The aging wxWidgets interface is finally retired. Dolphin v7.0.0 moves fully to Qt6, offering:
The new UI also features an integrated cheat manager that pulls from a community database and applies AR/Gecko codes on the fly.
Note: Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 are no longer supported. macOS versions prior to 11 are unsupported. 32-bit operating systems are completely dropped.
Vulkan has evolved from an experimental option to the primary rendering backend. v7.0.0 introduces: dolphin v7.0.0
The release of Dolphin v7.0.0 marks a significant milestone for the beloved Nintendo GameCube and Wii emulator. After years of incremental progress, this version delivers transformative improvements in accuracy, performance, and usability — making it the definitive choice for emulation enthusiasts and preservationists alike.
| Feature | v6.0 (previous) | v7.0.0 | |--------|----------------|--------| | Default Backend | OpenGL | Vulkan | | Shader Cache | Synchronous | Asynchronous + background | | Audio Latency | ~35 ms | ~18 ms (Cubeb backend) | | Savestate Format | Version 12 | Version 15 (compressed, 40% smaller) |
Custom texture packs loaded previously as entire archives could cause RAM spikes. v7.0.0 implements on-demand texture streaming, allowing packs up to 4GB in size (e.g., Super Mario Galaxy 4K texture pack) to run smoothly on systems with only 8GB of RAM. The aging wxWidgets interface is finally retired
To appreciate the magnitude of v7.0.0, it is essential to understand the context. Dolphin 5.0 was released in June 2016. It was a massive leap forward, introducing a unified DSP emulator, scalable user interface, and major performance gains. Then came Dolphin 5.0-xxxx (the progress reports), but no official "6.0" ever materialized as a standalone milestone—instead, the team opted for continuous rolling releases.
However, the jump to v7.0.0 is not arbitrary. According to the official release notes, the developers decided that the cumulative changes since 5.0 warranted a major semantic version bump due to:
Thus, Dolphin v7.0.0 is not just an incremental update; it is a ground-up refinement of the entire emulator. The new UI also features an integrated cheat
For the competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! communities, netplay is sacred. Dolphin v7.0.0 overhauls netplay with:
Early tests show that Melee netplay now feels comparable to Slippi’s rollback implementation, but for the entire Dolphin library.