The 1VM engine
A first-party virtual machine monitor on Hypervisor.framework with a Metal console, used where Apple's Virtualization.framework does not go.
Why it matters
Virtualization.framework is excellent and also opinionated — its device model decides what guests are possible. Building a second engine on the lower-level Hypervisor.framework is what makes Windows on ARM and direct kernel boot available at all.
What changes
Without it
- Accept whatever the high-level framework's device model allows.
- Or bundle QEMU and inherit its dependency and licensing surface.
With 1VMTool
- A first-party VMM on Hypervisor.framework, written in Swift 6.
- Direct kernel boot, a custom device graph, and no third-party runtime.
What it covers
- Hypervisor.framework and HVF based virtual machine monitor
- Metal-backed guest console
- Direct ARM64 kernel boot without a bootloader chain
- Used for Windows and for Linux where the device graph needs to differ
What you get out of it
- Guests that the high-level framework alone would not allow
- No external hypervisor to install, update or license
Try it on your own Mac
Every screen states its limits before you commit to anything.