Legacy guest OS on Mac Silicon

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop on a Mac with Apple silicon' started by markf28, Dec 28, 2024.

  1. markf28

    markf28

    Messages:
    1
    I need to run some legacy applications that require old legacy MacOS (32bit - 10.14 Mojave), old but support MacOS (12 Monterey & 13 Ventura) and Windows 8/10, and have been doing so successfully using Parallels 17 on an intel MacBook Pro, which died.

    I now have a M4 Macbook, and of course am surprised to find that virtualization is extremely limited.

    I have some pre-sales questions, but it seems that there is no way to contact Parallels (contact by chat, phone, email are all greyed out - it is reasonable that they don't want to provide support for old versions, but it is baffling that they don't allow pre-sales... isn't the way they get money is from sales?). Can anyone help me with a few questions:

    1. How do I get some pre-sales support by phone/chat/email?
    2. It appears from KB 129252 ( https://kb.parallels.com/en/129252 ) that if I upgrade to a new version of Parallels on the M4, I can move the legacy windows guest VM to v20 and they will run. However KB128914 ( https://kb.parallels.com/128914/ ) indicates "a virtual machine created on a Mac with an Intel processor cannot be used on a Mac with Apple silicon chip, and vise-versa." So which is it? Will it run on v20 M4 or not?
    3. The KB 129252 above makes no mention (and I cannot find a similar article that addresses this) of moving existing legacy Mac guest VM (10.x) - will they run on the M4 too?
    4. The KB 129252 above makes no mention (and I cannot find a similar article that addresses this) of old but supported Mac guest VM (Monterey 12 and newer). KB 125561 ( https://kb.parallels.com/125561/ ) indicates that you can make new VM with old but supported Mac OS (Monterey 12 & newer) from within Parallels. Neither indicates if moving existing old but supported Mac guest VM ( Monterey 12 & newer) to M4 - will they run on the M4 too?
    5. The KB indicates that version 18 tools is final. If I upgrade to the current v20, how will I get access to the v18 tools (as they are no longer accessible via "Reinstall Parallels Tools" in the later versions?

    I'm surprised Parallels doesn't have a page that is link/easily accessible on the "buy" page. I apologize if these are clearly answered elsewhere here - I did search unsuccessfully. (if they are, perhaps a sticky could be made?)

    Thanks to anyone who can help
     
  2. SamS4

    SamS4 Hunter

    Messages:
    143
    If you want to keep your environment working you'll have to return the M4 Mac and buy an Intel-based Mac (either new or refurbished). The M-Series Macs run apps only in Windows 11 and must be 64-bit. The Windows 11 environment is very solid and great if you are using modern apps that are written for an ARM-based CPU architecture, but VMs created in the Intel environment simply won't run.
     
  3. joeyfraggins

    joeyfraggins Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    To answer your questions,
    1. You may have to login to my.parallels.com.
    2. KB 129252 only applies to Intel Macs. That's not the case for Apple Silicon Macs like M4.
    3. Unfortunately, no. It will only work with Intel Mac.
    4. Monterey 12 VM would work as long as it was a VM created on an Apple Silicon Mac or you installed it through IPSW. Check KB 125561.
    5. Typically, the work around for this is to install PD18 and get the PD18 tools installed. Then upgrade back to PD20 and don't update PD18 tools when prompted to.
     

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