It took some tinkering, but it helps answer the question as to whether Windows will run cleanly under virtualization on an M1 Mac.
Developer Alexander Graf has successfully virtualized the Arm version of Windows on an M1 Mac, proving that the M1 chip is capable of running Microsoft’s operating system.
At present, the M1-based Macs don’t support Windows and there’s no Boot Camp feature for this, as has been seen since 2006 with the Intel-based Macs. Windows support is also something many users would love to see.
Graf, who used the open-source QEMU virtualizer, was able to virtualize the ARM version of Windows on Apple’s M1 chip with no emulation. Given that the M1 chip is a custom Arm SoC, it is no longer possible to install the x86 version of Windows or x86 Windows apps using Boot Camp, as was the case with previous Intel-based Macs. However, he said in a Tweet that when virtualized on an M1 Mac, “Windows ARM64 can run x86 applications really well. It’s not as fast as Rosetta 2, but close.”
Graf was able to run the Windows ARM64 Insider Preview after virtualizing it through the Hyperadvisor.framework software. Apple, in turn, has stated that this allows users to interact with virtualization technologies without having to write kernel extensions.
Graf then applied a custom patch to the QEMU virtualizer, which is cited for “achieving near-native performance” by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. This allows the ARM version of Windows to be virtualized on M1 Macs with excellent performance.
While Graf’s work is still in its early stages, he believes others could reproduced his results. “It’s early days for this. It’s definitely possible to reproduce my results – all patches are on the mailing list – but don’t expect a stable, fully functional system yet,” he said. Still, as a proof of concept, he he demonstrated that Windows can be run on M1 Macs.
Apple’s software engineering chief Craig Federighi recently said that Windows coming to M1 Macs is “up to Microsoft.” The M1 chip contains the core technologies needed to run Windows, but Microsoft has to decide whether to license its Arm version of Windows to Mac users.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via MacRumors, the 8-Bit, @_AlexGraf, and developer.apple.com