Apple has commented on the subject of “Windows on ARM Macs” for the first time: The new Macs with Apple’s M1 chip are “undoubtedly very capable” of running the ARM version of Windows natively, emphasized Apple’s software boss Craig Federighi in an interview that the support is “really in Microsoft’s hands”. This would also mean that x 86 – Windows software can be used on the ARM Macs.

No Windows on ARM for end customers Apple provides all necessary core technologies to allow Microsoft to implement it , explained Federighi to Ars Technica . The decision about this lies with Microsoft, also with regard to licensing. The ARM version of Windows has not yet been sold to end customers.

Microsoft has just started the test phase of x 64 – Emulation started in Windows on ARM to enable the execution of resource-hungry applications that were developed for devices with Intel processors. Windows on ARM already supports 32 – Bit x 86 – software as well as native 32 – and 64 – bit apps for ARM.

Will there be Boot Camp 2? Whether Apple would go back to the work of writing Windows drivers for its own hardware and supporting Windows on ARM in Boot Camp, for example, is not clear from the interview. Windows can be installed and booted on Intel Macs – with drivers maintained by Apple. After the announcement of the big Mac switch from Intel to in-house, ARM-based processors, Federighi only stated that they no longer offer boot options for alternative operating systems on ARM Macs, virtualization is the way forward.

Common virtualizers for macOS do not yet run on Macs with Apple’s M1 chip. Parallels Desktop is in preparation. Here, too, a license change by Microsoft would be required for the virtualization of Windows on ARM. One is “thrilled” that Microsoft will support x 32 apps in its ARM version of Windows, so far only Parallels says without any further announcement about Windows support. The Windows execution layer CrossOver brings in version Windows apps on ARM Macs, but currently still relies on Apple’s translation layer Rosetta 2 and doesn’t support all Windows software.

(lbe)