Using x64 emulation in Parallels to run Windows - Image Credit: Parallels. Last updated 12 hours ago. Parallels Desktop 20.2 is out now, with the latest edition including 64-bit x86 emulation for Apple Silicon and more enhancements to make Apple Intelligence Writing Tools work with Windows apps.
The big addition is an early technology preview of x86 emulation for Apple Silicon Macs. Using a proprietary emulation engine, it allows Apple Silicon Macs to run x86_64 virtual machines, for Windows 10, Windows 11, and Linux. While support for Apple Silicon has been around since Parallels Desktop 16.5, it has been limited in not having x86 emulation support until this update.
The new emulation in a tech preview provides a few benefits that were not available before. This includes being able to develop and test 32-bit Windows apps in a native environment. For Linux users, this also gives an alternative to running Linux virtual machines through Rosetta.
The tech preview does have some limitations, according to a company blog post, including initial slow performance depending on the host hardware. Also, only 64-bit operations are supported, but 32-bit apps could still be run. There's also no USB device support within those VMs. Lastly, Parallels Hypervisor can't be used, with the VMs needing to be booted via Apple's version.
To help corporate customers, Parallels Desktop 20.2 also brings with it some deployment options. There is SSO for IT teams, which allows admins to set up SSO or license key activation methods. They can also push configurations to managed Macs using the Parallels Management Portal.
