A developer has already virtualized Windows on Apple silicon

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Macbook Air M1
Macbook Air M1 (Image credit: Daniel Bader / iMore)

What you need to know

  • A developer has gotten the ARM version of Windows to run on Apple silicon.
  • Official support for Windows on Apple silicon is not yet here.

While it is currently not officially supported by Microsoft, a developer has successfully virtualized the ARM version of Windows on an Apple silicon-based Mac. As reported by The 8-Bit, Alexandar Graf posted on Twitter that he was able to accomplish the feat using the QEMU virtualizer.

Who said Windows wouldn't run well on #AppleSilicon? It's pretty snappy here 😁.

While it is worth noting Graf specifically got the ARM version of Windows working and not the x86 version, the developer did say that the Windows ARM version can also run x86 applications.

Note that he was able to virtualize the ARM version of Windows and not the x86 version. Virtualizing an x86 version of Windows might have been much difficult as compared to the ARM version as Apple's M1 chip has a 64-bit ARM architecture. Although, Graf also mentions in one of his tweets that "Windows ARM64 can run x86 applications really well. It's not as fast as Rosetta 2, but close."

Demand for Windows on Apple silicon is high and Apple's own Craig Federighi recently said that it is in Microsoft's court to support it.

There is a high demand for running Windows on Apple Silicon. Apple's Senior VP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, in an interview, said that Apple Silicon contains the core technologies to run Windows natively. "M1 Macs are certainly capable of running Windows." However, he said that "it'll really be up to Microsoft" to make it a reality.

If you want to check out Graf's method for enabled Windows ARM on Apple silicon, you can read his reference information here.

Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.