Windows 11 can be squeezed onto an iPad Air, with big caveats

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPad edited April 22

A developer has managed to get a version of Windows 11 running locally on an iPad Air, but don't expect an official release anytime soon.

Tablet displaying a Windows operating system with a blue abstract background. The start menu is open, showing various application icons and a search bar.
An example of what Windows 11 could look like on an iPad



The nature of Apple's mobile devices means you can't install any other operating systems on them other than iOS or iPadOS. However, as one developer has worked out, it's possible to get Windows to run on an iPad.

In a video posted to YouTube on Sunday, a developer under the pseudonym "NTDev" shared how he got Windows 11 going on an iPad Air, equipped with the M2 chip. Normally not possible under typical conditions, the video shows that the PC operating system can be set to run as a virtual machine.



Running UTM with Just-in-time emulation via StikDebug, installed from the AltStore third-party app storefront, the video shows the launch of a virtual machine. After a 50-second wait, the virtual machine is up and running, with a Windows 11 desktop on display.

In a tweet, it is revealed that the version of Windows 11 running in the instance is tiny11 arm64. It is an unauthorized stripped-down build that eliminates almost all extra features, so that only the essential elements for operation are included.

Intended for older systems with lower available resources and smaller storage capacities, it's actually a good fit for running on an iPad. One screenshot reveals it is running at a clock speed of 1GHz, and using only 3 gigabytes of memory.

Not an alternate OS option



While the project is impressive, it's more an experiment than a serious attempt to get Windows running on Apple's hardware. Technically it is an operational operating system, but part of a virtual machine running within another operating system, iPadOS, instead of Windows being the main operating system itself.

The process of sideloading is also not available for the typical user, outside of places like the EU where secondary app stores are allowed to exist and sideloading is more of an allowed practice permitted by law.

You're also not going to see Windows as an app in the App Store either, as it's highly doubtful that Apple would allow Microsoft to submit an official version in the future. That's before even considering the actual use of an iPad running Windows with so few spare resources.

Besides, if you want Windows in a portable form, there's a few Windows tablets on the market available for purchase.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    iOS_Guy80ios_guy80 Posts: 950member
    Why would anyone run windows on an iPad? What is the point? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
    neoncatForumPostm4m40qwerty52
     3Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 7
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 3,432member
    Pretty cool that someone could make this happen. Would love to see Mac OS done too. If only there was a way to make the iPad boot from a usb c drive…
    neoncatForumPostmuthuk_vanalingam
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 7
    M68000m68000 Posts: 938member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Why would anyone run windows on an iPad? What is the point? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
    Exactly.  lol.   I would rather run some Linux flavor. 
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 7
    jp8jp8 Posts: 1member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Why would anyone run windows on an iPad? What is the point? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
    I can think of few use cases where having some mac/pc capabilities available on in iPad makes sense… e.g some data science / dev tools like knime to execute workflows as part of my occasional checks routine… I would consider installing it in a windows box on my ipad.

    I’m sure some other ideas may come out.
    muthuk_vanalingam
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 7
    dewmedewme Posts: 6,015member
    A lot of these efforts are not really intended to result in a sellable product. Similar efforts like getting a form of Windows 11 ARM running on a Raspberry Pi fall into the same category. These challenges provide a means for highly capable and driven developers to push themselves to accomplish a non-trivial test of their skills and learn new techniques in the process. The developers who can pull these challenges off would be very high on the list of engineers that I would want on my team. The skills demonstrated in these proof of concept and experimental challenges can be very useful to have on real product development projects, of course when applied appropriately and not too hacky. 
    muthuk_vanalingam
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 7
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,067member
    AppleInsider said:

    Besides, if you want Windows in a portable form, there's a few Windows tablets on the market available for purchase.

    And they are all bad.
    cubeover
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 7
    cubeovercubeover Posts: 35member
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    Why would anyone run windows on an iPad? What is the point? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
    To try and copilote with Windows.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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