Mike Peterson
Parallels is actively working on a new version of its virtualization software that will be compatible with Apple Silicon and M1 machines, the company said on Tuesday.
The company said it is "excited to see the performance, power efficiency, and virtualization features" that Apple's new M1 chip brings to the Mac and MacBook lineups. But it noted that current versions of Parallels Desktop won't be compatible on the new devices.
A new version compatible with Apple Silicon was shown off at WWDC 2020, and Parallels said that the app has made "tremendous progress" since then. The company has switched Parallels Desktop to a universal binary, and has optimized its virtualization code."
Nick Dobrovolskiy, Parallels SVP of Engineering and Support, said the company is "eager to try" the new app on the M1-equipped MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.
In a tweet, VMWare Fusion also announced that it was working on an Apple Silicon-compatible version of its virtualization software. No other details were revealed, however.
So excited for todays announcements from @Apple!
— VMware Fusion (@VMwareFusion) November 10, 2020
While we're not quite ready to announce our timeline, we're happy to say that we are committed to delivering VMware virtual machines on #AppleSilicon! pic.twitter.com/en1FNorxrM
Beyond those two, no other major virtualization or container companies have made similar announcements about compatibility with Apple Silicon. Oracle's VirtualBox, for example, has remained silent on the matter thus far. Developers for emulator WINE are "experimenting" with an ARM-based port, but haven't detailed any sort of actual compatibility.
Virtualization, along with Rosetta 2, is one of several initiatives that Apple says will make the switch to Apple Silicon smoother for developers and consumers. Boot Camp, long a way for users to run Windows on Mac hardware, will not make the transition.
Update: Added VMWare Fusion announcement of Apple Silicon support.
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47 Comments
From reading their page about it, it seems like this new version is going to still be a purely virtualisation software, with no emulation. So if you want to run Windows with it, it'll have to be the ARM version of Windows. However, apparently Microsoft have announced a "Rosetta"-type layer for Windows for ARM, that will allow you to run x64 code in Windows for ARM.
I really hope VMWare jumps into the M1 camp with Fusion. It's been a solid product and a great value for Mac users who want to run Windows, Linux, and macOS virtual machines on their Mac. I keep a VM with macOS Mojave around just to support 32-bit apps that no longer run on Catalina. Works great.
I don't think a lot of Mac owners fully realize the great deal that the VMWare Fusion Player 12 (for non commercial use) represents for Mac users. The feature set of the free VMWare Fusion Player has one important feature, Snapshots, in the free version that Windows users do not get with the equivalent free version for Windows. To get Snapshots on Windows you'll have to pay for the VMWare Workstation 16 Pro version, which is $199.00 USD.
Other reading material:
https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-apple-silicon-mac/ Not really a lot of information other than they're building a universal app. They mention the Windows blog listed below.
https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2020/09/30/now-more-essential-than-ever-the-role-of-the-windows-pc-has-changed/ "We are working closely with Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Surface to bring these Windows 10 on ARM innovations and products to our shared customers." No mention about "Apple" in this blog
I thought Apple said they will not support any x86 emulation on the M1 chip. If Microsoft tries to build a Rosetta-type emulation software, I have to wonder if Apple will even allow it. If Microsoft is able to somehow create an emulation layer in front of Windows 10 that would run using Apple's Rosetta-2 it would be a miracle since Microsoft has problems writing any software that runs well on a Mac.
Did anyone see the Tweet from VMWARE announcing their support? Details forthcoming: