After couple of week of testing we can definitely say that new Parallels 18 works great on M silicon Macs. Corel’s Parallels is one of the most popular apps for running Windows on a Mac. This new version of the popular virtualization software brings several key optimizations for running Windows 11 on Macs, including enhanced gameplay when enjoying Windows games on Macs and several pro and business features.
Here are what is new in Parallels 18
Parallels Desktop 18 includes a new option to “download, install, and configure Windows 11 in one click.” The previous release already had full support for Windows 11, but now you don’t need to search internet for the latest ISO file. This update is fully work with upcoming macOS Ventura update, though Parallels 17 also supported macOS Ventura.
The new release also improves compatibility for Window’s x86 applications running on Apple Silicon. Developer notes that reading and writing files to the Mac disk should now be quicker as a result.
And of course gaming. Most exiting is the ability to connect a game controller to a Mac, switch to Windows, and start playing by sharing the controller between native and guest operating systems. Parallels also promises that the release should bring better video playback and higher frame rates when gaming.
There are three versions of Parallels, Standard, Pro, and Business.
Standard has support for Apple’s ProMotion display, which includes automatic refresh rate changes, and helps with M1 Ultra performance, allowing for more resources being assigned to Windows which grants a 96% improvement in performance on Windows 11 compared to previous editions.
Pro edition includes evrething from Standard edition plus has the support for network boot, isolation of virtual machine networks if you have more than one virtual machine, and network conditioning function for M1 macs.
Business Edition allows for better SSO/SAML authentication that enables employees to sign in and activate Parallels Desktop with a corporate account. IT admins can also deploy or provision a Windows 11 VM on a Mac, as well as manage Parallels Customer Experience Program participation centrally.