AppleInsider Staff
Virtualization specialist Parallels on Thursday confirmed plans to bring the recently released Windows 11 to Mac, though it is unclear when compatibility with the new Microsoft operating system will land.
Parallels failed to provide an estimated launch timeframe in a statement to iMore, saying only that it "will surely do everything that's possible to make it happen."
"Since Windows 11 has just been announced recently, the Parallels Engineering team is waiting for the official Windows 11 Insider Preview build to start studying changes introduced in the new OS to deliver full compatibility in future Parallels Desktop updates," said Nick Dobrovolskiy, Parallels' SVP of engineering and support.
Windows 11 debuted last week with a fresh user interface, new multitasking options, Android app support, Microsoft Teams integration, and more.
Parallels most recently updated its Parallels Desktop virtualization software in April with support for Apple's M1 chip. The suite is optimized for macOS Big Sur, though Parallels is already developing tweaks for the upcoming macOS Monterey.
For now, users can turn to Apple's Boot Camp to run both native and virtualized instances of Windows on Intel Macs. That will change once Apple transitions its laptop and desktop lines to Apple Silicon, leaving third-party virtualization solutions as the only option in the near term.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast — and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too. If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
27 Comments
Presumably the ARM version of Win 11 and not the x86 version? Which let's be honest, is the only version people actually want (well, need... does anyone actually want Windows)?
Limited article. Parallels can’t do anything with Windows 11 until Microsoft releases an ARM version. Apple moving away from Intel so VMWare seems to not care about non-Intel related virtualization. Parallels is trying but can’t make Microsoft do anything. Running Unix/Linux under virtualization on an M-series Mac might not have enough customers to keep Parallels in business long term.
I'm running the Windows 10 ARM already on an M1 and now the Windows 11 version on a PC and my suspicions were correct, they are almost identical. I would imagine the ARM 11 isn't far off developer release.
Has Microsoft said for sure that they will support Windows 11 ARM on Apple Silicon and that they will sell a license for it to end users? Developer Previews are beta software and don’t they disappear after the product gets released?