MacOS, Parallels (BootCamp, Fusion, WINE etc) and ARM Processors

[N9JIG]

With the possibility of ARM processors coming to the Mac in the next year or so, how might this affect Macs with these new processors running Windows, natively or in emulation?

I use Parallels very successfully on my MacMini 2018, MacBook Air as well as prior iMac's with the Intel chips, and, while not a deal breaker, I still like the ability to run Windows for some software that has no Mac version.

 

[Shirasaki]

ARM Mac will almost certainly not have native windows support. For parallel, things can get complicated, as it depends on whether parallel choose to emulate x86 or not and how to emulate.

 

[06tb06]

Some Linux kernels already run on ARM...

Microsoft's Windows 8.1 RT was built for the ARM ecosystem. Newer devices such as the Surface Pro X feature chips that are built for ARM, though I'm not sure if this particular model will use an x86 emulator.

Anything is possible. If the rumors are true, we will hopefully learn more on June 22.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Some Linux kernels already run on ARM...

ARM support has been in the Linux kernel source tree for a long time, at least 10 years, maybe closer to 15-20 years.

Technically, there is only one Linux (the kernel). There are just a bajillion Linux distributions unlike FreeBSD or OpenBSD.

If you buy a Raspberry Pi kit today, you'll get a micro SD card with NOOBS which can install Raspbian (a Debian Linux offshoot) with almost no installation effort. I did a dual-boot installation and also installed LibreELEC which is just enough Linux OS to run the Kodi media player/home theater hub software.

Linux has been used as an embedded operating system for various ARM-powered appliances for a long time, stuff like POS terminals, ATMs, routers, whatever.

Linux on ARM is most certainly not a new thing.

 

[1221320]

Must admit this ARM news does concern me.

I am a lifelong Mac user, but when my 2011 Macbook Pro died, I switched to a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, as I needed a good keyboard (I'm a pro writer, so keyboards are important to me and the butterfly switches just didn't work out).

The X1C is fine (and it does have a good keyboard), but seeing as Apple have gone to an iteration of their magic keyboard on the new Macbooks/Pros, I was contemplating a shift back in a couple of years. I tried a 16" MBP in an Apple Store before the pandemic, and it seemed pretty comfortable. Not the same level as the ThinkPad, but then again, nothing is really.

However, when I was using MacOS, I did use Windows software for some things, which I was happily doing in Parallels to run Windows software alongside my MacOS apps.

So if Parallels becomes impossible, I guess I'll be sticking to Windows laptops. Seems ironic that after they finally fix their keyboards - thus potentially luring old customers like me back - they're going to break something else!