Parallels Desktop 18 on Sequoia

I just got a new Macbook Pro M4 Max. With the new computer I am unable to run my virtual machine or set up a new one. I get.. "The specified configuration file is invalid."
On my M1 Air Parallels Desktop 18 has been running on Sequoia with no problem.
Why is this?

 

I believe Parallels is doing this on purpose. The VM was clearly working under Sequoia with v18, only now with the new installation it won't run. They're probably blocking the software in order to make people go and upgrade

 

From personal experience I can confirm that Parallels 18 will run under Sequoia, but only if an older version of Mac OS was updated to Sequoia. Our team recently got new Macs and we had hoped to migrate our working instances of Parallels 18 (we chose the perpetual license version over the subscription). It took us a while to discover that Parallels has blocked this pathway so that we will have to buy a new licence for use on our newer Macs. Would be nice if they let us continue using the software we paid for, if we were willing to acknowledge and accept that performance might not be optimal. Unfortunately that's not how software companies keep the lights on anymore.

 

My last "perpetual license" was Parallels 15 and from what I have read it will not run on Sequoia or a few of the previous macOS versions. I switched to a subscription a few years back just not to have to go through this (primarily because I have one older Windows program (Lotus Approach) that I cannot get to run under Crossover but it will run and print properly under Parallels 20/Windows 11. Also Microsoft Links but that is something I can live without.) Not sure if Parallels does this "intentionally" but I am sure there are plenty of other programs (and a lot of older games) that will only run properly on older versions of macOS. Also, I have found out that since I have an Apple Silicon M3 iMac, I can't even go back to a version of macOS that will properly run Parallels 15 even if I wanted to.

 

I have done a bit more research, and I have a better understanding of why previous versions of Parallels don't support newer Mac hardware. Unlike the Intel era newer variants of the M-chip can see significant changes to how they process graphics, etc. A set of instructions that worked perfectly well for an M1 series chip may not work at all for the M4 variant. When you buy a perpetual/one-time-purchase licence Parallels states that it may not work in future, and from this perspective it makes perfect sense. However, if you stay with the same hardware your one-time-purchase licence should remain stable and useful for several years, as the software changes to the OS are less disruptive. That's why 18 should continue to work with an M1 series, although you might not have luck installing it directly onto Sequoia (but I haven't had a chance to test that...)

 

That is actually very helpful. Still doesn't explain why you get a "invalid configuration file" which seems like a Parallels software issue.
But at least it's encouraging that a particular version of Parallels should keep working on a particular hardware "permanently", as that has definitely been the most frustrating part of this surprise (I moved from Intel mac to M4 mac via Timemachine, and Parallels is the only key piece of software that stopped working - everything else magically works despite a different processor arch!).

 

Customer support just sent me this:

Hello, Please note that Parallels Desktop 18 is not compatible with macOS 26: https://kb.parallels.com/en/114381 We suggest that you purchase an upgrade key at a discounted price: https://www.parallels.com/desktop-upgrade/ We remain at your disposal for any further queries.
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The thing is, I transferred the license back to my M1 MacBook Air, which is running MacOS 26.5.2, and it works just fine.
SO, it is definitely not a MacOS 26 issue. It seems like a hardware issue like you said, but still the error appears to be software, because Parallels 20 has no issue with it

 

Customer support just sent me this:

Hello, Please note that Parallels Desktop 18 is not compatible with macOS 26: https://kb.parallels.com/en/114381 We suggest that you purchase an upgrade key at a discounted price: https://www.parallels.com/desktop-upgrade/

According to our official compatibility information, Parallels Desktop 18 is not officially supported on macOS 26. Although the application may work on some Macs running macOS 26, this does not mean that the configuration is officially supported or that the same behavior can be guaranteed on all Macs. Differences in hardware and system configuration can affect compatibility. Therefore, there is no supported workaround that we can provide to make Parallels Desktop 18 officially compatible with macOS 26.5.2. Your available options are: 1. Continue using Parallels Desktop 18 on a supported macOS version, if your Mac allows you to use one; or 2. Upgrade to a newer version of Parallels Desktop that officially supports macOS 26. We understand that this may be disappointing, particularly because your perpetual license itself has not expired. However, the perpetual license applies to the specific major version purchased and does not include upgrades to future major versions.
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The thing is, I transferred the license back to my M1 MacBook Air, which is running MacOS 26.5.2, and it works just fine.
SO, it is definitely not a MacOS 26 issue.

From what was said, I feel there actually IS a workaround, but they cannot disclose it, as it may affect sales of the new parallels versions. They never said there is NO workaround, they say there is no SUPPORTED workaround.