Parallels Desktop for Mac with Apple silicon limitations

Due to the peculiarities of ARM architecture Parallels Desktop for Mac computers with Apple silicon has some limitations contrary to Parallels Desktop for Mac computers with Intel processors. 

Below you can find a full list of limitations that Parallels Desktop for Mac with Apple silicon contains. 

Missing features

The following Parallels Desktop features are not supported in Parallels Desktop for Mac computers with Apple silicon yet:

• Nested Virtualization 
• Support for mmap() in Linux Shared Folders
• Transfer PC to a virtual machine
• Import VMware, VirtualBox, and Hyper-V virtual machines
• Download ready-to-go Windows 11 virtual machine with Visual Studio
• Use Windows from Boot Camp
• PXE network boot
• NVMe disk controller support
• There are some limitations for macOS virtual machines running on Mac computers with Apple silicon. Learn more in KB 128867.

Architecture

Apple silicon chip is built on ARM architecture. Virtual machines (VMs) created on Intel-based Mac computers have x86_64 CPU architecture that is fundamentally different from the ARM architecture.

Therefore, a virtual machine created on a Mac with an Intel processor cannot be used on a Mac with Apple silicon chip, and vise-versa. 

If you are switching from a Mac with an Intel processor to a Mac with Apple silicon our recommended approach is creating a new Arm-based virtual machine and to copy personal data between Intel-based and ARM-based virtual machines. 

However, for tech enthusiasts who have Parallels Desktop Pro license or higher, there is an option to start such a virtual machine using Parallels Desktop Emulator. This approach has some limitations, more details can be found in an article about new technology.

Third-party applications

Software applications are heavily dependent on a computer's CPU architecture: an application that is compiled/created for one architecture cannot be easily run on another architecture. However, thanks to the Microsoft built-in emulator the majority of applications can easily run in Windows on ARM.

However, if you experience an issue with 3rd-party applications, we advise you to try following the steps from KB 128796.

The unsupported applications on ARM architecture

Based on our own tests and feedback from customers, few apps are not supported to run in Windows 11 on ARM yet. Luckily, the number of such apps is quite limited. 

If you want to share your experience and findings with others, you can do that on our Forum.