MacBook Air, Pro with M1 Silicon and macOS Big Sur can now run Windows apps

Apple’s MacBook Air and Pro laptops with M1 processor are the talk of the town these days. But not just that, a lot is being said about the macOS Big Sur, which rolled out to end users a few days ago. Although the new operating system tunes well with M1 and has some new features along side visual changes, as it turns out, the OS can now also run Windows apps without having to install Windows operating system. 

The MacBook M1 supports CrossOver 20, a Rosetta 2 based platform that emulates Windows Intel binaries on macOS. Rosetta 2 is Apple’s tech in Mac devices that lets you run Intel-based apps on M1-based macOS Big Sur machines easily. 

Also read: Google releases new Chrome version for Apple’s ARM Macs

“We also installed the beta version of Big Sur 11.1, because we know it has some critical fixes to Rosetta. After we did that, we were able to fire up CrossOver and install and run a wide range of Windows applications,” said the blog post of CodeWeavers, developers behind CrossOver 20.

The developers add that they were able to use graphical performance of M1-based MacBook to play Windows titles like Among Us and Team Fortress 2. This was tested on the most affordable M1 laptop, MacBook Air. “Imagine - a 32-bit Windows Intel binary, running in a 32-to-64 bridge in Wine / CrossOver on top of macOS, on an ARM CPU that is emulating x86 - and it works!” they said.

Apple’s MacBook M1, based on reviews by critics and benchmarks, is turning out to be one of the most powerful laptops right now. According to 9to5 Mac’s Stephen Hall, the M1 MacBook Air started showing signs of slowing down after he worked on multiple heavy software, something that MacBook air users are not meant to do.

“OK I finally got it to slow down. Here's where it maxed before grinding to a halt: 12 apps, 2 of which x86 on Rosetta, 24 Safari tabs + 6 Safari windows (all of which playing YouTube videos at 2160p), Slack running full screen, Spotify playing, Monosnap to take the screenshot,” Hall tweeted.