If you live and die by Parallels Desktop, you’re going to like this.
Parallels on Wednesday announced that the company is actively working on a new version of its virtualization software that will be compatible with Apple Silicon and M1 machines, the company said on Tuesday.
The company stated that it is “excited to see the performance, power efficiency, and virtualization features” that Apple’s new M1 chip brings to the Mac and MacBook lineups. It also noted that current versions of Parallels Desktop won’t be compatible on the new devices.
An Apple Silicon-compatible version of Parallels was demoed at WWDC 2020, and Parallels has stated that it has made “tremendous progress” since then, having switched Parallels Desktop to a universal binary and optimized its virtualization code.
To date, no other major virtualization company has made a similar announcement as to its compatibility with Apple Silicon. As of June, VMWare announced a macOS Big Sur-compatible “tech preview” of its software, but remains vague about how it will support Apple-designed chips.
Virtualization, along with Rosetta 2, is one of several initiatives that Apple says will make the switch to Apple Silicon smoother for developers and consumers. Boot Camp, long a way for users to run Windows on Mac hardware, will not make the transition.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider