Parallels Desktop for Mac System Requirements

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Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac system requirements

  Minimum
To run most applications such as Microsoft Office, accounting, trading, SAP, Matlab, and more
Best Performance
For graphics-intensive applications, high loads and running multiple virtual machines
Processor

Any Apple silicon chip
Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor

Any Apple silicon chip
Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9 or Xeon processor
Memory 4 GB of RAM 16 GB of RAM or more
Storage

600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation

Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows OS)

600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation

Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows OS)

Graphics

Any Apple silicon chip
Intel, AMD Radeon, or NVIDIA graphics cards

Any Apple silicon chip
AMD Radeon Pro graphics card

Operating System macOS Sequoia 15.0 or newer
macOS Sonoma 14.0 or newer
macOS Ventura 13.4 or newer
macOS Monterey 12.6 or newer
macOS Big Sur 11.7 or newer[1]
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer[1]
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer[1]
macOS Sequoia 15.0 or newer
macOS Sonoma 14.0 or newer
macOS Ventura 13.4 or newer
macOS Monterey 12.6 or newer
macOS Big Sur 11.7 or newer[1]
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer[1]
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer[1]

Internet connection is required for product activation, updates, and select features.

[1] – the marked OS version is not supported by Parallels Desktop 20, and the product installer will set up an earlier product version; support of guest operating systems can be limited.  It is recommended to update macOS if possible. 

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with Apple M-series chip)

Only Arm versions of operating systems are supported.

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with an Intel processor)

Only x86 versions of operating systems are supported.

[1] — Only the 64-bit version is supported.
[2] — Parallels Tools are not available for this operating system.
[3] — Requires a Mac computer that supports the operating system as a host OS.

Note:  Support for legacy Windows OS versions (2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2) is limited. Learn more at KB 129252.
Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. You can download the Parallels Desktop trial and install an operating system of your choice. If it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum. To learn more about the limitations of running Windows 11 in Parallels Desktop, please visit KB 129497

To learn more about Parallels Tools compatibility with Linux kernels, please visit KB 129963.

Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac system requirements

  Minimum
To run most applications such as Microsoft Office, accounting, trading, SAP, Matlab, and more
Best Performance
For graphics-intensive applications, high loads and running multiple virtual machines
Processor Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max,  M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips
Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor
Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips
Intel Core i5, Core i7 or Core i9 processor
Memory 4 GB of RAM 16 GB of RAM or more
Storage

600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation

Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows 11)

 

SSD drive
Graphics Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips
Intel, AMD Radeon, or NVIDIA graphics cards
Apple M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips
AMD Radeon Pro graphics card 
Operating System macOS Sonoma 14.0 or newer
macOS Ventura 13.4 or newer
macOS Monterey 12.6 or newer
macOS Big Sur 11.7 or newer[1]
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer[1]
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer[1]
macOS Sonoma 14.0 or newer
macOS Ventura 13.4 or newer
macOS Monterey 12.6 or newer

Internet connection is required for product activation, updates, and select features.

[1] – the marked OS version is not supported by Parallels Desktop 19, and the product installer will set up an earlier product version; support of guest operating systems can be limited.  It is recommended to update macOS if possible. 

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with Apple M-series chip)

Only Arm versions of operating systems are supported.

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with an Intel processor)

Only x86 versions of operating systems are supported.

* - Only the 64-bit version is supported.

** - Parallels Tools are not available for this operating system.

*** - Parallels Desktop 19 supports only macOS virtual machines created on a Mac computer that supports the operating system as a host OS. Feel free to give it a try if you need such a virtual machine, though please note that it might not work.

**** - virtual machines with these operating systems are not supported in Parallels Desktop 19.3.0 and newer versions.

Note: To run legacy Windows OS versions (2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1), download and use Parallels Tools version 18.3.0. Learn more in KB 129252.

Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. You can download the Parallels Desktop trial and install an operating system of your choice. If it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum. To learn more about the limitations of running Windows 11 in Parallels Desktop, please visit KB 129497

To learn more about Parallels Tools compatibility with Linux kernels, please visit KB 129963.

Parallels Desktop 18 for Mac system requirements

  Minimum
To run most applications such as Microsoft Office, accounting, trading, SAP, Matlab, and more
Best Performance
For graphics-intensive applications, high loads and running multiple virtual machines
Processor Apple M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips, Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9, Intel Core M or Xeon processor  Apple M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips, Intel Core i5, Core i7, Core i9 or Xeon processor 
Memory 4 GB of RAM 16 GB of RAM or more
Storage

600 MB for Parallels Desktop application installation

Additional disk space for the guest operating system (at least 16 GB is required for Windows 11)

 

SSD drive
Graphics Apple M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips  
Intel, AMD Radeon, or NVIDIA graphics cards 
Apple M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M1 Ultra, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 chips  
AMD Radeon Pro graphics card 
Operating System

macOS Ventura 13.0
macOS Monterey 12.4 or newer 
macOS Big Sur 11.6.7 or newer 
macOS Catalina 10.15.7 or newer 
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or newer

macOS Ventura 13.0
macOS Monterey 12.4 or newer 
macOS Big Sur 11.6.7 or newer

Internet connection is required for product activation, updates, and select features.

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with Apple M-series chip)

Only Arm versions of operating systems are supported.

Supported Guest Operating Systems (Mac with an Intel processor)

Only x86 versions of operating systems are supported.

* - Only the version downloaded with help of the Installation Assistant with Parallels Desktop.

** - Parallels Tools are not available for this operating system.

*** - please note that you can install only the versions of macOS virtual machines (VMs) that your host supports. E.g., macOS Ventura VM won't work on the legacy Mac that isn't compatible with macOS Ventura 13.

Note: Parallels Desktop for Mac emulates PC hardware, so operating systems that are not present in this list can work as well. You can download the Parallels Desktop trial and install an operating system of your choice. If it doesn't work and you believe it should be supported, let us know at Parallels Forum.

Parallels Tools for Linux require X Window System version 1.15-1.20 and Linux Kernel version 3.1-6.1.

Moving Your PC? 

You can move your files from Windows PC using Apple Migration Assistant. 
To move your Windows apps, you can use the Parallels Transporter feature. **

Note: Parallels Transporter is not available for Mac with Apple M-series chips. 

PC system requirements to move your PC to your Intel Mac (using Parallels Transporter Agent): 

* - To migrate Windows Vista or older, Transporter Agent from Parallels Desktop 13 should be used.

** - Version 18.3.3 of Parallels Desktop for Mac does not support transferring a Windows installation from a PC. If you still want to perform the transfer, install an 18.3.2 release available here, complete the transfer, and then upgrade to 18.3.3.

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