Since the underlying CPU would still be ARM-based, it would therefore be in violation of Microsoft’s Windows license. However, this also means that Windows couldn’t even legally be run on ARM-based Macs even if it could run under Intel-style virtualization. This naturally precludes any possibility of Boot Camp right out of the gate, however Apple has already nixed any idea that such technology could be supported on Apple Silicon Macs even if Microsoft were to make an ARM-based version of Windows available for Mac users. Although Microsoft does offer a version of Windows 10 for ARM, it’s designed primarily for its own Surface tablets and licensed only to very specific companies who produce ARM-based PCs it’s not available to the general public, and Microsoft has said that, for now at least, it has no plans to change this. Technically speaking, Windows is only licensed to run on Intel processors. However, Apple Silicon users may face another legal technicality that could keep Windows off their new Macs. It probably won’t ever be adequate for gaming on Windows, but could be fine for those who still have other Windows apps that they need to use. However, we expect that Apple Silicon chips will have power to spare, so it’s very likely that future virtualization apps could run Windows without any noticeable performance problems. In fact, it’s been done before back in the PowerPC days, Microsoft offered an app called Virtual PC that let users run Windows on pre-Intel Macs. Unlike Boot Camp, however, which appears to be completely dead, VMware and Parallels can both update their virtualization apps to work on Apple Silicon chips. This will allow apps that haven’t yet been updated for the new ARM-based Apple Silicon chips to continue to run on the newer Macs, but the catch is that it’s going to be restricted to traditional apps, not things that actually need to dig deep into the operating system like VMware and Parallels do. To be clear, Apple is offering a stopgap in the form of its Rosetta 2 transitional layer, which is the same approach it took during the move from PowerPC to Intel chips 14 years ago.

Why can macs run windows