Parallels Desktop for Mac computers with Apple silicon M4 chips

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Greg S77 said:
This problem still hasn't been fixed in this week's latest Parallels distribution and install.

Again, connecting an iPhone to Windows running on Parallels results in driver failures (see attached screenshot). Configs:
Parallels Standard Edition Version 20.2.0 (55872)
Macbook Pro v4 running Sequoia 15.4.1
Running Windows 11 Home v24H2 (26100.3915)
Where connecting an iPhone 13 Pro (running iOS 18.4.1) and turning it on for Windows via Parallels invokes an iPhone USB driver that fails to start.

The weird, different thing this time is each time I toggle the connection to the iPhone on or off within Parallels (running Windows Home), I receive a Trust challenge on the iPhone. The usual behavior would be it would challenge me once on the iPhone, and after confirming with my passcode it would no longer challenge me again during a session. Even when toggling the iPhone USB connection on and off and on again in Parallels.

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Did you find a solution to this problem? Starting happening to me today, Parallels Pro Edition Version 26m MacBook Pro M4, Sequoia 15.6.1, Windows 11 Home (26100.5074), iPhone 16 Pro (running iOS 18.6.2).
 
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MatthewTP said:
Just got my M4 based Mac yesterday. Purchased and installed Parallels Desktop and it had rainbow spinner after product activated. Forced quit after a long time waiting. Relaunched and it came up to the screen to install Windows 11 and before I could do anything it was a rainbow spinner again. Force quit, rebooted and very similar on any launches. I suspect the M4 is too new and not well tested yet. If there are steps I should try to get the product to behave, let me know.
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Hello, I face the same issue with my macbook air m4 24gb and 512 gb hdd
 
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Hello everyone! I'm seeking help with an issue I'm experiencing. I'm trying to install Windows 10 ARM LTSC, which I downloaded from the massgrave website assembling build en-us_windows_10_iot_enterprise_ltsc_2021_arm64_dvd_e8d4fc46.iso, on a Parallels virtual machine. Unfortunately, I'm getting a SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED error (screenshot attached). I've tried all the Windows 10 ARM versions I could find, and everything works except Windows 10 Insider Preview!

Could someone please advise how I can install Windows 10 ARM LTSC on my Parallels virtual machine without issues?

I'm using a MacBook with an M4 processor.

Thank you!
 

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This is an excellent explanation! You've provided a clear timeline of how the fix will be rolled out, and the recommendation to use an updated version of Parallels is very practical. It's great to see such a well-thought-out solution for avoiding the Linux bug. Your insights are incredibly helpful for anyone navigating this issue. Thanks for sharing
MrParallels said:
I am also unable to start my Windows 11 VM after moving it from an M1 Mac to an M4 Mac. Since the version of Parallels Desktop (18) and macOS (15.1) is exactly the same it must be a compatibility issue with the new processor, not the operating system. I get that the company cannot support old versions indefinitely, but Parallels own compatibility list specifies versions of macOS and Parallels, not CPUs. To me this looks like a bug that ought to be patched in versions 18 and 19, since so many users have exactly the same problem. To me the «advice» like this:



obfuscates the fact that Parallels 18/19 were working fine on macOS 15.1 - and still do with M1, M2 and M3! Parallels should cover themselves by explicitly mentioning which processors they intend to support, not hide behind whatever OS was preinstalled.

I guess it depends on what kind of reputation Parallels wants. Learning from how you treat bugs like this does not exactly tempt me into upgrading to the latest version. I'm going with the free alternative Whisky forward. Lastly, how can you say you don't have an incentive to push customers to buy new versions every year - selling your software is how you make money:
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I'm in the same boat as VladimirP14. Using Macbook Air M4 with 32 GB of RAM. Since there are no updates in this forum my assumption is that this is still a problem. Thankfully, I'm in the cancel period.
 
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MacBook Pro (M1)更新Parallels Desktop 26后，文件无法从 Win 桌面复制到 Mac 桌面，但是可以直接拖动过来，Mac桌面复制到 Win桌面正常。另外在 Win桌面原有的 Quick look 功能也失效了，原来是可用的。
 
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Hello, New to this form ....

So maybe a question thats already been discussed, but I have not able to find anything on this ??

I just downloaded the trail version for Parr Desktop for Mac Pro 26.3 version. In order to see if we can use our project on the new Mx mac's and Parallels Desktop as our VM solution. For some reason I cannot find the optie to set custom Flags for booting options under 26.x

Thanks for all your feedback !

parallels configuration > Hardware > Boot Flags
 
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I keep getting a “not enough space (GB) to download Parallels or when I try to install VS Code I have an m4 256 GB 16 RAM m4 MacBook Air should I get an SSD thumb drive to store my Parallels VM on? Since I don’t have a MacBook Pro ?!?! Didn’t know this was going to be an issue with Parallels Pro edition.
 
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tonza said:
OK, let's begin with this decision... do you want to run an ARM-based Windows virtual machine or an Intel one?

If you want to run an Intel one, you may not like the outcome. However, the reason I am presenting this option first is because you mentioned "... want to copy all the files and apps...". If you indeed want to copy your apps over to a virtual machine, you will need to consider that for this to work, you need:
1) a way to make disk images of your PC's boot disks into Parallels Desktop disk image files, and
2) to be content with running your Intel-based software under a virtual machine with only one 1.7 GHz processor and 8 GB of RAM. If your PC is well superior to that, and you're running complicated software packages on your PC right now, the Intel-based solution is not going to work for you.

The alternative is to build an ARM-based system, but as you have mentioned, PC Transporter is not going to work. The best way to copy your stuff is to build your ARM-based Windows system on your Mac M1, get your PC fired up and set up SMB file sharing for all the disks on your system, and copy your files that you want to migrate over to your M1 over Ethernet (including Wi-Fi).

Or use a portable USB drive as a shuttle.

I like the Ethernet solution better, so to make that work, connect your Mac to your PC using your Default Adaptor setting for an available Wi-Fi or Ethernet port, and log into happymod apk your Mac using the Windows environment.
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I’ll go with the ARM-based Windows setup on my M1 Mac and transfer my files from the PC over SMB/Ethernet.
 
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I’ve been using Parallels on an M4 Mac and overall the performance has been pretty smooth. Windows feels responsive, although there are still a few compatibility issues with some apps that could be improved.
 
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MinecraftG said:
I’ve been using Parallels on an M4 Mac and overall the performance has been pretty smooth. Windows feels responsive, although there are still a few compatibility issues with some apps that could be improved.
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I have a M4 Max Studio and Parallels has been absolutely awesome for me. I push Windows 11 pretty hard with development work, and one excellent feature is I can control the VM from VS Code on the Mac side when using Claude Code so I can run tests on Windows while doing dev on MacOS.
 
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It’s good to see Parallels asking for feedback from M4 users. I’d be interested to hear how well Windows runs on these Macs, especially when it comes to performance and compatibility with different apps.
 
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So, I started v.26 on my M 4 Laptop and Parallels started fine, as did Windows 11, but it asked to install either tools or coherence or something on Windows and restart. When I did, all I get is Win11 as a black screen with a cycling beachball and a beeping noise at regular intervals. Anyone have any ideas what is happening? I let it run but it doesn’t seem to resolve. Restarting both doesn't help either. At the top of the screen it says "windows sign in" which I can't do because it doesn't open a sign in.
 
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Newbie to this, have a MAcbook M5 24GB RAM, running latest Parallels with Windows 11.
I though I had it all set up running smoothly until Winblows decided to start updating printer drivers, adding Airprint versions, everything worked great on Friday 10/30/26, had a zebra printer and an office printer both running off of an Anker USB C to USB A hub.
Then Monday came around and it all turned ugly. Have tried turning off all of the options online (printer ready, printer management, etc, removing printers, uninstalling drivers, no automatic updates, nothing to rollback, no restore point), but as soon as I look away, there they come again. The only time my Zebra printer actually prints now is when there is nothing in the queue, after I've deleted the device (again) and rebooted in frustration, and there it goes printing a file that no longer exists.
Anyone have any tips? I have found a Mac software that will import from excel and print to my Zebra. If only I could work totally online with MS apps I would ditch Windows for good, the only program left now is how to proceed moving away from Quickbooks desktop (I run multiple businesses so don't subscribe to the online version that only lets you run 1 business per subscription)
Hope there is someone that has tips, other than ditch Windows and Parallels, all of my clients run Windows (large companies) so I have to have access to some MS apps.
Windows/Parallels and the Mac seem to be constantly struggling over who is in charge of the USB ports as well, I think that might be a part of the issue, I don't know....
Thank you!
 
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