Some Macs recently received a macOS system update which disabled the simulator runtimes used by Xcode 15, including the simulators for iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. If your Mac received this update, you will receive the following error message and will be unable to use the simulator: The com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-17-2 simulator runtime is not available. Domain: com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimError Code: 401 Failure Reason: runtime profile not found using "System" match policy Recovery Suggestion: Download the com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-17-2 simulator runtime from the Xcode To resume using the simulator, please reboot your Mac. After rebooting, check Xcode Preferences → Platforms to ensure that the simulator runtime you would like to use is still installed. If it is missing, use the Get button to download it again. The Xcode 15.3 Release Notes are also updated with this information.

Can I download the iOS 26 simulator runtime via a download link? The machine I need to deploy on may require an offline package installation due to firewall restrictions.

I'm trying to download the iOS 26.2 simulator, but it fails both in Xcode and via the command line. When I run: xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS -buildVersion 26.2 -exportPath ~/Downloads It returns: iOS 26.2 is not available for download. I would like to know: Why iOS 26.2 simulator cannot be downloaded at the moment. Whether iOS 26.2 simulator is still available, or if it has been removed or replaced. How to properly get and install the iOS 26.2 simulator. Any official explanation or solution would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Can I download the iOS 26 simulator runtime via a download link? The machine I need to deploy on may require an offline package installation due to firewall restrictions.

I’m working on an iOS workspace with: a static library project: M800SDK a test app project: TestAppObj I was able to build M800SDK for iOS Simulator on Apple Silicon as a simulator static library, and I also verified the architectures in the produced .a file. However, when I link the app target against that simulator build and try to build TestAppObj for iOS Simulator, I get the following linker errors: Undefined symbols for architecture arm64: _OBJC_CLASS_$_TokenMngr clang++: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 Additional context: The library links and works correctly when building the app for a physical iPhone. And the public header TokenMngr.h is found correctly by the app target. The app target is compiled as Objective-C++ where needed. The library is linked in the app target under “Link Binary With Libraries”. Could you help me understand: Is it possible to run on iOS Simulator ? the recommended way to package and consume this library for iOS Simulator on Apple Silicon? Also I am aware i can also build the library for : Any iOS Simulator Device (arm64, x86_64) And specify that on Build Phases in Link : Link Binary With Libraries adding the .a Before i do that i ensure the .a is arm64, x86_64 using the command : lipo -info libM800SDK.a end it returns : Architectures in the fat file: libM800SDK.a are: x86_64 arm64 However, even after confirming those architectures and linking the library to the app target, the app still does not link correctly for iOS Simulator. In some cases, Xcode reports errors suggesting that the build is targeting iOS Simulator, but that one of the linked binaries was built for iPhoneOS instead. This is where I am confused: I understand that lipo -info only shows the CPU architectures present in the library, but not whether a given arm64 slice was built for iPhoneOS or for iOS Simulator

I have three rogue iOS simulators, how to correctly delete them and reclaim the disk space? These img files are costing me 18gb of storage.

Prior to iOS 26.0 we were able to download specific simulator runtimes from the command line by using a command like xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS -buildVersion 18.0 This is described in the documentation here. This no longer works for 26.x. If I run the following command: "xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS -buildVersion 26.0" it fails with the following error: "Finding content... iOS 26.0 is not available for download." If I omit the -buildVersion flag it will download the latest version, currently 26.2, but if I try and specify 26.2 as the buildVersion I still get "iOS 26.2 is not available for download". This behavior has been confirmed on Xcode 26.2. Perhaps related, it appears these runtimes are also no longer being made available for download on https://developer.apple.com/download/all

Recently I noticed that although my drive showed ~800Gb of usage, the folders within totally to around ~600Gb (and yes I was including hidden 'dot' files/folders. After some inspection I found that there are a whole set of Disk Media Images, that appear to be related to XCode simulators. Here's an extract from the command line diskutil list command: /dev/disk5 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +17.6 GB disk5 Physical Store disk4s1 1: APFS Volume iOS 26.2 Simulator 17.1 GB disk5s1 /dev/disk6 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +14.2 GB disk6 1: Apple_APFS Container disk7 14.2 GB disk6s1 /dev/disk7 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +14.2 GB disk7 Physical Store disk6s1 1: APFS Volume XROS 26.2 Simulator 13.8 GB disk7s1 /dev/disk8 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +17.2 GB disk8 1: Apple_APFS Container disk9 17.2 GB disk8s1 /dev/disk9 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +17.2 GB disk9 Physical Store disk8s1 1: APFS Volume iOS 26.0 Simulator 16.7 GB disk9s1 /dev/disk10 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +8.5 GB disk10 1: Apple_APFS Container disk11 8.5 GB disk10s1 /dev/disk11 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +8.5 GB disk11 Physical Store disk10s1 1: APFS Volume XROS 2.5 Simulator B... 8.2 GB disk11s1 /dev/disk12 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +18.0 GB disk12 1: Apple_APFS Container disk13 18.0 GB disk12s1 /dev/disk13 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +18.0 GB disk13 Physical Store disk12s1 1: APFS Volume XROS 2.5 Simulator 17.5 GB disk13s1 /dev/disk14 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +17.6 GB disk14 1: Apple_APFS Container disk15 17.6 GB disk14s1 /dev/disk15 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +17.6 GB disk15 Physical Store disk14s1 1: APFS Volume iOS 26.1 Simulator 17.1 GB disk15s1 /dev/disk16 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +14.1 GB disk16 1: Apple_APFS Container disk17 14.1 GB disk16s1 /dev/disk17 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +14.1 GB disk17 Physical Store disk16s1 1: APFS Volume XROS 26.1 Simulator 13.7 GB disk17s1 /dev/disk18 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +17.6 GB disk18 1: Apple_APFS Container disk19 17.6 GB disk18s1 /dev/disk19 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +17.6 GB disk19 Physical Store disk18s1 1: APFS Volume iOS 26.1 Simulator 17.1 GB disk19s1 /dev/disk20 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +9.1 GB disk20 1: Apple_APFS Container disk21 9.1 GB disk20s1 /dev/disk21 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +9.1 GB disk21 Physical Store disk20s1 1: APFS Volume iOS 18.5 Simulator B... 8.8 GB disk21s1 /dev/disk22 (disk image): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme +20.7 GB disk22 1: Apple_APFS Container disk23 20.7 GB disk22s1 /dev/disk23 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +20.7 GB disk23 Physical Store disk22s1 1: APFS Volume iOS 18.5 Simulator 20.2 GB disk23s1 I am unable to unmount them, either from the command line or Disk Utility. How do I go about this?

This is a grave issue I am facing while testing my apps on my personal device. This is the error I seem to be getting: "The application could not be launched because the Developer App Certificate is not trusted." And on the phone side, this is the message: Unable to Verify App. An internet connection is required to verify the trust of the developer "Apple Development... Before I receive any recommendations, such as deleting Xcode or restarting my device, I would like to clarify that I have already taken all necessary precautions. The application I was testing appeared to function correctly in the morning a few hours prior to the update. However, after upgrading to the latest beta builds, iOS 26.4 beta and the latest macOS beta, this issue has become a recurring problem. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in resolving this matter, as it is of utmost importance to me.

I've recently updated to Xcode 26.3 and I can't download any iOS Simulator Runtime from 26.2 to 18.0, every download gives me: Download failed. Domain: DVTDownloadableErrorDomain Code: 41 User Info: { DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2026-03-03 16:14:50 +0000"; } -- Download failed. Domain: DVTDownloadableErrorDomain Code: 41 -- System Information macOS Version 26.4 (Build 25E5218f) Xcode 26.3 (24587) (Build 17C529) Timestamp: 2026-03-03T17:14:50+01:00 I tried cleaning every cache, and logging in and out of my account. I saw some reddit posts where they suggested to check out VPNs, host files and other stuff but everything was okay, also I can reach apple cdns etc. I also tried using Xcode beta 26.4 and going back to 26.2 but still the same problem. Anyone has a solution?

Hi, I’m facing a consistent simulator boot issue that appears to start after iOS 18.2 simulator runtimes and persists in 18.6, 26.1, and 26.2. Observed behavior iOS 18.2 simulator works fine iOS 18.6 simulator does NOT boot iOS 26.1 / 26.2 simulators do NOT boot Tried everything reinstall/clear cache and all and event formatted the system Unable to boot the Simulator NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code: 4 Failure Reason: Interrupted system call Failed to start launchd_sim: could not bind to session, launchd_sim may have crashed or quit responding macOS: Sequoia Xcode: 26.1, 26.2 Machine: Apple Silicon Unable to boot the Simulator. Domain: NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code: 4 Failure Reason: Interrupted system call User Info: { DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2025-12-26 02:19:27 +0000"; IDERunOperationFailingWorker = "_IDEInstalliP.honeSimulatorWorker", Session = "com apple CoreSimulator.SimDevice CCDECA56-4A59-491B-A830-0F3928FCD957"; } Failed to start launchd_sim: could not bind to session, launchd_sim may have crashed or quit responding Domain: com.apple.SimLaunchHostService.RequestError Code: 4 Event Metadata: com.apple. dt. DERunOperationWorkerFinished : { "device_identifier" = "CCDECAE6-4A59-491B-A830-0E3928FCD957"; "device_model" = "iPhone18, 1"; "device_osBuild" = "26.1 (23B86)"; "device_osBuild_monotonic" = 2301008600; "device_os_variant" = 1; "device_platform" = "com apple.platform.iohonesimulator"; "device_platform_family" = 2; "device_reality" = 2; "device_thinningType" = "iPhone18,1"; "device_transport" = 4; "launchSession_schemeCommand" = Run; "launchSession_schemeCommand_enum" = 1; "launchSession_targetArch" = arm64; "launchSession_targetArch_enum" = 6; "operation_duration_ms" = 1183; "operation_errorCode" = 4; "operation_errorDomain" = NSPOSIXErrorDomain; "operation_errorWorker" = "_IDEInstalliPhoneSimulatorWorker"; "operation_error_reportable" = 1; "operation_name" = IDERunOperationWorkerGroup; "param_consoleMode" = 1; "param_debugger_attachToExtensions" = 0; "param_debugger_attachToXPC" = 1; "param_debugger_type" = 3; "param_destination_isProxy" = 0; "param_destination_platform" = "com apple platform Please help on this as it got stuck. Thanks

I'm building an app which runs around the Foundation model framework. My expected output is generated when testing on a real device or in preview in Xcode but it throws Foundation Model error when I try running it on the simulator. I'm using a Macbook M1 air and have apple intelligence turned on and my simulator run destination is also an iPad Pro M5 (26.0). Any solution for this as this is my submission for the SSC so I need to make it work on the simulator iPad. Thank you👾

Have a peculiar problem I'm not able to solve. Working on an app with a mapview in the max zoomed out globe level. For some reason this morning Xcode froze/crashed when I was working and I had to force quit to get it back up. Then a new issue of graphical artifacts on the space section of the Mapview showed up. This Tuesday has now been spent in full on trying to solve this to no avail. I created a new project for iOS/iPadOS and added a similar map implementation. It works fine. I used Claude to help me after a few reinstalls of Xcode with this. I asked claude to summarize - this is what has been done: Claude generative AI summary starts here---------- Here's a complete summary of everything attempted: The Problem SwiftUI tvOS app with MapKit globe view showing severe rendering artifacts — corrupted pixels surrounding the globe. Started after Xcode crashed while the tvOS simulator was actively running. iOS simulator, macOS Maps app, and all native apps work perfectly. Only tvOS simulator MapKit is affected. Hardware Confirmed Fine Geekbench 6 Metal GPU score: 124,666 (normal for M1 Max) Apple Diagnostics (Apple Silicon method): No issues found macOS Maps globe renders perfectly Everything That Was Attempted Simulator resets: Erased all simulator content and settings Created brand new simulator devices Deleted derived data Killed CoreSimulator service Runtime reinstalls: Removed and reinstalled tvOS platform runtime multiple times Tested on Xcode 26.3 and 26.4 beta — same issue on both Installed fresh tvOS runtime after full Xcode reinstall Cache clearing: ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.CoreSimulator ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.apple.iphonesimulator.savedState All Metal shader caches in /private/var/folders/ including: com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRenderingServices.SimMetalHost com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRenderingServices.SimRenderServer com.apple.CoreSimulator.CoreSimulatorService com.apple.iphonesimulator com.apple.dt.Xcode com.apple.dt.xcodebuild com.apple.CoreSimulator.simctl ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/XcodeToMetalToolchainIndexMapping.plist ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/SDKToSimulatorIndexMapping.plist ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData Full Xcode reinstall: Deleted Xcode completely Removed ~/Library/Developer Removed all Xcode-related caches and preferences Fresh install from Mac App Store APFS simulator volume cleanup (required disabling SIP): Discovered 138GB of orphaned APFS simulator volumes in /Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Volumes/ that were protected by SIP and couldn't be deleted normally These volumes were left in a corrupted/limbo state from the original Xcode crash Temporarily disabled SIP via Recovery Mode Successfully deleted all orphaned volumes Re-enabled SIP Reinstalled fresh tvOS runtime Metal Toolchain: Found three leftover Metal Toolchains (17A324, 17A5241c, 17A5295f) in Xcode settings Cleared toolchain index mapping file Reinstalled fresh Metal Toolchain with new tvOS runtime Current State Fresh Xcode installation Fresh tvOS runtime All simulator volumes cleared SIP re-enabled Issue still persists What Has NOT Been Checked /Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Cryptex /Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Images /Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Profiles Conclusion This is almost certainly a bug triggered by the hard Xcode crash corrupting something at a level that has survived complete reinstallation of Xcode and all simulator components. The corruption is somewhere in a system-level component that normal developer tools cannot reach. Requires Apple Developer Technical Support or escalation via Feedback Assistant with the full timeline and screenshots. For Apple's reference: Machine: MacBook Pro M1 Max Xcode: 26.3 / 26.4 beta (both affected) Started: After hard Xcode crash while tvOS simulator was actively rendering MapKit globe Affected: tvOS simulator MapKit globe only Not affected: iOS simulator, macOS Maps, all native apps ----------(Claude generative AI summary ends here) ----------- Anyone seen this before? Absolutely wild. Can't think of more things to try. Been eyeing a new Macbook for a while. Strange coincidence that the new M5 Macbook Pros dropped today :D But in sum it does not seem like a GPU issue since the same rendering works on the iOS sim. Thanks!

When I have a TextField or TextEditor, tapping into it produces these two console entries about 18 times each: CHHapticPattern.mm:487 +[CHHapticPattern patternForKey:error:]: Failed to read pattern library data: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=260 "The file “hapticpatternlibrary.plist” couldn’t be opened because there is no such file." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/Library/Audio/Tunings/Generic/Haptics/Library/hapticpatternlibrary.plist, NSURL=file:///Library/Audio/Tunings/Generic/Haptics/Library/hapticpatternlibrary.plist, NSUnderlyingError=0x600000ca1b30 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=2 "No such file or directory"}} <_UIKBFeedbackGenerator: 0x600003505290>: Error creating CHHapticPattern: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=260 "The file “hapticpatternlibrary.plist” couldn’t be opened because there is no such file." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/Library/Audio/Tunings/Generic/Haptics/Library/hapticpatternlibrary.plist, NSURL=file:///Library/Audio/Tunings/Generic/Haptics/Library/hapticpatternlibrary.plist, NSUnderlyingError=0x600000ca1b30 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=2 "No such file or directory"}} My app does not use haptics. This doesn't appear to cause any issues, although entering text can feel a bit sluggish (even on device), but I am unable to determine relatedness. None-the-less, it definitely is a lot of log noise. Code to reproduce in simulator (xcode 26.2; ios 26 or 18, with iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro): import SwiftUI struct ContentView: View { @State private var textEntered: String = "" @State private var textEntered2: String = "" @State private var textEntered3: String = "" var body: some View { VStack { Spacer() TextField("Tap Here", text: $textEntered) TextField("Tap Here Too", text: $textEntered2) TextEditor(text: $textEntered3) .overlay(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 8).strokeBorder(.primary, lineWidth: 1)) .frame(height: 100) Spacer() } } } #Preview { ContentView() } Tapping back and forth in these fields generates the errors each time. Thanks, Steve

Out of nowhere I got some red banner on top of my iPhone 13 mini / iOS 17.5. I cannot pin point the root cause of this. What I can say is that it only happens to Simulators of a certain type, e.g. iPhone 12 and 13 mini, but not iPhone 14 for example. I have installed Xcode 26.1.0 and 26.1.1, out of which 26.1.0 is selected: $ xcode-select -p /Applications/Xcode-26.1.0.app/Contents/Developer And following runtimes: $ xcrun simctl runtime list == Disk Images == -- iOS -- iOS 17.5 (21F79) - CF933623-A258-44F8-B248-C0F25C0C343B (Ready) iOS 26.1 (23B80) - D11C3CDC-EE3D-44CC-8B92-9B7D00B54B0B (Ready) Total Disk Images: 2 (14.6G) Installing the newer 26.1 23B86 runtime doesn't help either.

Up until some point relatively recently, I have been able to use Safari's web inspector to connect to the iOS simulator in order to debug our web application in development at http://localhost:8088. Now, the web inspector still OPENS, but it opens in a broken state. The context is available to select from Safari's "Develop" menu: Develop > "iPhone 16 Pro (Simulator)" > "localhost - login". It appears under the Safari heading if I have navigated to the web app in the browser, or under the Expo heading if I am accessing it through the webview in our React Native wrapper app. When I select it, the web inspector window does appear. However, once it opens, the Elements pane is empty, the Console pane is empty, expressions entered into the console are not evaluated, there's no content in Sources, Network, Storage, etc. Important notes: This broken state happens at http://localhost:8088 as well as http://127.0.0.1:8088, and it seems that the insecure context is the issue. The web inspector DOES work for HTTPS sites. If I navigate to, e.g., https://example.com in the simulator and connect the web inspector, everything works fine. The web inspector also works fine in Safari on macOS (OUTSIDE the simulator) when accessing non-HTTPS sites. It's only a problem for non-HTTPS sites when connecting to the simulator. A coworker has the same problem, so it is not isolated to my machine. I would enable TLS locally as a workaround, but this web app is very complex, and I know from experience that it is very difficult for various reasons to set it up properly for our project in development, and it will take significant non-trivial work to do so. So... Why is this happening? Is this expected behavior? Is there a way that I can debug my site on localhost without HTTPS?

My swift student challenge submission is an iPad app built in Xcode and I'm planning on selecting the Xcode 26 option for testing in the dropdown provided in the application. Just have to confirm that the run destination for the playground in Xcode will be an iPad simulator right? Recently I have seen many participants post their submission screenshot for iPhone renders so just wanted to confirm the run destination. Thank you👾

Hi, I was wondering if there’s a way to ensure my submission is tested on an iPad simulator in Xcode as some UI elements were designed with a large display in mind ?

Hello, We are experiencing a recurring issue when running iOS apps in the Rosetta simulator on Xcode 26. Environment: Xcode: 26.0 macOS: 15.7.3 Simulator: Intel-based (Rosetta) simulators Languages: Both Swift and Objective-C Issue: When launching an app in a Rosetta simulator, the app frequently freezes or fails to run. In many cases, Xcode reports that the debugger has lost connection. Xcode error message: Lost connection to the debugger on “iPhone 12”. Domain: IDEDebugSessionErrorDomain Code: 22 Failure Reason: Message from debugger: lost connection Console log: assertion failed: GPR thread_set_state is unimplemented for NewThread (ThreadContextRegisterState.cpp:920 host_gpr_state_from_guest_state) Observed behavior: Rebuilding after fully quitting the simulator sometimes resolves the issue temporarily. Disabling Scheme > Run > Debug executable allows the app to run normally, but debugging (breakpoints, etc.) becomes unavailable. The issue does not occur: On real devices On ARM-based simulators When building with Xcode 16 using Rosetta Has anyone encountered this issue with Xcode 26 and Rosetta simulators? Is this a known bug, and are there any recommended workarounds besides disabling the debugger or restarting the simulator? Thank you in advance for any insights or guidance.

Following is an error I encounter when trying to run a foundation model function in simulator. Error Domain=FoundationModels.LanguageModelSession.GenerationError Code=-1 "(null)" UserInfo={NSMultipleUnderlyingErrorsKey=( "Error Domain=ModelManagerServices.ModelManagerError Code=1026 "(null)" UserInfo={NSMultipleUnderlyingErrorsKey=(\n)}" )} Its a swift playground I'm building in xcode and works fine in the preview and on a real device too but since it's my submission for the swift student challenge I need it to run on the simulator. I have updated my macOS to latest version of Tahoe(26.3) and Xcode is also on latest version. The simulator I run the playground is also on ios and iPadOS 26. I have set my region to US and have turned on Apple Intelligence on my mac too. Any suggestions on how to fix the issue?👾

Is it possible to run an xcode cloud test with arm64 simulators NOT x86? as my app doesnt work on x86.