Can’t Parallels and VMware update their apps for apple silicone?
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Rosetta Won't Support x86 Virtualization Apps Running Windows
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True (added "natively" to the article). Apple's just not supporting it with Rosetta. We could go back to emulation solutions from Parallels, etc...
So in total about 5 years which is basically the “ideal” lifespan for a Mac. Obviously you can hold onto it longer.
This statement as-is will confuse a lot of people, since we already had threads from people yesterday who were panicking because they thought Bootcamp was going away on existing Intel Macs. Nothing is preventing Parallels from continuing to offer Windows support via emulation like Virtual PC did 20 years ago. I suspect they'll probably end up doing that and mentioned this in another thread earlier today.
Additionally, Microsoft offers Windows on ARM containers for Windows ARM hosts (but not direct distribution of the OS as a whole) and perhaps someone could unofficially get one of those images running.
I think it's safe to say there will be ways to run Windows, but it's too early to tell how good or bad those will be.
I LOVE my x1 Extreme Gen 2. Best laptop decision I've made in years. The new gen 3 was just announced this week.
I have a 2009 Mac Pro (4,1 flashed to think it's a 5,1 with CPU, GPU, and RAM all upgraded) running High Sierra and a 2012 Mac mini running Sierra. The mini really needs more RAM but is maxed out. And I haven't upgraded the Mac Pro to Mojave because there are no Mojave-compatible Nvidia GPU drivers. Beyond that, they're still chugging along.
Even in the Intel era, it was already a tough world for Mac users hoping beyond hope that game developers would make Mac versions of their games.... Now I bet we can kiss goodbye to gaming on Mac forever.
Not surprising, but it sure sucks for some. Maybe a few use-case could be solved by emulation.
Yeah and I assumed up to now that is because the emulation would be too slow. But Apple has Rosetta.
Well, I'm too comfortable in the macOS world to abandon it over a couple of niche use cases being blocked. But still, having a windows VM has been really convenient for lots of odd little things. Not essential, but convenient.
OK, this is click-bait as hell. All that's going to happen is Parallels and VirtualBox will release versions that run on the new custom Apple silicon. You'll still be able to run your VM's, you'll just have to wait for the apps to be updated to native binaries.
No, you can't use virtualization across different architecture, only emulation.
I'm in a very similar boat as you, with a work laptop I never touch because I prefer the superior experience of my 16" MacBook Pro to whatever crappy Dell POS my work gave me. Yeah I would assume Remote Desktop software such as VMWare Horizon, which simply logs you in to an instance of an operating system hosted remotely, would absolutely still work. Of course only once the developer updates their client app for the Mac. Who knows when VMWare will do this, as they already suck at regularly updating their client app for even little things, let alone a major transition like this one. Although I hope it's sometime in the next 2-3 years
When Windows on ARM matures this will be less of a problem. The people who develop parallels have a major long-term problem on their hands now though.
An Apple Silicon native version of Parallels (by itself) won't let it run x86 Windows.
arn
In all fairness, MS compiled their ARM based Windows 10 for their SQ1 chip, which is basically a tweaked Snapdragon 8cx. Doubt it could handle any emulation without dragging.
I knew this was going to happen, and I don’t think there is take a way around it. This is my biggest issue/fear with the transition to Apple’s chips, virtualization is a life saver is certain cases, and downright necessary in others.
I do IT for a school, and they are exclusively Mac for a number of reasons. However, there is one piece of software they use that is Windows only, and I have it easily running in a VM. I’m honestly not sure what we’ll do once this transition is finished.
Hopefully Apple’s chips will be so powerful and efficient, that VM companies will be able to translate the x86 instruction set to ARM with a minimal performance penalty; but the fact that dapple isn’t officially supporting it leaves me very worried.
I do IT for a school, and they are exclusively Mac for a number of reasons. However, there is one piece of software they use that is Windows only, and I have it easily running in a VM. I’m honestly not sure what we’ll do once this transition is finished.
Hopefully Apple’s chips will be so powerful and efficient, that VM companies will be able to translate the x86 instruction set to ARM with a minimal performance penalty; but the fact that dapple isn’t officially supporting it leaves me very worried.
Boot Camp isn't virtualization. It's Windows running natively on the Mac without MacOS, Parallels, or VMWare. The difference is enormous.
I've bought my last Mac.
It's not far-fetched that this will happen. After all, Microsoft already emulates x86-32 on ARM for their Windows ARM OS, and they claim they will soon have x86-64 support as well.
x86 emulators have been around for decades and they aren't going anywhere. Obviously you won't get native Intel performance on a comparable ARM CPU, but we knew that wasn't happening as soon as we knew the switch to ARM was underway. However, it will allow for a wide variety of use cases that didn't require the most powerful PC hardware to begin with.
Maybe it‘s not so bad, with iOS compatibility coming. Granted, most iOS games aren‘t long, complex AAA-experiences, and those which are, are ports of older games which are already available on the mac (e.g. San Andreas, KOTOR, CiV 6). But here‘s hoping that it could also work a little the other way round with the mac being the reason of bigger games getting ported to the unified eco-system.
But Windows for ARM is going to keep getting better and eventually most Windows apps will support it. I'd bet by the time today's new Intel Macs get EOLed, there will be a good cross platform solution.
Yep, Boot Camp is dead. They are going to lose A LOT of customers.