Parallels Desktop: Still limitations with macOS under Apple Silicon
Virtual Macs with Parallels on a computer with an M-SoC could actually be very useful. But the list of limitations remains long.
Parallels Desktop on the Mac: One of the problems is the lack of USB support for macOS VMs. It works under Windows 11.
(Image: Parallels)
The latest version of Parallels Desktop, Update 19, which was released last summer and is compatible with macOS 14 alias Sonoma, also has problems with macOS virtual machines on Apple Silicon computers. The list of limitations is long and can mean that the function cannot be used properly.
Windows runs much smoother
Parallels Desktops already made it possible to virtualize macOS on Intel Macs. This is very useful, for example, if you still want to use older versions – or if you wish to test a newer macOS version without using it as your main operating system. Although support was always worse than Windows virtualization, it was still very useful in everyday use.
With the transition to ARM chips, Parallels Desktop also had to adapt. The problem: although Apple Silicon Macs have been around for almost four years now, key functions are still missing. Parallels (or rather its parent company Alludo (formerly Corel)) appears to be more interested in the ARM version of Windows. Whether this will change in the foreseeable future remains unclear.
What the macOS VMs can't do
According to Parallels, for example, it is currently not possible to use any USB devices under macOS VMs - they simply do not appear (under Windows: no problem). Only mouse/trackpad and keyboard are supported as internal hardware, neither external media nor webcams can be used. You cannot use drag & drop from the Mac. The time including time zone (or even location data) is not transferred and also not synchronized. The Parallels desktop snapshot function is missing for macOS VMs, as is the popular Coherence-Modus, which integrates a VM with the host Mac. If you want to use an Apple ID in the macOS VM to access iCloud, for example, this is not possible - Parallels does not say why exactly. After all, there is a whole range of third-party apps that do not run in the VM because there are compatibility problems.
Parallels blames Apple itself for most of the problems. They are forced to use Apple's virtualization framework on ARM Macs. This means that much more is possible on Intel machines. Parallels recommends contacting Apple support directly if you have difficulties with third-party apps.
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