Parallels Desktop 14 Big Sur

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Guest blog post from Dmitry Geynisman, Product Manager at Parallels

You may have seen these messages from both macOS and Parallels Desktop for Mac:

No worries, in this blog post I will explain the situation in detail. First, I will give you a relatively short answer about why Parallels® Desktop uses system extensions, and then more details will follow.

  1. Parallels Desktop uses a hypervisor technology to create a high-performance virtual machine, so you can run Windows, Linux, macOS, and other operating systems inside it.
  1. There are 2 types of hypervisors on macOS that Parallels can use: Apple’s built-in hypervisor or Parallels’ proprietary hypervisor. Parallels proprietary hypervisor is implemented as a system extension.
  1. System extensions in macOS enable developers to integrate deep into the macOS system to achieve better performance or provide some unique functionality.
  1. When Parallels Desktop attempts to load the Parallels hypervisor system extensions, macOS prompts a user to ‘allow’ this. System extensions have elevated privileges and if they are coming from a non-trusted source, can be used maliciously. So, it is a security precaution, similar to how your phone apps ask to access your camera.
    If you downloaded Parallels Desktop from parallels.com and the system extension is signed by “Parallels International GmbH”, then you are in good hands.

Ready For Big Sur. Upgrades to Parallels Desktop always include new features and performance improvements, but the biggest change in Parallels Desktop 16 is actually a major under-the-bonnet.

  1. This was the first time I was running Parallels on Big Sur 11.1, and it restarted the computer immediately. When I moved from Catalina to Big Sur, I realized the need to install Parallels 16.0 but it worked with no issues on Big Sur 11.0.
  2. Parallels Desktop 16 adds Big Sur support, 3D Metal support, and more Windows on Apple silicon is still a question mark, though. Samuel Axon - Aug 11, 2020 7:01 am UTC.
  1. Parallels recommends you use Apple’s built-in hypervisor. That way macOS won’t bother you with System Extension approval or the need to reboot. However, if you need to use the Nested Virtualization feature or a specific workload where Parallels hypervisor shows higher performance scores, you may keep using Parallels hypervisor.
  1. To change a hypervisor type, first, you need to shut down or stop your virtual machine. Note that for this you might need to start or resume the virtual machine and approve Parallels hypervisor system extension.
    When your VM is stopped, go to VM configuration > Hardware > CPU & Memory > Advanced Settings > click on the “Hypervisor” dropdown > select “Apple” or “Parallels” respectively.
    If you have multiple virtual machines, you may need to change the setting for every one of them.

Now, if you’re not bored yet, I’d love to tell you more about this story.

For more than a decade, Parallels developed its proprietary drivers (aka system extensions) for running Windows and other OSes on top of the macOS. These drivers made Parallels Desktop the best virtualization solution, the fastest, and the most technologically advanced.

At the same time, for several years, Apple has been moving towards making macOS the most secure and reliable desktop OS (and I should say, Apple succeeded in many ways). One of the key aspects is not to let developers intrude on the OS kernel by loading those extensions (aka “kexts”), as those who have access to the kernel can do things at the very heart of your Mac, which may prove quite dangerous. In order to do that, Apple must replace 3rd-party kernel extensions with the native system APIs that ultimately enable the same product features, and that is massive engineering work even for such a big enterprise as Apple.

Since 2017, with the macOS High Sierra 10.13 release, Apple started to block 3rd-party kexts automatically, and users have had to enable them manually since. At that time, we published this blog post that can tell you even more about Parallels Desktop using system extensions.

In March 2020, with the release of macOS Catalina 10.15.4, Apple started to warn users that some of their apps (that use deprecated system extension) would “be incompatible with a future version of macOS” (read: with macOS Big Sur).

At WWDC20, Apple was quoted as saying that “System Extensions improve the reliability and security of macOS, and deprecated kernel extensions will not load by default in macOS Big Sur”. Eventually, to make Parallels Desktop fully compatible with the new macOS Big Sur 11.0, Parallels Engineering has gone through years of engineering work of rebuilding Parallels Desktop and its features using the new macOS system APIs. This extensive and time-intensive development resulted in the all-new Parallels Desktop, explicitly designed to work and integrate with new macOS Big Sur technologies, and at the same time, deliver performance and productivity improvements to benefit Parallels Desktop customers.

Big

This scheme below visually describes the difference between the default Parallels Desktop modes on the corresponding macOS version. The old Parallels Desktop design using Parallels system extensions is shown on the left, and the newly-invented Parallels Desktop 16, using macOS Big Sur APIs, is shown on the right.

Parallels Desktop 16 Big Sur

For now, our team continues to work on supporting both Parallels and Apple hypervisors and continues collaborating with Apple on implementing the rest of Parallels Hypervisor features to Apple Hypervisor. We recommend using Apple hypervisor, and if you notice any difference between Apple and Parallels hypervisors for your use case, please let us know.

Download a free trial of Parallels Desktop for Mac and try it out yourself.

BELLEVUE, Wash., April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parallels®, a global leader in cross-platform solutions, today released the highly anticipated Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac (parallels.com/desktop), which features full native support for Mac computers equipped with either Apple M1 or Intel chips. Experience Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview and its applications on Apple M1 Mac computers.2 The M1 chip’s superior performance delivers the world’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, revolutionary power efficiency, and was designed to work with macOS Big Sur3—which Parallels Desktop 16.5 transforms into a new standard for a seamless Windows-on-Mac experience. It also delivers M1 support for the most popular ARM-based Linux distributions. Separate Parallels Access (parallels.com/access) and the just-redesigned and simplified Parallels Toolbox (parallels.com/toolbox) apps, which are both included for free concurrently with Parallels Desktop subscriptions, now also provide native support for M1 Mac computers.

'Apple's M1 chip is a significant breakthrough for Mac users,” said Nick Dobrovolskiy, Parallels Senior Vice President of Engineering and Support. “The transition has been smooth for most Mac applications, thanks to Rosetta technology. However, virtual machines are an exception and thus Parallels engineers implemented native virtualization support for the Mac with M1 chip. This enables our users to enjoy the best Windows-on-Mac experience available.”

More than 100,000 M1 Mac users tested the Technical Preview of Parallels Desktop 16.5 for M1 Mac and ran Microsoft’s Windows 10 on ARM Insider Preview, as well as tens of thousands of different Intel-based Windows applications—including Microsoft Office for Windows, Microsoft Visual Studio, SQL Server, Microsoft PowerBI and MetaTrader.

“We received enthusiastic feedback about the remarkable performance of both the Technical Preview of Parallels Desktop 16 for M1 Mac and Windows 10 on ARM Insider Preview as well as x86 applications and games, including Rocket League, Among Us, Roblox, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Sam & Max Save the World and many others. Testers loved Parallels Desktop’s easy-to-use features and seamless integration of Windows with macOS Big Sur, which increased productivity,” said Dobrovolskiy.

Watch a video demo of how to install virtual machines (VMs) in Parallels Desktop 16.5 on an M1 Mac: www.parallels.com/VMonM1Mac.

The virtualization approach for Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac enables users to benefit from Apple’s M1 chip performance advancements—applications run faster and more efficiently. Performance observations include:

  • Up to 250 percent less energy used: On a Mac with an Apple M1 chip, Parallels Desktop 16.5 uses 2.5 times less energy than on a 2020 Intel-based MacBook Air computer.4
  • Up to 60 percent better DirectX 11 performance: Parallels Desktop 16.5 running on an M1 Mac delivers up to 60 percent betterDirectX 11 performance than on an Intel-based MacBook Pro with Radeon Pro 555X GPU.5
  • Up to 30 percent better virtual machine performance (Windows): Running a virtual machine (VM) of Windows 10 on ARM Insider Preview on Parallels Desktop 16.5 on an M1 Mac performs up to 30 percent better than a Windows 10 VM running on Intel-based MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9 processor.6

“I installed Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac and Windows 10 on ARM Insider Preview on my M1 Mac Mini because, as a math teacher, several software apps that I use are no longer supported on M1 Mac,” said Daniel Dudley, Albuquerque, NM, United States. “Running Windows on my M1 Mac in Parallels Desktop 16.5 has been awesome. It’s the fastest version of Windows that I have ever had!”

Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac also supports guest operating systems (OSs) on M1 Mac computers including Linux distributives Ubuntu 20.04, Kali Linux 2021.1, Debian 10.7 and Fedora Workstation 33-1.2.

“I absolutely love being able to run Linux environments within Parallels Desktop 16.5 on my M1 Mac,” said Darren Paxton, United Kingdom. “The performance is simply amazing.”

All the best Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac features have been re-engineered for the Apple M1 chip, including:

  • Coherence Mode: Run Windows applications on your Mac as if they were native Mac applications, without managing two separate desktops or rebooting.
  • Shared Profile: Share your Mac desktop, pictures, documents, and other folders with a VM for easy access.
  • Touch Bar controls: Quickly access apps in your virtual machine and customize your Touch Bar shortcuts to feature the apps and commands you use most.
  • Mac keyboard layouts: Easily customize your keyboard menu and shortcuts for a more personalized experience.
  • Hundreds of other Parallels Desktop features are included to help make it simple for customers be more productive.
  • macOS Big Sur in a VM is a feature that Parallels hopes to add support for in Parallels Desktop later this year.

Highlights of Parallels Desktop 16’s extensive features for Intel-based Mac computers are available in this press release. Intel-based Parallels Desktop for Mac customers can run more than 50 supported guest OSs, including several versions of Windows, macOS, OS X, Linux, as well as Android OS and dozens more.

Availability and Pricing

All editions of Parallels Desktop 16.5 update for Mac support both M1 and Intel Mac computers (Standard Edition, Pro Edition and Business Edition). They can be purchased either online at parallels.com/desktop (which also offers free full-featured 14-day trials) or from retail and online stores worldwide. Parallels Desktop subscriptions include complimentary concurrent subscriptions to Parallels Access, and just-redesigned and simplified Parallels Toolbox for Mac and Windows, which are also separately available for free trials and subscriptions at parallels.com.

Parallels Desktop 12 Big Sur

Anyone with a Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac license can get an automatic update to Parallels Desktop 16.5 at no additional cost. And, when new full versions of Parallels Desktop for Mac are released annually, customers with active subscriptions receive complimentary upgrades, which ensure support for the latest OSs, hardware, and Parallels Desktop’s innovative features.

Running VMs on Apple M1 Mac computers in Parallels Desktop 16.5 requires ARM-based operating systems (OSs). Customers who install guest operating systems in Parallels Desktop virtual machines are responsible for making sure that they are compliant with each OSs’ end-user licensing agreement (EULA).

Recommended Retail Price (RRP)

Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac

  • Upgrade your Parallels Desktop 14 or 15 to a perpetual license – US$49.99
  • New subscription – US$79.99 per year
  • New perpetual license – US$99.99

Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro Edition

  • Upgrade from any edition – US$49.99 per year
  • New subscription – US$99.99 per year

Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition

  • US$99.99 per year

About Parallels
Parallels is a global leader in cross-platform solutions that make it possible and simple for businesses and individuals to use and access the applications and files they need on any device or operating system. Parallels helps customers leverage the best technology out there, whether it’s Windows, Mac, iOS, Android or the cloud. Parallels solves complex engineering and user-experience problems by making it simple and cost-effective for businesses and individual customers to use applications wherever they may be—local, remote, in the private datacenter or in the cloud. Parallels, a business unit of Corel, has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Visit parallels.com/about for more information.

About Corel
Corel® products enable millions of connected knowledge workers around the world to do great work faster. Offering some of the industry's best-known software brands, Corel gives individuals and teams the power to create, collaborate, and deliver impressive results. Success is driven by an unwavering commitment to deliver a broad portfolio of innovative applications – including CorelDRAW®, MindManager®, Parallels®, and WinZip® – to inspire users and help them achieve their goals. To learn more about Corel, please visit www.corel.com.

Media Contacts
John Uppendahl, Vice President of Communications, john@parallels.com, +1 425 282-1734
Ryan Donough, Burson Cohn & Wolfe, ryan.donough@cohnwolfe.com, +1 415 403-8311

1. Running Windows at native speeds on your Mac depends upon its hardware configuration. Parallels Desktop for Mac has more than seven million customers.

2. Running VMs on Apple M1 Mac computers in Parallels Desktop 16.5 requires ARM-based operating systems (OSs). Customers who install guest operating systems in Parallels Desktop virtual machines are responsible for making sure that they are compliant with each OSs’ end-user licensing agreement (EULA).

3. Apple M1 chip performance, power efficiency, and information is from https://www.apple.com/mac/m1/.

4. Performance measurements conducted by Parallels by measuring Mac power consumption with Windows 10 running. Tested with a pre-released version of Parallels Desktop 16.5 on MacBook Air 10,1 with Apple M1 chip and 16GB RAM versus MacBook Air 8,2 with Intel Core i5-8210Y and 8GB RAM. The performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, and other factors.

5. Performance measurements conducted by Parallels by running the Unigine Valley benchmark for DirectX 11 API and comparing an average score out of five iterations on each computer. Tested with a pre-release version of Parallels Desktop 16.5 on MacBook Pro 17,1 with Apple M1 chip and 16GB RAM versus MacBook Pro 15,1 with Intel Core i9-8950HK, 16GB RAM and Radeon Pro 555X GPU. The performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, and other factors.

6. Performance measurements conducted by Parallels by running the Geekbench 5 benchmark and comparing an average score out of five iterations on each computer. Tested with a pre-release version of Parallels Desktop 16.5 on MacBook Pro 17,1 with Apple M1 chip and 16GB RAM versus MacBook Pro 15,3 with Intel Core i9-8950HK, 32GB RAM and Radeon Pro Vega 20 GPU. The performance will vary based on usage, system configuration, and other factors.

©2021 Parallels International GmbH. All rights reserved. Parallels, the Parallels logo, and Coherence are trademarks or registered trademarks of Parallels International GmbH in Canada, the U.S., and/or elsewhere. Corel, CorelDRAW, MindManager, and WinZip are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. Apple, Mac, macOS, and Launch Pad are trademarks of Apple Inc. Android is a trademark of Google LLC. Linux is a trademark of Linux Foundation. Windows Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, and SQL Server are trademarks of Microsoft. All other company, product and service names, logos, brands, and any registered or unregistered trademarks mentioned are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners. Use of any brands, names, logos or any other information, imagery, or materials pertaining to a third party does not imply endorsement. We disclaim any proprietary interest in such third-party information, imagery, materials, marks, and names of others. For all notices and information about patents please visit https://www.parallels.com/about/legal/

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fdc9d4a9-8ae0-4adb-a145-82b06c2d8f6d

Parallels Desktop 14 Big Sur Pro