Parallels Desktop for Mac

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VMware Fusion vs. Parallels Desktop

How is Parallels Desktop different than VMware Fusion?

  • Trusted desktop virtualization software for more than 15 years!
  • Authorized by Microsoft to run Windows 11 on a Mac with Apple silicon
  • Windows 11 automatic download and installation on any Mac
  • Works natively on Apple silicon: Coherence View mode, shared folders, copy-paste, drag-drop, camera, etc.
  • Superior graphics in Windows 11 on ARM, including DirectX 11 + vertical sync for playing games, smooth Windows desktop, and ProMotion display support

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VMware Fusion
Run multiple OSs at the same time without rebooting Intel and Apple M-series chips
Copy and paste between OSs
Share files between Windows and Mac
Mass deployment package
Virtual TPM
Parallels Desktop
All the VMware Fusion benefits PLUS:
Download and install Windows 11 with a single click  *
One-click download of Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS*, Mint* and Debian
Touch Bar controls for Windows applications
No distractions from Windows in Do Not Disturb mode
Trackpad Zoom and Rotate gesture support for Windows apps
Open files from Finder with Windows applications
Picture-in-Picture view mode when running your virtual machines
Choose to have Windows invisible while still using its applications in Coherence™ Mode
Extend battery life with Travel Mode
macOS Quick Look support in Windows
Automatic disk space optimization
Select productivity, games, design, software testing, or development VM profiles
Rollback Mode
Microsoft Visual Studio plug-in
Compress VM to a single file for a convenient upload and sharing
Premium 24/7 phone and email support
Over 40 one-click tools—clean your drive, take screenshots, download a video and more
Download corporate VM from the cloud
Deploy in a Single App Mode
Add Windows apps to the Dock during deployment
Advanced security settings

Trusted by well-known organizations.

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Experience the best of both macOS and Windows with Parallels Desktop for Mac, unlocking powerful performance and seamless interaction

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Standard Edition
Includes major updates to support new versions of macOS, Windows, Linux, and new Mac models Subscription only
Virtual RAM for each VM 8 GB vRAM
Virtual CPUs for each VM** 4 vCPUs
Experience Windows as if it was designed for Mac: use Mac files, keyboard, trackpad, camera & mic, sound, graphics, Touch ID, and many more
Run thousands of Windows applications such as Microsoft Office 365, accounting software, trading software, SAP, Matlab, and more
Premium 24/7 phone and email support Subscription only
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Pro Edition
All the Standard Edition features PLUS:
Includes major updates to support new versions of macOS, Windows, Linux, and new Mac models
Virtual RAM for each VM 128 GB vRAM
Virtual CPUs for each VM** 32 vCPUs
Run professional graphics-intensive Windows applications and multiple virtual machines
Develop, automate, test, and debug software in multiple operating systems simultaneously
Deliver Windows on Mac across your organization to run business-critical applications and free developers from the hassle of using multiple computers. Secure and key-free with SSO/SAML integration option
Premium 24/7 phone and email support
Integrations with VS Code, Vagrant, Packer, Docker, Minikube, and more
Advanced tools for virtual networking, debugging, and automation
Automate CI/CD workflows with Command Line Interface (prlctl, prlsrvctl)
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Business Edition
All the Standard and Pro Edition features PLUS:
Enable employees to download a preconfigured Windows installation to their Mac
Per-user licensing option for companies that are ready to use SSO/SAML/SCIM integration
Centralized administration and management and unified volume licensing for mass deployment
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* Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise
** Up to 22 CPU on a Mac with Apple silicon (M2 Ultra)

BONUS!

Included with your Parallels Desktop subscription:
Parallels® Toolbox

Bonus with Subscription!

Parallels Toolbox

More than 40 one-touch productivity tools—clean your drive, take screenshots, download a video, and more—all with one click.

Frequently asked questions

System requirements

Run most applications such as Microsoft Office, accounting software, trading software, SAP, Matlab, and more.

Operating system

macOS Sonoma 14.0 or newer
macOS Ventura 13.2 or newer
macOS Monterey 12.6 or newer
macOS Big Sur 11.7 or newer[1]
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer[1]
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer[1]

Processor

Any Apple silicon chip
Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor

Memory

4 GB of RAM

Storage

600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation
Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows OS)

Graphics

Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips

Intel, AMD Radeon, or NVIDIA graphics cards

[1] — an earlier product version is installed

For graphics-intensive applications, high loads, and running multiple virtual machines.

Operating system

macOS Sonoma 14.0 or newer
macOS Ventura 13.2 or newer
macOS Monterey 12.6 or newer
macOS Big Sur 11.7 or newer[1]
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer[1]
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer[1]

Processor

Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips
Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9 or Xeon processor

Memory

16 GB of RAM or more

Storage

600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation
Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows OS)

Graphics

Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips

AMD Radeon Pro graphics card

[1] — an earlier product version is installed

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with Apple silicon):

Only Arm versions of operating systems are supported.

  • Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise editions (recommended)
  • Ubuntu Linux 23.04, 22.04, 21.10, 21.04, 20.10, 20.04
  • Fedora Workstation 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33-1.2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Debian GNU/Linux 12, 11, 10
  • Kali Linux 2023.1, 2022.2, 2022.1, 2021.3
  • CentOS Stream 9
  • macOS Monterey 12 (in-app download)
  • macOS Ventura 13 (in-app download)
  • macOS Sonoma 14 (in-app download)

Supported guest operating systems (Mac with Intel processors):

Only x86 versions of operating systems are supported.

  • Windows 11 (recommended)
  • Windows 10[1]
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Boot2Docker
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9,8 and 7
  • CentOS Linux 9 Stream, 8, 7
  • Fedora Linux 38 and 37
  • Ubuntu 23.04, 22.04 LTS, 21.10, 21.04, 20.04 LTS, 18.04 LTS, 16.04 LTS
  • Debian GNU/Linux 11, 10
  • Suse Linux Enterprise 15
  • OpenSUSE Linux 15.5 and 15.4
  • Linux Mint 20
  • Kali 2023.1, 2022.2, 2022.1, 2020.2, 2019, 2018
  • Elementary OS 7
  • Manjaro 22 and 21
  • Mageia 8
  • Gentoo Linux[2]
  • Solaris 11 and 10[2]
  • openBSD 6[2]
  • FreeBSD 12 and 11[2]
  • openVZ 7
  • eComStation 2 and 1.2[2]
  • ReactOS 0.4[2]
  • Android OS (in-app download only)
  • macOS Ventura 13.0[3]
  • macOS Monterey 12.0[3]
  • macOS Big Sur 11.0[3]
  • macOS Catalina 10.15[3]
  • macOS Mojave 10.14.x[3]
  • macOS High Sierra 10.13.x[3]
  • macOS Sierra 10.12.x[3]
  • OS X El Capitan 10.11.x[3]
  • OS X Yosemite 10.10.x[3]
  • OS X Mavericks 10.9.x[3]
  • Mac OS X Leopard Server 10.5.x - OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.x[3][4]
  • and many more...
  • [1] — Only the 64-bit version is supported.
  • [2] — Parallels Tools are not available for this operating system.
  • [3] — Requires a Mac computer that supports the operating system as a host OS.
  • [4] — Starting Parallels Desktop 19.3.0 Parallels Desktop no longer supports virtual machines with these operating systems.

Note: To run legacy Windows OS versions (2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1), download and use Parallels Tools version 18.3.0. Learn more at https://kb.parallels.com/en/129252.
Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. You can download the Parallels Desktop trial and install an operating system of your choice. If it doesn’t work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.
To learn more about limitations of running Windows 11 in Parallels Desktop, please visit KB 129497.

For information about supported Linux kernel versions, please visit KB 129963.