The Apple Watch might not seem like it has the most powerful processor on the block, but it’s still an A5-caliber CPU, similar to the one shipped with the iPad 2, the original iPad mini and the iPhone 4s.
That means the Apple Watch’s processor is still more powerful than pretty much every other CPU of the last 40 years. And it’s certainly up to the task of emulating a vintage Mac, as this video abundantly proves.
Software developer Nick Lee has figured out a way to emulate a 20-year-old Macintosh, all on his wrist.
By hacking an Apple Watch running watchOS 2.0 beta, Lee was able to get Mac OS System 7.5.5, released in 1996, running on his wrist, all courtesy of the MiniVMac emulator.
As you can see, it’s not super-functional, a necessary casualty of the Apple Watch’s limited input capabilities and postage-stamp-size display. But Lee’s video does do a good job of showing the possibilities ahead: The Apple Watch has plenty of processing chutzpah to run far, far more than notification apps, and watchOS 2 is what’s going to unlock them.
