Rosetta 2 lacks support for x86 virtualization, Boot Camp not an Apple Silicon option [u]
Mac users who rely on Windows virtualization software might be left in the lurch when Apple transitions to its own custom ARM processors later this year, as the company's Rosetta Intel-to-ARM translator does not support virtual machine apps.
Apple outlined the limitations of Rosetta (technically Rosetta 2) in a developer document posted to its website this week, noting that while it can translate "most" Intel-based apps, it is unable to do the same for virtual machine apps that handle x86_64 computer platforms. Popular x86_64 virtualization apps include products from Parallels and VMWare that virtualize Windows environments.
Rosetta is also unable to translate kernel extensions.
Unveiled during Monday's WWDC keynote, Rosetta is a key feature that will help Apple and developers transition from Intel-based Macs to hardware running ARM-based chips. The software layer translates apps that contain x86_64 instructions for Apple silicon, which uses an arm64 instruction set. Rolling out the feature now gives developers time to create a universal binary for their apps, but as Apple notes, Rosetta can run slow and is not a substitute for native apps.
In addition to Rosetta's x86 restrictions, Boot Camp will no longer be available for use on Macs powered by Apple silicon. For now, the macOS utility that enabled booting of both Windows and Mac operating systems, will remain in macOS Big Sur as an Intel-only feature. ARM Macs will not be able to access the feature and the company has not announced a replacement.
The transition to Apple silicon is expected to take about two years. Whether virtualization companies are working on a solution for ARM chips remains unknown, though VMWare on Tuesday said a Big Sur-compatible "tech preview" of Fusion will arrive in July.
Apple this week opened the Universal App Quick Start Program to get Developer Transition Kits in developer hands. The kits, which include a Mac mini running an A12Z Bionic SoC, will allow developers to build and test their wares prior to the release of the first ARM Macs later this year.
Update 6/24: Microsoft commented on the development in a statement to The Verge.
"Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to OEMs," a company spokesperson said. When asked whether Microsoft plans to update the policy to account for Boot Camp's incompatibility with Apple silicon, the company said, "We have nothing further to share at this time."
Apple outlined the limitations of Rosetta (technically Rosetta 2) in a developer document posted to its website this week, noting that while it can translate "most" Intel-based apps, it is unable to do the same for virtual machine apps that handle x86_64 computer platforms. Popular x86_64 virtualization apps include products from Parallels and VMWare that virtualize Windows environments.
Rosetta is also unable to translate kernel extensions.
Unveiled during Monday's WWDC keynote, Rosetta is a key feature that will help Apple and developers transition from Intel-based Macs to hardware running ARM-based chips. The software layer translates apps that contain x86_64 instructions for Apple silicon, which uses an arm64 instruction set. Rolling out the feature now gives developers time to create a universal binary for their apps, but as Apple notes, Rosetta can run slow and is not a substitute for native apps.
In addition to Rosetta's x86 restrictions, Boot Camp will no longer be available for use on Macs powered by Apple silicon. For now, the macOS utility that enabled booting of both Windows and Mac operating systems, will remain in macOS Big Sur as an Intel-only feature. ARM Macs will not be able to access the feature and the company has not announced a replacement.
The transition to Apple silicon is expected to take about two years. Whether virtualization companies are working on a solution for ARM chips remains unknown, though VMWare on Tuesday said a Big Sur-compatible "tech preview" of Fusion will arrive in July.
Apple this week opened the Universal App Quick Start Program to get Developer Transition Kits in developer hands. The kits, which include a Mac mini running an A12Z Bionic SoC, will allow developers to build and test their wares prior to the release of the first ARM Macs later this year.
Update 6/24: Microsoft commented on the development in a statement to The Verge.
"Microsoft only licenses Windows 10 on ARM to OEMs," a company spokesperson said. When asked whether Microsoft plans to update the policy to account for Boot Camp's incompatibility with Apple silicon, the company said, "We have nothing further to share at this time."
Comments
I'm sure Parallels and VMware are having meeting after meeting now (or maybe they were aware previously?) to plan out a similar emulation technique so they don't lose the majority of their Mac sales.
Apple could open source their Rosetta technology so Parallels and VMware could extend it to work with virtualized apps. I don't expect them to be that helpful though.
That was a beta version of Parallels recompiled for Apple Silicon, runnning an ARM-based version of Linux.
I fully accept I may be clutching at straws, but Windows virtualisation isn't that big a deal for me. At worst I run my current Windows apps on my current MacBook Pro until I get tired of them.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-desktop/overview
Still, I see a big impact on development for Microsoft Office AddIns that were previously cross-platform. Not to mention the AI accelerators just now being natively integrated in Excel. I don’t see how that gets ported to Apples hardware.
Native apps are still a huge and important market. Some things just cannot be ported to a web interface economically or with appropriate security (see: Autodesk and every other engineering design platform)
As massive and powerful as Apple is - it simply cannot compete with the wintel software world and that has always been its achilles heal. The only exception being Adobe.
There is an opportunity to start a business selling cloud computing to consumers. Anyone got a few million and an empty warehouse with good internet?
Think of processor ISAs like languages. Intel's processors speak what is called x86, x86_64, or amd64. Apple's processors speak what is called AArch64, or ARMv8-A. Valid commands for one are just gibberish for the other.
Operating systems are like supervisors in a company (in fact, "supervisor" is the technical term for a core part of an operating system). Processes within the operating system are the employees.
In a small company, everybody has to speak the same language.
Now, emulation is like a translator who speaks two languages. Let's say you have an office in the US, and hire a freelancer in Brazil who doesn't speak English. You need a translator who speaks English and Brazilian Portuguese to let you work effectively with this freelancer.
Rosetta 2 will let you run x86 processes (our Brazilian freelancer) with a supervisor who speaks AArch64 in the US.
Virtualization is upper management. It lets you have one supervisor-of-supervisors (called a hypervisor), which lets you run multiple supervisors all doing different things. They all still have to speak the same language, though.
Now, let's say you have five offices in the US and want to open a whole branch office in Brazil (again, let's say nobody at the proposed office speaks English). A translator could potentially sit between the supervisor in the Brazil office and the upper manager over all the offices. This is sort of what VirtualPC (and a few other, similar programs) did back before Apple moved to Intel processors.
Apple's clarification here is that Rosetta 2 won't translate between a supervisor in Brazil (x86) and upper management in the US (AArch64).