An Apple executive has confirmed that the new M1 Mac computers are “very capable” of running Windows natively, but says the ball is very much in Microsoft’s court.
In an interview with Ari Technica, Apple executive Craig Federighi said the “core technologies” are in place for Windows 10 to operate on the ARM-based Macs, but “that’s really up to Microsoft.”
He said: “We have the core technologies for them to do that, to run their ARM version of Windows, which in turn of course supports x86 user mode applications. But that’s a decision Microsoft has to make, to bring to license that technology for users to run on these Macs. But the Macs are certainly very capable of it.”
However, that doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing for the Apple hardware Microsoft software marriage, currently only available by running Boot Camp on Intel Macs. Microsoft currently doesn’t allows the ARM version of Windows 10 to be used on Macs due to licensing laws that restrict its use if not preinstalled. Currently, Boot Camp cannot run on the M1 Macs.
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As a result, the main option is via virtualisation software, with options such as Parallels currently working on a solution for M1 Macs. “A new version of Parallels Desktop for Mac that can run on Mac with Apple M1 chip is already in active development,” the developer Corel says (via 9to5Mac).
“When Apple Silicon Mac was first announced during the keynote at WWDC on June 22 of this year, Apple demoed a Parallels Desktop for Mac prototype running a Linux virtual machine flawlessly on Apple Silicon. Since WWDC, our new version of Parallels Desktop which runs on Mac with Apple M1 chip has made tremendous progress.”
That’s alongside the news that the open source CrossOver virtualisation software also supports M1 Macs moving forward. All in all, it looks like Windows 10 will be available on M1 Macs through workarounds, but a native option would be nice wouldn’t it?
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
