first Mac with Apple Silicone Very impressive machines. but in Switch from Intel chips to Apple’s own ARM processorsWhat happens to Windows software on Mac? Does Boot Camp Still Work? Here’s everything you need to know.

Why M1 and M2 Chips Are a Problem for Windows Software

Apple’s M1 chip The first is the Apple silicon chip used in the Mac. It’s a custom ARM chip that has more in common with the chips built into iPhones and iPads than the Intel CPUs found in current Macs. (M2 is the successor to M1, and is in the same position with respect to Windows applications.)

Apple has built in a translation system called Rosetta 2, and it lets these newer Macs run Mac applications designed for Intel Macs. Your existing Mac apps will run fine, even if they haven’t been upgraded to support Apple Silicon. There’s a slight slowdown due to translation, but the M1 and M2 chips are fast enough that they perform just as well as they did on Intel Macs. Those apps will run even faster once they’re updated to support Apple Silicon.

But what about apps that aren’t Mac apps?

related: How the Mac will switch from Intel to Apple’s own ARM chips

Do M1 and M2 Macs Support Boot Camp?

Apple’s Intel Macs include a feature called “”Boot Camp“Which lets you install Windows directly on your Mac. To switch between Windows and macOS, you have to reboot. Windows runs on a Mac just like it runs on a PC. After all, Intel runs on both Macs and PCs.” Same hardware architecture.

However, Boot Camp is not supported on M1 and M2 Macs with Apple Silicon. Boot Camp only works on Intel-based Macs. You cannot use Boot Camp to install Windows on an M1 or M2 MacBook or desktop Mac.

Whether Apple supports Boot Camp on M1 or M2 Macs, you can just install ARM version of Windows 10 Or Windows 11. It’s not the ideal version of Windows: It has an emulation layer, so it can run Windows software written for Intel chips, but it’s much slower and buggier than the Mac’s translation layer.

related: What is Windows 10 on ARM, and how is it different?

Can You Run Windows Virtual Machines on M1 or M2 Macs?

You Can Also Run Windows Software on Intel Macs virtual machines, Popular virtual machine programs include Parallels Desktop And vmware fusion, Do they work on M1 or M2 Macs?

They do! While it wasn’t ready for the initial release of Apple’s M1 MacBooks in November 2022, Parallels Desktop now lets you Install ARM Version of Windows 11 M1 or M2 on Mac.

VMware Fusion is a bit further behind. By August 2022, you can Download the Technical Preview Version of VMware Fusion for M1 and M2 Macs, This preview version isn’t completely stable yet, but it’s usable—and it will provide a solid alternative to Parallels Desktop when it’s done.

Older versions of Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion don’t work properly on MacBooks with Apple Silicon. depending on the applications Hardware Virtualization Features On current Intel Macs.

At WWDC 2020, Apple flawlessly demonstrated Parallels running a virtual machine—a Linux virtual machine. It was probably the ARM version of Linux. Parallels cannot run older Intel-based versions of Windows or other operating systems on Apple silicon. Thankfully, the ARM-based version of Windows 11 has its own emulation layer for running Intel-based Windows software.

Does CodeWeavers Crossover Work?

Here’s a way you can run some Windows applications on M1 Mac: By using CodeWeavers Crossover for Mac, This application is based on open-source wine software Which became famous for allowing Linux users to run some Windows applications without Windows.

CodeWeavers is essentially a reverse-engineered compatibility layer designed to run Windows applications on non-Windows operating systems. It’s not perfect, it doesn’t support every application, and you’ll experience some bugs. Codeweavers Maintains A database listing applications that work well,

foreign Will Work On Macbook with Apple Silicone. If it can run Windows applications on a Mac, it can run the same applications on Macs with Apple silicon.

Should you buy an M1 or M2 Mac if you need Windows?

Apple’s M1 and M2 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini were the first generation products when they debuted in 2022. He laid the groundwork for a Mac future without Intel processors.

These machines are not as good at running Windows as the old MacBooks. Boot Camp is gone and probably won’t come back, so you can’t dual-boot Windows on a modern Mac. You’ll be limited to running the ARM version of Windows 11 in a virtual machine, and any older Windows software you want to use will have to go through the emulation layer of Windows 11 running inside the virtual machine.

If that’s a problem for you and you really like these M1 and M2 Mac, you can try to compromise. For example, if you’re happy with two machines, you can have a MacBook and a separate laptop or desktop for your Windows software. It sounds crazy, but buying an older Intel Mac and then rebooting back and forth to use Boot Camp can be a great experience.

Or, you can run Windows applications on remote Windows PCs and access them remotely. In fact, it could be the solution of the future for many. that’s it Microsoft’s “Cloud PC” System for Businesses about.

Best MacBooks of 2022

MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

MacBook Pro 16-inch (M1 Max, 2021)

Best MacBook for Pros

MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021, M1 Pro)