Parallels Desktop 16.5 review: Windows comes to Apple Silicon (sort of)

After sixteen major releases, you might think there's not much left to be added to Parallels Desktop - and for the vast majority of Mac users who are still using Intel CPUs, there isn't. For them, this update to the popular virtualisation software tidies up a few bugs and adds support for the latest version of the Linux kernel, but that's largely it. Overall it's not even consequential enough to warrant a full ticking up of the version number.

Yet arguably, this is the most significant release of Parallels Desktop since it first appeared in 2006. Just as version one unlocked the potential of Apple's then-recent switch to the Intel architecture, this one breaks new ground by allowing you to install and run Windows 10 on Apple Silicon.

They conclude it's a great first release, but that it still has ways to go.