Trying to run W11 on my new M4 Mac -- Parallels gives an unhelpful error prompt and bails out

[JeremyB22]

I just bought a new M4 Max Mac Studio, and I moved my Parallels authorization over to my new computer. I'm just trying to create a fresh W11 VM, and every time I try, the same thing happens; it downloads W11 and goes through the install process, and then an error prompt appears with in the VM window: "Unable to start the virtual machine. The virtual machine cannot be started. Help me solve the problem. Check this solution." Of course I click on the solution link, but there is no solution. It's just the Knowledge Base homepage. I tried to search for a solution, without success.

I'm currently running Parallels 19.4.2, which I know is not the latest version, but when I purchased this version, it did say that it supported W11 on Apple Silicon, so at this point, I'm reluctant to pay for another update until I know what's going wrong with the one I have. I'm on macOS 15.4.1.

 

[GerhardG2]

I am running P19.4.2 on my MBP M1 15.5 (and before) without a problem.
Instead of trying to create a new VM, have you tried to copy an existing VM (I assume you already have one) to the Mac Studio and try open it?
I also had created a brand new W11 VM on my Mac, by downloading Windows from within Parallels, went through all the create screens, it updated the VM several times, but ultimately finished without any problems. And the download was version 24H2.

 

[JeremyB22]

The only existing VM I have is Windows 10, which it is my understanding will not run on an Apple Silicon based machine. I'm glad that you've had better luck, but for me every time I try to create a W11 VM, I get the same error message. And I must say I find it very frustrating that this software that I paid for just says that something went wrong, without any indication of what went wrong or how to fix it.

 

[GerhardG2]

Create a technical report and send it to support, and post the ticket number here.
Hopefully somebody from Parallels replies

 

[MartinB44]

Over the weekend, I traded in my M2 MacBook Pro in favor of an M4 Mac Mini. Parallels 19 worked just fine under macOS 15 on the M2 chipset. I restored from a Time Machine backup onto the new system and I now get that same error message when trying to launch a pre-existing VM or even trying to install a new Debian VM. downloads, installs, error on launch.

I opened a ticket and the response was pretty awful:

"Thank you for contacting Parallels Support.

Kindly note, Parallels Desktop 19 or below aren't officially supported for running on Mac computers with macOS 15 as the main system, and M4 Macs have macOS 15 preinstalled.

We suggest you to purchase an upgrade key at a discounted price: https://www.parallels.com/desktop-upgrade/"

Seriously?! I have a feeling it has nothing to do with macOS 15 and more to do with the fact that it's an M4 trying to run Parallels 19 instead of Parallels 20.
I wrote them back and awaiting response. Telling users to pay more for software purchased less than 2 years ago is extortion.

 

[JassonH]

Thanks for the details--sounds frustrating. Since you're on macOS 15.4.1 and using Parallels 19.4.2, the issue might stem from compatibility between this macOS version and your current Parallels build. Even though 19.4.2 supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, macOS updates can break compatibility with older Parallels versions. I'd recommend checking Parallels' release notes or forums to confirm if 19.4.2 is fully supported on macOS 15.4.1. If not, an upgrade might be necessary despite the cost.

 

[MartinB44]

Thanks for the details--sounds frustrating. Since you're on macOS 15.4.1 and using Parallels 19.4.2, the issue might stem from compatibility between this macOS version and your current Parallels build. Even though 19.4.2 supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, macOS updates can break compatibility with older Parallels versions. I'd recommend checking Parallels' release notes or forums to confirm if 19.4.2 is fully supported on macOS 15.4.1. If not, an upgrade might be necessary despite the cost.

I can assure you that the issue is their lack of M4 support for anything below version 20. They know how to make it work on the M4 but are unwilling to make it work on version 19. Tested on an M1 and an M2 model MBP under 15.5 and Parallels 19 works. It's not an OS issue.

After a fair amount of back and forth, they have only come back with these options:
1) They provided a 5 day subscription to Parallels 20 to test to demonstrate it working. during that trial period, the options would be to either upgrade after confirming that it'll work or at least give you a chance to offload vital data before the trial ends and the machine becomes inaccessible.
2) Purchase the upgrade from them using the link provided in their response.
3) Sign up for the subscription model options to get updates as they are released.

The upgrade price point for the perpetual standard edition (that gets support dropped out of nowhere in a year or two) is $45.49
The upgrade price point for the subscription pro edition is $45.49/year

TL;DR Pay $50/year to keep using their software with either purchase option.

I sent the logs over to ChatGPT. It's CPU model related and ChatGPT recommended using UTM instead. I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

 

[GerhardG2]

You can try P20 14 days for free.
I would download it, install and test it if it solves the problem with your M4. If it does, unfortunately, you will have to update P19 to P20.

 

[JeremyB22]

Ugh.. I finally decided to give this another shot, so I downloaded the free trial, and then when I launched it, it gave me two options, use my Parallels 19 license, or my old Parallels 14 license. There was nothing about any 14 day trial. I think I'm going to start looking into VMware Fusion. This kind of shoddy treatment of paying customers has become endemic in the tech industry. The truth is I could easily afford another 50 bucks to upgrade, but I don't want to reward such a shocking lack of customer support, not to mention that I doubt it would make a difference.