Parallels and Apple Work Closely to Bring Virtualization Capabilities to Macs with Apple Silicon

UPDATE November 10, 2020: See new information in the blog post from Nick Dobrovolskiy, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Customer Support for Parallels

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) revealed many innovative developments, including a demo featuring a prototype of a forthcoming version of Parallels Desktop for Mac running on Mac with Apple Silicon.

“Parallels® is proud to be working closely with Apple during this exciting transition, and we’re looking forward to launching support for future Macs with Apple Silicon,” said Nick Dobrovolskiy, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Customer Support for Parallels.

“Parallels brings more than a decade of cross-platform solutions experience, seamlessly integrating operating systems and features, to our work with Apple,” added Dobrovolskiy. Our award-winning Parallels Desktop for Mac software makes it simple for businesses and individuals to use the applications and files from any operating system they need on their Macs.”

We look forward to sharing more information about Parallels Desktop’s support for Mac with Apple Silicon in the future.

In the meantime, we encourage all Mac, iPad, iPhone, Windows PC, Chromebook, Android, Windows Server, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure users to check out Parallels’ family of software solutions, download and install their full-featured free trials, and experience their significant benefits today.

Apple, iPad, iPhone and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc.

62 comments on “Parallels and Apple Work Closely to Bring Virtualization Capabilities to Macs with Apple Silicon”

David Barry
June 22, 2020 at 2:42 pm

Congrats on the shoutout! Will this prototype be available For purchase for developers who obtain the developer kit from apple?
Kayla Myrhow
June 22, 2020 at 4:24 pm

Hey, David!

At this time, we do not have a date to share with you for the specific version that was showcased in the Apple WWDC Keynote with macOS Big Sur. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We sincerely look forward to sharing more information about Parallels Desktop’s support for Mac with Apple Silicon in the future.

best, Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager at Parallels
Christopher
June 22, 2020 at 8:15 pm

Great to see a version of Parallel running on Apple Silicon hardware. Will Parallel able to run Windows 10 on Parallel on top of Apple Silicon?
GM
June 22, 2020 at 9:12 pm

Will it run windows on the news macs
Andrew
June 22, 2020 at 9:37 pm

Do you expect Parallels on Apple Silicon to run Windows faster or more slowly than on current Intel i9 chips?
Andreas
June 23, 2020 at 12:24 am

Hello, are there any information if Parallels on Apple Silicon will continue to support Windows?
gctwnl
June 23, 2020 at 12:31 am

The link shows a fragment of the WWDC keynote. But I did not see Parallels there. But just to be sure: will it remain possible (e.g. through Rosetta 2 in combination with Apple SoC virtualisation) to run Windows 10 under Parallels?
Markus
June 23, 2020 at 1:12 am

We’re keeping a few choice legacy applications in our print shop for accessing archived old files natively (Creative Suite 6, Macromedia Freehand, Quicktime 7 player). They run in a virtual MacOS 10.6.8 Server container in Parallels. Is this likely to still be support on Apple silicon?
Vaibhav
June 23, 2020 at 2:53 am

In the demo, they showed a Debian ARM edition running. It is also known that Rosetta 2 will do the x86-64 to ARM translations. So is it going to be possible to run x86_64 Linux images?
Basti
June 23, 2020 at 3:00 am

Is this going to run Windows? Thank you
Andreas Grätz
June 23, 2020 at 3:14 am

WIndows-support is also important for me.
Steve
June 23, 2020 at 3:38 am

X64 Windows support?
David H.
June 23, 2020 at 5:03 am

Likewise, congrats., and glad to read that you’re working closely with Apple in this area. Can you tell us about the future of using Parallels Desktop to run Windows on Apple Silicon-based Macs? Will that still be an option (like it is today on Intel-based Macs)?
John Brady
June 23, 2020 at 6:29 am

I was really encouraged to see there are plans for virtualisation support for Apple Silicon. Will Parallels for Apple Silicon be able to run X86 / AMD64 code? Or will it only be able to virtualise ARM-based operating systems? E.g. will it be possible to run Windows 10, or will it only run Windows ARM?
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:26 am

Hey John, Thanks for reaching out. You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We sincerely look forward to sharing more information about Parallels Desktop’s support for Mac with Apple Silicon in the future. Thanks a lot and have a nice day 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:27 am

Hey David, You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/ and we will update with further information soon. Thanks a lot and have a nice day 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:28 am

Hey Steve, You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. We will always update you as soon as we have further information. Thanks a lot and have a nice day 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:29 am

Hey Andreas, Thanks for reaching out. You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We sincerely look forward to sharing more information about Parallels Desktop’s support for Mac with Apple Silicon in the future. Thanks a lot and have a nice day 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:29 am

Hey Basti, You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We look forward to sharing more about it in the future 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:30 am

Hey, For now, you can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. We look forward to sharing more information about soon 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:32 am

Hey Christopher, You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We look forward to sharing more about it in the future 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:33 am

Hey, You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. We will keep you updated with further information 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:33 am

Hey Andrew, You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We look forward to sharing more about it in the future 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:35 am

Hey Andreas, For now, you can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to be first to get updates regarding future releases. We look forward to sharing more about it in the future 😀
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:37 am

Hey, Thanks for letting us know. Check out the Parallels demo here: https://youtu.be/GEZhD3J89ZE?t=6114. We will update you with further information soon. Thanks and have a nice day.
Beatrice Vogel
June 23, 2020 at 8:39 am

Hey Markus, Thanks for reaching out. You can find all information regarding Parallels and Apple Silicon here: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/apple-silicon-wwdc/. We will let you know soon regarding your question. Thanks a lot and have a nice day 😀
gctwnl
June 23, 2020 at 9:02 am

My question was answered (I got a notification in my mail) but it doesn’t appear here. The answer referred me to the Parallels fragment of the WWDC keynote, but there they show Debian Linux and not Windows and that Linux may be Apple Silicon native.

The question is: will Parallels on Apple Silicon run x86 OS’s such as Windows 10?
gctwnl
June 23, 2020 at 9:02 am

Hmm, after asking this, suddenly all the answers appeared. Must be a cache thing. Sorry about that. But I still like to know if it will run Windows 10.
Lance Seabourn
June 23, 2020 at 11:26 am

I strongly request not only the binary translation capabilities for x86 virtualization you’re working on, but some kind of custom Parallels boot loader that can do binary translation at the EFI level in order to dual boot x86 windows on an ARM Mac
Bob
June 24, 2020 at 12:37 am

They should allow VM’s of MacOS as well. so it’s easier to deal with our master install.
Danny Daniels
June 24, 2020 at 4:30 am

Since I (my company) are working in a ‘mixed’ environment, Parallels Desktop is for us a mandatory tool to work with…
I cross my fingers and hope Apple HW we still be able to virtually run Windows… So Keep up the good Works guys!
Francesco
June 26, 2020 at 12:39 am

@Beatrice, thank you!!
Please can you simply answer regarding the future support of Windows 10 (x64) ?!?
Beatrice Vogel
June 30, 2020 at 6:31 am

Hey Francesco, As soon as we can reveal more information we will let you know 🙂
Martin Lohmann
June 30, 2020 at 10:23 pm

Pls notify when you can ensure that Parallels on Apple Silicon will offer running virtualized Windows 10 and future versions. As an SAP architect and developer, I can’t use macOS only on my notebook. Thanks!
Francesco
July 2, 2020 at 5:51 am

We are waiting for you.
Many thanks.
David
July 2, 2020 at 11:21 am

Thanks Beatrice. Looking forward to it.
benidiktus
July 2, 2020 at 7:38 pm

Could it available on iPad Pro? so i can run windows os on Ipad Pro (without remote to the actual windows 10 machine)
Beatrice Vogel
July 6, 2020 at 12:51 am

Hey, Thanks for reaching out. If you are running macOS Catalina and Parallels Desktop 15 on your Mac, you can use Windows on your iPad with the feature Sidecar: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/sidecar-windows-parallels/. Let us know if you have further questions. Thanks
Beatrice Vogel
July 6, 2020 at 1:21 am

Hey Martin, Of course, we will update you as soon as we have further news. Thanks
Paul Churchill
July 15, 2020 at 3:26 am

Looking forward to being still able to develop MS Access when Apple switches to their own processors
André Rohrbeck
July 30, 2020 at 10:52 pm

Thanks for bringing Windows also to Apple silicone!
Michael Wilspang
August 2, 2020 at 9:08 am

That would be awesome
Giovanni
August 11, 2020 at 4:12 am

Parallels Desktop 16 is now available, but no mention of Apple Silicon or Windows emulation on it. Does that mean we will have to wait for Parallels Desktop 17 or will it be on a special 16.x version ?
Beatrice Vogel
August 11, 2020 at 4:36 am

Hey Giovanni, Thanks for your comment. For now, we don’t have any further updates on the support of Parallels Desktop on Apple Silicon Macs. Of course, we will update you as soon as we can. Thanks so much
Lee
September 1, 2020 at 11:04 pm

Giovanni,

Parallels Desktop 16 will be the version you want when it’s ready to be installed on Macs with ARM processors. Being that Apple wants to release ARM into public domain end of this year, I imagine Parallels will want to do the same.

SO here’s the deal. Parallels 16 will have both X86 and ARM installs within the same download package. This way, software companies don’t have to worry about keeping up with two different versions for the consumer to download.

Being that Version 16 isn’t in the App Store, it is my guess that as soon as we see Parallels 16 in the App Store, we will be able to install it on our ARM Macs. From reading through the threads, it appears that Parallels is wanting to move people to work through the App Store. Obviously Apple will get a 30% of the cut, but there are a lot of benefits going this route.
Lee
September 1, 2020 at 11:11 pm

No, they are not releasing any version for Apple Developers. They are working extremely hard to ensure they get us a stable, reliable product. There are too many bugs, issues, and not everything has been mapped out yet. What they do today, they have to ensure that they can survive future updates from Apple.
Lee
September 1, 2020 at 11:12 pm

They are trying and hoping that your current Windows VM will be able to migrate to the ARM processor. Much depends on how good Rosetta2.
Lee
September 1, 2020 at 11:17 pm

Parallels has made significant changes in version 16 to increase speed, whether with i9 or ARM processor. When launched, you most likely won’t see much of a difference between the processors. The A14X chip is very fast and more streamlined than the current I9 but performance wise as a VM – don’t expect the bump you would see running apps natively on the A14X as Mac apps. Just make sure you have plenty of memory and SSD and it will run smoothly.
Derek Quinn
September 14, 2020 at 5:24 pm

Hello Christopher,
I would like to buy the 27-inch Mac 2020 but reallyneed to know if my Parallels programmes will work with it. Can ypiu please give me a heads=up one way or the others. It would be most appreciated. Thanks. Derek
Beatrice Vogel
September 18, 2020 at 2:43 am

Hey Derek, Thanks for your message. Parallels Desktop 16 will run fast and smooth on a 27-inch Mac 2020. Please find here the system requirements for Parallels Desktop 16 and all possible guest operating systems: http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/resources/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks and have a nice day.
jvh
September 19, 2020 at 4:04 pm

Silicon Macs are out already, but no mention if Apple will allow virtualisation on it …
I would really hate to loose windows or older masOS versions capabilities we now have using PD
Lee
September 21, 2020 at 9:46 pm

Last update – August 6th – any new development? When can we see this product released to the public or to beta testers?
Ray
September 25, 2020 at 9:11 pm

You may want to wait until 2021 to buy a Mac, after Apple has switched from Intel chips to the new Apple Silicon chip.
Lee
October 12, 2020 at 9:50 am

October 12th – I read in the news today that it is alleged that in November, the MacBook with Apple Silicon will be released to the general public. Inquiring minds want updates/answers. Tech support keeps referring everyone back to this page for updates… but no updates since June of 2020. What are YOUR plans so WE can make our plans. Will we need to buy the ARM version of Windows (Can we?) or are you able to pot over our current Windows VM (Rosetta 2 should support it). When is the expected release date for the new parallels? There are many here who have Apple’s Development Transition Kit – don’t you think we would be good candidates to help debug and try it out? Is your release date going to be earlier than Mac’s release date, same as Mac’s release date, or do you perceive a month, three months, six months, a year or two years down the road? I have been telling people to hold off on buying Mac until the new Silicon appears and that you will have your software ready. Is that something I can continue to say or do I need to advise people to not hold off?
Jvh
October 12, 2020 at 9:59 am

Yea, all quite here and silicon Macs are already running many apps very well but not virtualization. It looks pretty impossible for actual arm processors not supporting this at all.
David
October 12, 2020 at 12:36 pm

Indeed, I have to agree with the sentiments here. That said, I have some thoughts that might be worth considering, coming from at least some expertise I have in this area, whatever that might be worth here…

People keep referring to the ARM version of Windows. I do not believe that’s the answer for at least two reasons:

Firstly, I think people need to let go of this idea that Apple Silicon is “ARM”. It really isn’t, at least in the context it’s being used. Apple Silicon is all kinds of custom stuff by Apple, SOME of which just happens to be based on the ARM instruction set. The likelihood of ARM Windows running on Apple Silicon is pretty darn slim unless Apple and Microsoft are working together to specifically make it happen which I highly doubt. And even if I’m wrong about this, I really hope this isn’t the route they pursue because of the second reason…

…Windows on ARM has been a train wreck so far because so very few apps run on it. An OS running on a given architecture is meaningless unless the apps also run on the architecture, within that OS. Which they mostly don’t. And which is why Windows on ARM really hasn’t gone anywhere so far.

So even if Apple Silicon is capable of running ARM Windows one way or another, it’s certainly not the desired answer, because it will still not enable us to run all our x86 Windows apps, which kinda defeats the purpose, right?

So if ARM Windows isn’t the answer, then what is? The answer almost certainly lies in whether or not the native Apple Silicon version of Parallels Desktop for Mac (already seen at the WWDC presentation, or some future version of it) will be able to EMULATE x86 Windows, just as Rosetta 2 emulates x86 for x86 Mac apps, and how Virtual PC and others used to emulate x86 for x86 Windows on the PowerPC Macs in the 90’s.

Sure, emulation slows things down – because there’s resources and performance lost to the on-the-fly translation, but as Apple seems to have shown with Rosetta 2 running x86 Mac apps on Apple Silicon – the Apple Silicon appears to be fast enough natively such that emulating x86 on Apple Silicon (for x86 Mac apps as demonstrated at WWDS) is close to x86 code running natively on Intel chips, so x86 Windows apps should be not much different performance-wise, as long as Parallels – or someone – can provide a native Apple Silicon app that includes x86 emulation as part of its functionality.

To put it another way: Rosetta 2 is an app (of sorts) on macOS that emulates x86 architecture for running x86 Mac apps. It does this seamlessly behind the scenes (as Apple often likes to do things – that is you don’t manually open a “Rosetta” app and then open your x86 Mac app inside it, you just open your x86 Mac app, and the OS handles the rest, but that’s just smoke and mirrors: careful automation etc. on Apple’s part which it can do when it controls the whole platform). Apple has likely built in all kinds of optimizations that make it better than “just emulation”, but ultimately that’s what it is. So similarly, running Windows x86 OS’s and apps will almost certainly have to be done the same way, albeit without that fancy automation and behind-the-scenes-ness, but still essentially the same: Via some app designed to emulate x86 (for everything other than what Rosetta will handle).

And if I’m right about all the above, and if Parallels (and/or some other company) can create such an app, then I’m sincerely hoping that app will also include the ability to create emulated virtual machines that can run other OS’s not just Windows – in particular all the intel versions of macOS up to Catalina – just as Parallels can do now through virtualization.

I simply cannot see any other way Windows or older macOS’s can run on Apple Silicon Macs unless it’s done this way. It certainly means no more Boot Camp – I see no way an Apple Silicon Mac would be able to boot into Windows (same as was the case with PowerPC Macs). However, an emulation layer (provided by an app from Parallels and/or others) should work in theory, as long as Apple isn’t blocking it somehow or some other roadblock.

I’m not sure what the Parallels people have to say about this, if anything. I can understand them being a little mum about it. Maybe they don’t even know yet if this is possible or viable, and “We’re working on it” is the best thing they can genuinely tell us at this point – in which case at least they’re telling us that. I don’t know. Just speculating. With any luck they’ll chime in sooner rather than later with something more than that.

I’d venture anyone able to challenge my above understanding with sound knowledge and experience to please do so. And either way, I’d propose people asking about ARM Windows, should probably reconsider that idea.
David
October 12, 2020 at 12:45 pm

Actually, to Parallels’ credit, the current version of Parallels Desktop for Mac can just about simulate what Rosetta does with it’s behind-the-scenes-ness. The Coherence mode, the ability to put Windows apps in the Mac Dock, etc. just about give us that automation. It still has to boot the Windows OS, in a separate VM with its own pre-determined set of resources (cpu core count, memory allocation, etc) in order to run a Windows app (none of which Rosetta has to do) but within those limitations, it can be a pretty seamless process. So here’s hoping they can still deliver something like that via emulation on Apple Silicon and not just virtualization.
gctwnl
October 12, 2020 at 1:45 pm

Afaik, the current Parrallels makes use of native x86 hypervisor support. A true Apple silicon Parallels would do the same based on Apple silicon hypervisor support. Then *inside* that, an x86 OS (and apps) could run using Rosetta2 technology. For that Parallels and Apple need to closely work together. It’s not just Rosetta2 for macOS apps, but it is more than that. And it is probably hard.
David
October 12, 2020 at 3:24 pm

If I’m reading you right, I think you’re saying the same thing I said above, except you’re using the term “Rosetta 2 technology” where I simply said “emulation”. I think that’s significant, because…

Indeed Rosetta 2 is x86 emulation for Mac apps, inside macOS 11+, although it’s more than that too because some of what Rosetta 2 does is translate during install time, not just on the fly at runtime (which typical emulation does). My understanding is that’s one of a number of areas where R2 is highly optimized for that very specific purpose (x86 emulation for Mac apps within macOS 11+), and only that.

We already know an ASi-native Parallels Desktop for Mac exists since that’s what was demoed at WWDC. I’d argue that “Rosetta 2” inside that is probably not likely, though some derivative of it (or technology shared from it, or whatever) might be and then I think it’s just marketing terms.

In short though I’m saying that I think the emulation that ASi Parallels will require, if it’s going to be able to emulate x86 for Windows, older macOS’s and whatever else, is likely to be a significant deviation from Rosetta 2. And it’s likely that’s what proving to be the hard part for Parallels (and others too, presumably). And of course it’s going to require some serious cooperation from Apple, which they may or may not be willing to provide.
gctwnl
October 12, 2020 at 11:45 pm

@David Agree. For me, given that I depend on a certain Windows app, without a solution, I cannot move to Apple silicon.
Lee
November 3, 2020 at 12:44 am

11/3/2020 – We all are awaiting updates from Parallel regarding the new Macs with ARM processors to be able to run Parallels. Yesterday, Apple announced that 11/10/2020 will be an event and it is alleged from sources that THREE MacBooks will be released with the new ARM processor and the release date would most likely be a week after the event. The title of this thread is “Parallels and Apple Work Closely….” – can you please elaborate on this and share some more information? An update? Please?
Ray
November 3, 2020 at 11:20 pm

And, in particular, not just whether Parallels will run on the new Apple Silicon-based Macs, but whether Parallels will be able to emulate Windows on such Macs. For myself, I have so few “must-have” Windows-based apps, I think I would be inclined to buy a new Silicon-based iMac and simply abandon Parallels.