Microsoft updates CPU requirements for Windows 11

Microsoft on Friday announced a change to Windows 11 minimum operating requirements, though the loosened restrictions are not likely to impact compatibility — or lack thereof — with Mac.

The software giant detailed Windows 11 minimum system requirements in a blog post, specifically noting processors and baseline PCs that are compatible with the upcoming operating system.

As previously announced, Windows 11 requires a 1GHz or faster 64-bit CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Machines must also support UEFI secure boot, version 2.0 of the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and include a graphics card compatible with DirectX 12.

Microsoft today added Intel Core X and Xeon W CPUs, as well as the Surface Studio 2's Core i7-7820HQ, to the list of Windows 11-compatible processors. The addition is a nod to users who, despite owning fairly modern hardware (Core X and Xeon W are 7th-generation Intel designs), were seemingly left out in the cold when the operating system was announced.

Microsoft clarified the situation to The Verge, saying it will only enforce installation restrictions when users attempt to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11 through the Windows Update mechanism. Users with older PCs that don't meet the company's recommendations can download an ISO of the operating system and install it manually, according to the report.

That said, Windows 11 is unlikely to work efficiently on Intel Macs because of Microsoft's TPM 2.0 requirement. While some Macs produced between 2016 and 2019 boast CPUs that incorporate TPM 2.0, Apple has not rolled out support for the security protocol.

There is currently a workaround that involves editing the names of certain system files before installation to bypass Windows 11's checks, but the process does not guarantee success.

Another route is PC virtualization through software like Parallels, which earlier in August promised to deliver full Windows 11 support for Mac when the operating system launches.

23 Comments

dewme 5737 comments · 10 Years

About 3 years ago

zimmermann said:

I run W11 beta on Parallels 17 on my MacBook Pro. Nice and easy.

You have to be a little careful with Windows 11 beta versions and with Parallels.

The Windows 11 beta, at least the insider preview versions, will run on systems that do not meet the Windows 11 release version requirements. Yes, Microsoft tells you this upfront, that you’ll have to do a full reinstall of Windows 10 when the release version of Windows 11 is released. . How Microsoft will actually go about terminating or crippling the betas running on unsupported systems after Win 11 is released remains a mystery.

For people running unsupported versions in VMs it’s no big deal, just delete the disk image, but for installations on real hardware it’s a full clean reinstall of Windows 10. Fortunately for me, on my old machine that does not meet the TPM requirement and had Windows 11 beta pushed through Windows Update, I was able to back out of the preview program on the machine and do a full reinstall of Windows 10 Pro without losing my digital activation key.

Anecdotally, while I was running Windows 11 beta I saw absolutely nothing at all in Windows 11 that left me with an impression that Windows 11 was something I really needed to have on any of my Windows machines, including ones that have the required TPM support. I run Windows because there are some narrowly focused legacy apps and development tools that I use that are only available or functional with my use cases on Windows.

As far as Parallels is concerned, at least when it comes to ARM versions of Windows, Microsoft’s licensing of Windows on ARM is still not clear, at least the last time I checked. It’s conceivable, but hopefully unlikely, that Microsoft could slam Parallels with a licensing related lawsuit for running Windows ARM versions on M1 Macs. VMWare has taken a wait & see defensive posture on this but Parallels has thrown caution to the wind and barreled ahead, hoping for the best. We’ll see.

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

dewme said:

zimmermann said:

I run W11 beta on Parallels 17 on my MacBook Pro. Nice and easy.

You have to be a little careful with Windows 11 beta versions and with Parallels.

The Windows 11 beta, at least the insider preview versions, will run on systems that do not meet the Windows 11 release version requirements. Yes, Microsoft tells you this upfront, that you’ll have to do a full reinstall of Windows 10 when the release version of Windows 11 is released. . How Microsoft will actually go about terminating or crippling the betas running on unsupported systems after Win 11 is released remains a mystery.

For people running unsupported versions in VMs it’s no big deal, just delete the disk image, but for installations on real hardware it’s a full clean reinstall of Windows 10. Fortunately for me, on my old machine that does not meet the TPM requirement and had Windows 11 beta pushed through Windows Update, I was able to back out of the preview program on the machine and do a full reinstall of Windows 10 Pro without losing my digital activation key.

Anecdotally, while I was running Windows 11 beta I saw absolutely nothing at all in Windows 11 that left me with an impression that Windows 11 was something I really needed to have on any of my Windows machines, including ones that have the required TPM support. I run Windows because there are some narrowly focused legacy apps and development tools that I use that are only available or functional with my use cases on Windows.

As far as Parallels is concerned, at least when it comes to ARM versions of Windows, Microsoft’s licensing of Windows on ARM is still not clear, at least the last time I checked. It’s conceivable, but hopefully unlikely, that Microsoft could slam Parallels with a licensing related lawsuit for running Windows ARM versions on M1 Macs. VMWare has taken a wait & see defensive posture on this but Parallels has thrown caution to the wind and barreled ahead, hoping for the best. We’ll see.

Good points.... It sounds like it's best to play with Windows 11 in a separate partition or drive (if you can).

And good point about Windows 11 offering little in the way of functional enhancements that would benefit the user. That's not to denigrate Windows 11 but to acknowledge that mainstream operating systems like Windows or MacOS have reached a state of maturity and any functional enhancements will be incremental. (Although I see MacOS expanding greatly as it builds tight integration into the iOS family).

But, I suspect that, at some point, it will come out that the main selling point of Windows 11 will be enhanced security that Windows 7,8 & 10 cannot match. Otherwise, if security was not a focus, Microsoft would not be taking such a hard line on TPM 2.0 -- that goes against their entire history of strong support for legacy systems. I think they must have some very compelling reasons for going that route.

libertyandfree 189 comments · 11 Years

About 3 years ago

It’s got to be a very small universe of people that need to be running windows 11 on a Mac. Much less than 1%. I still need to use windows at work (Win10) and it’s frustrating how little MS Windows has improved over 15-20 years.

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

AppleInsider said:

That said, Windows 11 is unlikely to work efficiently on Intel Macs because of Microsoft's TPM 2.0 requirement. While some Macs produced between 2016 and 2019 boast CPUs that incorporate TPM 2.0, Apple has not rolled out support for the security protocol.
Read on AppleInsider

I am confused by the term "efficiency" in relation to TPM? I thought that was a security tool and had little or nothing to do with efficiency or performance?

But, it is really interesting that the article said:
"Users with older PCs that don't meet the company's recommendations can download an ISO of the operating system and install it manually, according to the report."

That suggests that users of Intel Macs should be able to install Windows 11 via an ISO file -- which, as I remember, is how it is normally done anyway. From Apple Support on installing Windows under Bootcamp:
--------------------------------------
[You need] An external USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more, unless you're using a Mac that doesn't need a flash drive to install Windows.
A 64-bit version of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro on a disk image (ISO) or other installation media. If installing Windows on your Mac for the first time, this must be a full version of Windows, not an upgrade."
-----------------------------------------

So, Windows 11 CAN be installed on Intel Macs!?!?!?!
(This sounds like a job for Andrew to untangle!)