Windows via Parallels 16 on my M1 MBA is better than I expected

[EastHillWill]

I wanted to post this because I think there's some confusion around the current state of Parallels on M1 Macs. Let me first say I've been a Bootcamp guy and this is my first time using Parallels, so I'm far from an experienced user of the software. However, Bootcamp just won't install on our iMac. (We get 'The Partition Error' which seems like a somewhat common problem with no clear fix. Wiping everything and starting fresh works for some people, but it's my wife's primary work machine at home and she's not super fond of this idea.)

She has an Intel MBA and I have the M1. I also have a flaky Windows Lenovo laptop which charmingly BSOD's in the middle of remote sessions, which is the reason I like to have Windows access elsewhere.

All of that led me to try the Parallels 16 Technical Preview, which I installed despite the aforementioned confusion. I don't think Parallels did a good job explaining what the current state of the software is, and most publications just parroted the same unclear information. As a result a lot of folks--including myself--thought that Parallels on M1 machines was practically unusable. Surprisingly, that's not the case!

There are some very limiting bugs, mainly around applications and quitting the program. (Suspense is broken, and the suggested workaround has been hit or miss as well. Fully quitting Parallels can be tricky at times, but is possible.) For my use case, which is essentially just having access to W10 itself and running the Quick Assist remote app, it works just fine. Scaling and performance is very good, especially considering this is an early technical preview. Setup was also quick and easy, with the biggest impediment being the slow Windows server when downloading the W10 ARM build. (I ended up making a dongle chain to hardwire my MBA, but that just confirmed the speed issues were mostly server-side.)

Anyways, just wanted to throw my experience out there for anyone who was scared off from trying. I've seen a few folks who have had bigger issues, and being so early in a complicated process YMMV. However, if you want to poke around a bit and have an excuse to use these great new machines a bit more, go for it! Happy holidays.

 

[Rydawg96]

Haven't had luck with it. Every time I boot it up, I have to reinstall the parallels tools in order for the screen to refresh, ignoring the prompt to reboot every time. Im also finding Universal Windows Apps are not launching at all. And Windows update isnt working either, it installed one update, but since then it gives me an error every time I try to update (maybe the first update broke things?). I also find Parallels is breaking Fing on my Mac when I try to run it, so it must also be having some networking conflicts with that.

 

[EastHillWill]

Ah, that's annoying. Maybe a full reinstall would help? I saw a post where someone had to do it like 8 or 9 times before it took. I personally don't need Windows *that* badly, but whatever works I guess! This first crack is so good that maybe the next preview will work for you others having similar issues. If they fix that very annoying suspense/shut down issue then it would be a great time to jump onboard anyways.

 

[Dave_O]

Haven't had luck with it. Every time I boot it up, I have to reinstall the parallels tools in order for the screen to refresh, ignoring the prompt to reboot every time. Im also finding Universal Windows Apps are not launching at all. And Windows update isnt working either, it installed one update, but since then it gives me an error every time I try to update (maybe the first update broke things?). I also find Parallels is breaking Fing on my Mac when I try to run it, so it must also be having some networking conflicts with that.

Try turning off Time Sync in advanced options. This fixed it for me.

See - https://forum.parallels.com/forums/parallels-desktop-16-for-m1-mac-technical-preview.786/

 

[EastHillWill]

In the interest of full disclosure my mouse and keyboard don't work within the VM as of this morning. (Seems like a known issue.) The joys of using early-release software!

 

[bobcomer]

Haven't had luck with it. Every time I boot it up, I have to reinstall the parallels tools in order for the screen to refresh, ignoring the prompt to reboot every time. Im also finding Universal Windows Apps are not launching at all. And Windows update isnt working either, it installed one update, but since then it gives me an error every time I try to update (maybe the first update broke things?). I also find Parallels is breaking Fing on my Mac when I try to run it, so it must also be having some networking conflicts with that.

I was able to get updates working by setting the emulated NIC to use Bridged networking on my actual NIC. Setting it to bridged default doesn't work, nor does it work reliably with shared networking.

 

[bobcomer]

I was able to get updates working by setting the emulated NIC to use Bridged networking on my actual NIC. Setting it to bridged default doesn't work, nor does it work reliably with shared networking.

I said that yesterday, but it was before the last WOA update. Now the only thing that works is shared networking. The new version works a lot better btw. (Dev ring build)

 

[maclogon789]

Hi,

I did the install a couple of days ago and installation was a breeze. I previously used Fusion so interface differences but no problems installing on the 8GB Macbook Air.