Parallels Desktop 16 adds support for Big Sur, 3D in Metal, and zoom and rotate gestures on multitouch trackpads, and claims 20% faster DirectX performance
Samuel Axon / Ars Technica : Tweets: @arctictony See also Mediagazer Tweets: Tony Haile / @arctictony : Woah, I wonder how many publishers in Apple News+ realize that the new iOS14 and MacOS Big Sur are by default intercepting traffic to their sites and sending it to the Apple News app instead. See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Parallels has long built its business on shipping macOS compatibility on day one — it even brought Cortana to the Mac before Siri existed. Desktop 16 continues that cadence with Big Sur support, plus a claimed 20% DirectX speedup and Metal-backed 3D that target the graphics-heavy workloads — games, CAD, design apps — where Windows-on-Mac virtualization usually stumbles.
That graphics investment turned out to be groundwork for something bigger: within eight months Parallels shipped a native Apple Silicon build of Desktop 16.5 running Windows 10 ARM on M1 Macs, and by early 2023 Microsoft formally authorized Parallels Desktop 18 to run Windows 11 on M1 and M2 machines — ending its OEM-only licensing of ARM Windows.
First-order effects
- Mac users planning the Big Sur upgrade can carry their Windows virtual machines forward without waiting on a compatibility gap, and DirectX-bound workloads get a claimed 20% performance bump immediately.
Second-order effects
- The Metal-based graphics stack gives Parallels a technical head start that carries into the ARM transition — Desktop 16.5's native Apple Silicon support lets M1 buyers run Windows 10 ARM while Intel-native apps like Adobe's Apple silicon Photoshop arrive at their own pace.
- Rival virtualization vendors face pressure to match both the Big Sur day-one support bar and Parallels' DirectX performance claims or cede the Windows-on-Mac niche.
Third-order effects
- Microsoft's eventual authorization of Parallels Desktop 18 for Windows 11 on M1/M2 Macs turns what began as reverse-engineered compatibility into a licensed channel — making third-party virtualization the officially sanctioned way Windows stays present on Apple silicon.
- If that pattern holds, virtualization vendors become strategic bridges during platform transitions rather than utility providers, with their leverage rising every time Apple changes architecture.
The trend: Virtualization software is evolving from a compatibility utility into the licensed bridge that keeps Windows viable on Macs across Apple's Intel-to-silicon transition.