Parallels Desktop 17
$79.99 (upgrade $49.99) From
parallels.com
Needs macOS 10.13 or later, 4GB memory
More than a year ago, among the software shown when Apple demonstrated its prototype Apple silicon Macs was an early demo version of Parallels Desktop for the new models. It has since taken 14 months for Parallels to release Desktop 17, the first virtualization software to make full use of M1 Macs.
Apple silicon has posed serious problems for those wanting to run Windows or older versions of macOS in a virtual machine. As ARM processors in the M1 and later chips aren’t compatible with Intel processors, virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop can’t run regular versions of Windows, nor Intel versions of macOS. Engineers have been working to salvage what they can for those who want to virtualize on M1 Macs and their successors; this new version of Parallels Desktop is the first which not only runs special preview versions of Windows and different distros of Linux, but macOS too.