Apple’s switch to its own M-series chips for Macs has many benefits, but one major feature was lost in the transition from Intel processors: Boot Camp, Apple’s utility that allows Macs to run Windows natively with macOS. Although Boot Camp is still supported in Ventura, you won’t find it on an M1 or M2 Mac.
If a user wants to run Windows on one of these new Macs, the solution is to use the Arm version of Windows through virtualization software. However, Microsoft licensing restrictions did not officially allow users to run Windows for Arm on an M-series Mac, although technically it could be done.
However, on Thursday, Microsoft announced via a support document that Parallels Desktop 18 is now “authorized” to run Arm versions of Windows 11 Pro and Windows 11 Enterprise on Mac M1 and M2. Authorization is a big deal because it means that in business environments, Parallels and Windows on Arm can be deployed, and users can get help if they run into problems.
Microsoft’s announcement specifically names Parallels as an authorized solution. Microsoft does not sell Windows for Arm as a standalone product, but you can download and install Windows 11 directly through Parallels. VMware Fusion, QEMU, and other VMs don’t offer any way to get Windows for Arm (although they can run it), and those VMs still seem to be unauthorized. (When I asked Microsoft PR about unauthorized VMs, they referred me to the support document mentioned above and said they had nothing else to share at this time.) The only other option allowed for running Windows on a Mac is to use Windows 365 Online from Microsoft. service and run a Cloud PC.
Microsoft licensed Parallels as a solution for running Windows for Arm on an M-series Mac.
International Parallels
The final nail in Boot Camp’s coffin
Boot Camp became an official part of the Mac operating system in 2006 as part of Mac OS X Leopard. 2006 was also the year Apple switched from Motorola to Intel processors, and since Windows runs on Intel silicon, Apple was able to offer the advantage of running Windows (as well as Linux) natively on Mac hardware – although Apple has always reminded users that it has not provided support for Mac hardware running non-Mac operating systems.
Apple’s M-series chips use the Arm architecture, which is different from the x86 architecture of Intel processors, so the version of Windows that runs on Intel PCs won’t run on Macs of the M series. With Apple’s transition to the M1 processor in 2020, the company decided not to develop Boot Camp for M series Macs. While Apple says that M series Macs can run Windows for Arm, it doesn’t go out of its way to do so, and there’s no indication that development is happening. Since Microsoft’s Windows for Arm license contains explicit details of the hardware it supports, it’s likely that Windows for Arm running natively through Boot Camp would not be allowed.
For the small number of users who need to run a different operating system natively on a Mac, Boot Camp was a convenience, and user calls for Apple to bring the feature back have fallen on their ears. a deaf. Microsoft’s announcement dashed any hope users had of a Boot Camp revival, as it now gives Apple an official solution to point to. Apple can now simply send users back to Parallels Setup whenever the Boot Camp chat occurs. End of the conversation. Apple has continued to work on the Intel version of Boot Camp – it was last updated in August with an update to the Precision Touchpad driver – but those updates should end soon as Apple will stop making updates. resources in Boot Camp as the percentage of Intel Macs in the installed base continues to decline.
Using virtualization software works for most users, but there is a performance trade-off, although the trade-off gets smaller and smaller over time. If you absolutely need to run Windows or Linux natively, now you have a reason to keep that Intel Mac or buy a PC.
