The power of the Apple M1 processor has been demonstrated time and again by using the M1 Macs for cases Apple never intended, not to mention would allow. That includes running resource and graphics-intensive gaming emulators or other operating systems on top of the Arm-based macOS. Perhaps the most glowing example, and most damning for Microsoft, was running Windows 10 ARM on an Apple M1 Mac, something that can now be done officially with the latest release of Parallels Desktop.
Parallels (stopped working again with Beta 4)Updated to Parallels 16 (still not working for everyone on Big Sur) Issue is related to Parallels hypervisor kext. You can switch to the Apple hypervisor under 'Hardware - CPU & Memory - Advanced Settings' of your VM's settings, works for now until Parallels can fix it with an update.
The fact that Windows 10 ARM reportedly ran better emulated on an M1 Mac compared to running natively on Microsoft’s own Surface Pro X was particularly telling of the power of Apple’s first desktop Arm chip. That was, of course, still an unofficial method without much optimizations and access to official macOS APIs and hidden hooks. That’s the benefit of virtualization technologies like Parallels Desktop, whose newly-baked version 16.5 brings official support for M1 Macs.
The company says that Parallels Desktop 16.5 will run much faster and more efficiently on Apple Silicon machines. Parallels says the platform uses up to 250% less energy, sports up to 30% better virtual machine performance for Windows and up to 60% better DirectX 11 performance. Apple M1 chip is an ARM-based designed especially for Mac. The Chip runs on macOS starting with macOS Big Sur. But what if you want to use Windows on M1 powered Macs. Yes, you can use Windows 10 on M1 Mac. Here you will know how to install Windows on Mac M1.
Parallels Desktop has long been the tool of choice for many Mac users who need access to other operating systems. With Boot Camp not making its way to the Arm-based macOS Big Sur, it is the only officially supported way to run Windows 10 on these Macs. And if Parallels is to be believed, these M1 Macs might be the best way to actually run Windows 10 on Apple’s OS.
Parallels Big Sur M12
The post boasts about the greater performance and efficiency of Parallels Desktop 16.5 on M1 Macs compared to their Intel equivalents. That includes support for DirectX 11 even when compared to an Intel MacBook Pro with a dedicated Radeon graphics card. Of course, special attention was given to running Windows through Parallels Desktop but the virtualization platform can also run popular Linux distributions as well.
Big Sur Update
It should probably be noted that the Windows 10 that runs on these M1 Macs is Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview, which means having all the limitations that this version of Windows. That said, the report also mentions x86 applications, practically games like Rocket League and Skyrim, raising hope for the gaming chops of this method.