Limitations
Parallels Desktop and Windows 11 on Arm allow millions of people to experience Windows 11 and run Windows applications on Apple silicon Mac computers. According to product analytics, Parallels users run more than 200,000 Windows applications this way.
However, some specific cases are still in the works that are not yet supported in Parallels Desktop and Windows 11 on Arm on Apple silicon:
-
Windows 11 on Arm can run thousands of x86 applications. However, some of them may not work today. Microsoft and third-party software vendors introduce improvements daily, so we recommend giving it a try; it may work already. Learn more about app support and troubleshooting here.
-
Nested Virtualization is not available. If you plan to use Hyper-V or Hyper-V-based technologies inside Windows, this will not work. WSL2 also will not work; use WSL1 as a workaround. Learn more in KB 129234. VBS is not available. Some emulators may not work.
-
3D acceleration is currently supported at the level of DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 3.3. Some of the latest AAA games may not launch or run.
Parallels is a registered trademark of Parallels International GmbH. Microsoft, Windows, Hyper-V, and DirectX are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Apple and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc.
Activation
Activating Windows 11 powered by Parallels Desktop is the same as activating Windows 11 on a PC. Learn more in KB 114051.
Was this article helpful?
Tell us how we can improve it.