Apple MacBook M1 can run Windows 10 better than most ARM-powered Windows laptops

The official support for Windows 10 via Boot Camp is still not available for M1 Macs

Apple MacBook users can run Windows 10 on their M1-powered laptops. A new tool provides the next-best way to run the Microsoft operating system on the Apple MacBook. The official support for Windows 10 via Boot Camp is still not available for M1 Macs.

Users can use a tool called Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac to run Windows 10 on their Mac. The company claims that its latest version provides better experience than some ARM-powered Windows 10 laptops. It lets users  experience Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview on their M1-powered MacBooks. It also supports most ARM-based Linux distributions. 

The Virtual Machine (VM) is claimed to offer up to 30 percent better performance than a Windows 10 VM running on a MacBook Pro with Intel Core i9 processor. It is also claimed to use 2.5 times less energy than on a 2020 Intel-based MacBook Air computer.

Moreover, it can run Windows applications on the Mac as if they were native Mac applications. The VM also provides some customisation options like customising the keyboard and touch bar shortcuts.

Previously, it was possible to boot Windows 10 on an Intel x86-powered MacBook via Boot Camp. However, the same is not the case on M1-powered Macs. Apple Senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi had said that the support was missing due to Microsoft’s Windows 10 licensing policy. Until there is official support for Windows 10 via Boot Camp, users can use Parallels Desktop 16.5 for Mac. However, it is not free and users need to pay USD 79.99 (roughly Rs 6,000) per year.