Kakehashi runs macOS ARM binaries directly on Linux

You can now run macOS ARM binaries directly on Linux ARM without a full virtual machine.

A new open-source tool called Kakehashi translates macOS ARM64 binaries so they run on Linux ARM64 systems. Instead of emulating CPU instructions, it executes guest code directly on the host CPU. It loads Apple Mach-O binaries, embeds a freestanding libSystem, and translates BSD syscalls on the fly. In early testing, it runs real macOS CLI tools like curl, 7-Zip, and clang probes.

Why it matters: Dedicated macOS cloud runners are expensive compared to standard Linux ARM instances. Kakehashi lets you run Mac command-line tools on cheap Linux ARM hardware, which could drop the cost of running Mac-specific CI workflows.

Know this: Performance depends heavily on how often a tool calls the kernel. Compressing thousands of small files runs about 5.2× slower than native Linux due to syscall overhead. Heavy computation, however, runs almost natively at 1.1× to 1.2× the execution time. It is still experimental and currently lacks GUI support, codesigning, and full Apple frameworks.

Your GitHub Actions bill might finally catch a break.