Latest VMWare Fusion tech preview brings Windows 11 to Apple Silicon Macs

VMWare has announced that its upcoming update to VMWare Fusion will bring Windows 11 support to both Intel-based and Apple Silicon machines.

Although ARM versions of Windows itself aren't available on Macs with M1 or M2 chips, users will be able to download and use Windows 11 on Apple Silicon Macs using the VMWare Fusion virtualization software.

The latest update to VMWare Fusion is now available to test out as a free technology preview on the company's website.

VMWare says that it's looking for user feedback as it "irons out kinks" and prepares for more formal support later in 2022.

"It's here," the company wrote. "While it is a little early, and things on Apple silicon don't always behave like we're used to on Intel, we're thrilled to be able to share the work we've been doing to prepare support for Windows 11 virtual machines on Fusion, for both Intel and Apple silicon Macs."

Along with Windows 11 support on Apple Silicon machines, the new tech preview also includes VMtools installation for Windows 11 on M1, improved Linux support on M1, 3D Graphics HW Acceleration and OpenGL 4.3 in Linux VMs, and more.

The company does note, however, that VMWare Fusion is still a work in progress on Apple Silicon Macs, and there are some limitations to the support. Fusion won't support VMs running across different architectures, for example. Also, users can't currently create macOS-based virtual machines, though VMWare is looking into that for the future.

27 Comments

Marvin 15332 comments · 18 Years

About 2 years ago

AppleInsider said:

VMWare has announced that its upcoming update to VMWare Fusion will bring Windows 11 support to both Intel-based and Apple Silicon machines.

VMWare says that it's looking for user feedback as it "irons out kinks" and prepares for more formal support later in 2022.

"It's here," the company wrote. "While it is a little early, and things on Apple silicon don't always behave like we're used to on Intel, we're thrilled to be able to share the work we've been doing to prepare support for Windows 11 virtual machines on Fusion, for both Intel and Apple silicon Macs."

The Qualcomm exclusivity deal reportedly expiring soon after November 2021 is probably the reason for this support from VMWare now:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/11/22/qualcomm-microsoft-deal-could-explain-lack-of-windows-on-apple-silicon

VMWare said they wouldn't support Windows until Microsoft officially supported it:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/vmware-offers-progress-update-fusion-for-m1

Bootcamp is still unlikely but it should at least be officially supported now. Even if the internal partitioning wasn't supported, being able to boot a USB/Thunderbolt drive would be a good option to have.

dewme 5734 comments · 10 Years

About 2 years ago

Re: "Also, users can't currently create macOS-based virtual machines, though VMWare is looking into that for the future."

I assume this only refers to the technology preview edition of Fusion. All current and prior versions of Fusion 12.x absolutely support creating and running macOS/OS X virtual machines. I use Fusion 12.x on my Intel iMac to run the last version of macOS that supported 32-bit apps. i.e., Mojave (10.14) as well as Windows 10 Pro and the latest version of Linux Mint. The free (for non-commercial use) version of VMWare Fusion Player is an amazingly useful and reliable tool.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

About 2 years ago

I wish AI and others would write clarify Windows 11 compatibility in a clearer way.

They are referring to Windows 11 ARM right? VMware Fusion will NOT bring Windows 11x64 to ASi Macs right?

right_said_fred 805 comments · 17 Years

About 2 years ago

sflocal said:

I wish AI and others would write clarify Windows 11 compatibility in a clearer way.
They are referring to Windows 11 ARM right? VMware Fusion will NOT bring Windows 11x64 to ASi Macs right?

You are right, sadly.
However, I am currently running ARM based windows 10, on Parallels on my new M2 Air. On this windows 10 I have installed my accounting package (was Peachtree now its SAGE) which is Intel x86. Windows 10 emulator is taking care of it. Result - Sage accounting is running very well. Seemingly no slower than it ran on a native Intel Windows PC.

kimberly 434 comments · 10 Years

About 2 years ago

JP234 said:

This Windows emulator becomes more and more irrelevant with every passing upgrade.

That is true. It is also a likely that VMware itself will become more and more irrelevant with the advent of Cloud computing (AWS, Azure, etc). With the VMware Windows M1 thing, I did price an AWS alternative (pas-for-what-you-consume aka hire) but a Fusion Pro license was cheaper.