Microsoft sanctions the use of Windows 11 on Macs that have Apple chips

Users who buy Apple devices do so in part because of their operating system. For many years the company has been praised for having an OS that is more secure and easier to use than Windows or Linux. However, there are many applications that work best on systems like Windows, as it is the industry standard and the one most people use. Despite that, if you have a computer Apple Mac with M1 or M2 chipthe only official way to have Windows 11 is with Parallels or streaming.

A few years ago Apple decided abandon NVIDIA, Intel and AMD on his laptops and Mac computers. As we already know, he stopped using processors and graphics from these companies, since he decided to create his own chips. This is how the first one was born Apple M1which surprised us by its amazing performance and efficiency. After this chip, its most powerful versions arrived, such as the M1 Pro, Max and Ultrawhich focused on improve especially the GPU. Then we already saw that the M2 did not represent as great an advance as expected and the M2 Pro and M2 Max They weren’t that surprising either, although they were still noticeably faster than the last generation.

Only allowed to use Windows 11 on Mac via streaming or Parallels

Apple’s advantage over Intel and AMD processors is clear and that is that they still cannot compete in terms of performance per watt consumed. We are talking about the use of the Arm architecture against x86 and although this advantage gives the company’s devices an advantage in energy efficiency, it also has drawbacks. With the use of your chips M1 and M2Apple computers, both laptops as iMacthey lost boot camp and with it, the ability to dual boot macOS and Windows. This does not mean that it is impossible to have Windows 11 on an Apple Mac computer, but there is something important to keep in mind.

And it is that, Microsoft has officially “sanctioned” running Windows 11 on Macs, from the point of view that we cannot install and use it in a conventional way. In fact, on the support page, Microsoft indicates Windows 11 works better on a PCbut if we can’t or don’t have one, there are two ways to use it on Mac. Basically, we can choose to perform streaming Windows 11 to Apple computers using Windows 365. On the other hand, we have the option of using Parallels Desktop 18 to run Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise using virtualization on Mac computers equipped with Apple M1 and M2 chips.

Both Microsoft alternatives have limitations and cost money

These two options are not ideal and in neither case are we talking about having a native execution of the Microsoft operating system. If we start to analyze the disadvantages, we find several, because starting with the Windows 11 streaming through Microsoft 365we have to pay monthly, with plans for companies and businesses that cost $31/month per user. The other alternative that Microsoft proposes through parallels 18 is cheaper, since it implies a price of $99.99 per year for home and student use.

However, there are certain limitations here when using virtualization to run apps and games from your Apple device. Besides, does not allow nested virtualization and Arm apps from 32 bit from the Microsoft Store will not work on Apple devices with M1 and M2 chips. Finally, it is mentioned that APIs such as DirectX 12 are not supported on Macso you will have to forget about running your latest games on Windows 11 using Parallels Desktop 18.