Apple put chipmakers on notice with the M-series processor, and provided a booster shot once again with the M-series Pro and Max chips. But, while the horsepower and capabilities of a computer are all great, some folks out there who would love to use an Apple silicon-based Mac simply can’t because Windows can’t be run on them. Yet.
The good news is that that may be changing in the relative near future. That’s according to a recent report from XDA Developers, which has informed the world that Microsoft and Qualcomm have a deal in place making sure that Microsoft’s desktop operating system is only available on ARM-based machines with Qualcomm’s SoC.
That deal has been an unknown quantity up to this point, which has left many wondering out loud why Microsoft has not made it possible to install Windows on Apple’s ARM-based M-series-equipped machines.
The report goes on to add that two sources familiar with the matter say that the deal between Qualcomm and Microsoft is set to expire “soon,” which means that, technically, it would be possible to bring Windows to Apple’s ARM-based Macs. Unfortunately, it’s not known when, exactly, the deal is going to expire, so we may still have a bit of a wait on our hands.
Microsoft doesn’t offer up official support for Apple silicon Macs right now, obviously. And Apple’s Macs with the M-series processors don’t feature Boot Camp, either. But it’s not impossible. Parallels 16.5 does offer support for Insider builds of Windows 10 and Windows 11, but there may be some use case issues. It might not be a big deal for some folks who want (or need) to use Windows on their machines, but for some users it may be a deal breaker.
Nothing is guaranteed at this point. And the deal remains a “secret” for now. But, this does seem to give some hope that official support for Windows on Apple silicon Macs could happen one day. Maybe sooner rather than later.
Are you forced to wait for Windows support on M-series Macs before making the upgrade yourself?