What you need to know
- Microsoft has issued some bad news about Windows 11 on Apple silicon.
- The company has confirmed it's not officially a "supported scenario".
- It could throw up some issues for Parallels users.
Microsoft has confirmed that running Windows 11 on devices like the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 and MacBook Air with M1 is not officially a "supported scenario", after virtualization company Parallels ran into some issues with the software.
A spokesperson confirmed a lack of official support to The Register, in wake of some issues Parallels were having trying to run Windows 11 on Parallels 17 on M1 Macs. Previously this had worked using Windows Insider builds, however a hardware compatibility error has started showing up. Parallels has fixed the issue in version 17.0.1.
Microsoft has never promised any kind of official support for Windows 11 on Mac, virtually or otherwise, and the news doesn't mean it won't ever work, just that if there are problems Microsoft isn't obligated to help fix them. Parallels hasn't said anything about how this might impact its long-term plan to bring Windows 11 to Mac through its software.
Earlier this year iMore reported exclusively that Parallels support for Windows 11 was on the way, from that report:
"Since Windows 11 has just been announced recently, the Parallels Engineering team is waiting for the official Windows 11 Insider Preview build to start studying changes introduced in the new OS to deliver full compatibility in future Parallels Desktop updates," Nick Dobrovolskiy, SVP of Engineering and Support told iMore. Microsoft's first Insider preview build came out on Monday, but the rollout was a bumpy one and it doesn't include all of the new features that are coming to Windows 11 later this year such as Microsoft Teams integration or support for Android apps.
Apple is expected to unveil new mini-LED MacBook Pro models with all-new Apple silicon later this year. The M1X chip is expected to feature numerous graphics chips and 10 processing cores.
