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M4 Pro base model - Parallels?
- Thread starter Daniel97
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Most software runs fine on Windows 11 ARM, even if it doesn't specifically advertise ARM support. Things to watch out for are low-level stuff (security/anti-virus, backup tools, ...), and games, especially games that use anti-cheat technology.
Other graphics-heavy loads (i.e. CAD software) might not perform very well in a VM.
You can also check out VMware Fusion, which is free. I find that Parallels performs better, though.
As for a base M4 Pro system, you might want to bump up the RAM. 16 GB seems kind of tight for running Windows and macOS side-by-side. But if you are "barely using" the Windows VM (just one or two apps), you can probably allocate just 3-4 GB for it and be OK.
[Edit]
Nevermind. 24 GB is the base RAM for these systems now? That seems adequate.
Other graphics-heavy loads (i.e. CAD software) might not perform very well in a VM.
You can also check out VMware Fusion, which is free. I find that Parallels performs better, though.
As for a base M4 Pro system, you might want to bump up the RAM. 16 GB seems kind of tight for running Windows and macOS side-by-side. But if you are "barely using" the Windows VM (just one or two apps), you can probably allocate just 3-4 GB for it and be OK.
[Edit]
Nevermind. 24 GB is the base RAM for these systems now? That seems adequate.
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The M2 Air with 16Gig was enough for Parallels. The M4 will be great.
Parallels will provide the proper version of Windows 11 Pro in the ARM version. What is needed is an activation key for W11 as Parallels does not provide the activation key.
Yes, it does. And will download the correct ARM version of W11. An activation key is needed. Most software will work but there a few packages that will not run with ARM W11.
I had a 16Gig M2 Air that I allocated 4 CPUs and 6GB of RAM. What applications I needed ran fine with that memory. I only needed W11 for a couple of applications that were not heavy hitters. MacOS and W11 coexisted just fine.
- you should list the Apps you want to run on Windows.
- you can also run Windows 11 ARM via UTM but not that 3D things.
- depending on the Apps you want to run under Windows ARM, i use a MBA M2 16GB Ram and that is plenty because when using Windows ARM it is running not emulated but virtualized.
- when you use Software that has to be emulated in Windows ARM because it is only X86 code it can become very slow.
I only need to run a single application in Parallels and its not huge either. Everything else i do on Mac like usual.
I will need so stream via OBS on it too, so hoping the M4 Pro holds up to that. Im considering the £2399 model.
I will need so stream via OBS on it too, so hoping the M4 Pro holds up to that. Im considering the £2399 model.
It’s not related to your original question, but I found Windows 11 Enterprise more convenient in terms of creating a local account and easily removing the Microsoft bloat, such as recommendations, useless notifications, etc.
For the Pro version, this is also possible but requires significantly more effort.
Speaking of the cost — it’s the "same" if you don’t need the license for business purposes.
For the Pro version, this is also possible but requires significantly more effort.
Speaking of the cost — it’s the "same" if you don’t need the license for business purposes.
I've used both. It depends of your use case, but if you don't need specific features like linked clones, nested virtualization, etc., the Standard version is sufficient.
KB Parallels: What is the difference between Standard and Pro Edition of Parallels Desktop for Mac?
Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition was designed for developers, web and graphic designers, power users, and other demanding pros.
Alternatively, you can try VMware Fusion, which is free.
They’ve done some real improvements here with parallels, I’m guessing the translation layers in windows are just better too. What I’m finding is that for a game I play it runs pretty similar to how it runs on the snapdragon x elite chip. I’m very happy with the performance and can finally do away with my dedicated windows laptop. I have the base m4 pro.
I've just bought an M1 Pro as a second machine and it runs Parallels v20 brilliantly. I just need it for some pretty normal Windows apps, but it's great.
You'll see the differences in the versions on their product page.
But again, to echo some of the other posts, if you just need to use this for one app, start with VMware Fusion since it's free. If that works for you then you don't need to pay for Parallels at all. Not all apps depend on having fast graphics and in general use Fusion works just fine. It's worth testing.
Yes but you will be happiest if you max out the RAM as much as finances permit. Choosing 48 GB RAM over 24 GB RAM will be hella more optimal computing [IMO worth the +$400] running any kind of VM; especially if you intend a lifecycle longer than a year or two.
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i ended up with the 2399 model - but wasnt prepared to drop another HUGE chunk of change maxing out RAM at this point. I already went up 400, going up 800 was a no
I ran two VM's in 16 Gig with no issues. One with W11, the other with Linux. 24 Gig would work just as well, 48 Gig will not see any improvement. Put the $400.00 into something else in my opinion. W11 Arm does not take the same amount of memory space as W11 on the native platform (X86). If a person is not running anything too complicated 4 Gig of RAM will work for the VM for W11 and Linux.
It will serve you well. Good choice in my opinion.
Also my experience. I think I would have used a different term than "sneaky". "Greedy %&*()()*" would be more appropriate. They would have had access to early releases of the M4 and I suspect the company knew it would disable all VM's not using version 20.
My version 19 would not open any of the VM's. I had to upgrade to version 20 to get the VM's to open. I don't buy the subscription and instead get the one time purchase. I now have three versions, 18, 19 and 20 and only one of them work on the M4.
Make it work, or not.
It all depends on the time frame also. Within a year, you don't want to pay more than an annual subscription, otherwise you're gonna have a lot of anger. I'm ok with a subscription, but I just bought a v19 a few months ago.
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I was using Parallels 18 on a MacBook Pro 2020 i5 16gb/1tb. It ran fine.
I’m now running Parallels 20 on a Mac Mini M4 (base) 24gb/512gb. It was so easy to install windows 11, it practically did it for me. And it starts up in just a few seconds and is super snappy. I’m pretty impressed with the speed improvement from what I was seeing on the MacBook Pro 2020 and how well Parallels 20 works on the Mac mini M4 (I didn’t try to install Parallels 18 on there - sounds like from others it might not have worked anyways). I know there’s free alternatives, but I don’t mind paying a bit for good quality software and it makes my life easier.
I’m now running Parallels 20 on a Mac Mini M4 (base) 24gb/512gb. It was so easy to install windows 11, it practically did it for me. And it starts up in just a few seconds and is super snappy. I’m pretty impressed with the speed improvement from what I was seeing on the MacBook Pro 2020 and how well Parallels 20 works on the Mac mini M4 (I didn’t try to install Parallels 18 on there - sounds like from others it might not have worked anyways). I know there’s free alternatives, but I don’t mind paying a bit for good quality software and it makes my life easier.