proven this many times. Look at OSX86 or Mac-On-Stick as examples.
Is it too current? What better example than Dolphin that it doesn't matter. Especially when the hardware is weaker than today's pc.
Not enough demand? There are hundreds of sites dedicated to NDS and PSP roms, with NDS games already playable on more than one emulator, and PSP games on their way. There are also many sites dedicated to iPhone "roms", and many sites dedicated to reviews of iPhone games. That and the long list of threads asking about an iEmulator all over the web, shows there most definitely is a demand.

[End for boring part]

So, I wanted to ask the Dolphin community, with one of (if not the most) impressive developments of an emulator ever, your opinion.

Is an iPhone emulator impossible?
If not, is it just a matter of time until something happens?
What do you think the future will be?

I'll be awaiting your answers

[Apostacious]

"Is an iPhone emulator impossible?" No
"If not, is it just a matter of time until something happens?" No

i really don't want to elaborate any further... this is just ridiculous.

ps: "There are hundreds of sites dedicated to NDS and PSP roms" that is called piracy.

[Ocean]

It's certainly not impossible, given that the iphone os is just mixing elements of BSD, mac os x and some linux libraries.

There are already iphone emulators such as http://www.genuitec.com/mobile/ and quite a few simulators that use java and other languages to simulate the OS for windows.

They are not as accurate as comparable console emulators (and simulators are not really even emulating any of the native code) but they do the job. For playing games you would need to use an actual iphone emulator, some of which cost real money.

[whatda45]

Quote:ps: "There are hundreds of sites dedicated to NDS and PSP roms" that is called piracy.

I did not mean to encourage piracy, simply to compare the iPhone's popularity to other handheld consoles.
You do not need an iPhone to legally purchase iPhone games. Same as the Wii.

Quote:For playing games you would need to use an actual iphone emulator, some of which cost real money.

I have not found such a thing around the web.

Quote:i really don't want to elaborate any further... this is just ridiculous.

Please explain what is so ridiculous about the idea.
What is the difference between an iPhone game and an NDS game?

[Killersnake432]

Why would you want to emulate a iPhone for anyways? For the games?

[omegadox]

iPhone uses an ARM cpu, already ARM emulators out there like desmume and vba. Might be tricky to emulate the PowerVR GPU if it has special functionality you can't normally do on a PC card. An iphone would likely be challenging as doing PSP/NDS. Though why not port the games to the windows platform, or simply play it on the real iphone. ;p

[KHRZ]

You can emulate the entire universe if you want, just don't expect more than one frame pr. 10^100 years

[darkshadw]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!