Bootcamp vs Parallels: The Best Way to Run Windows on a MacBook? 

I've been looking for this for quite some time to help make a purchasing decision. Several videos out there with way more views but yours is way more detailed on the comparison aspect not necessarily the setup though. So it was a great compliment. Thanks a whole lot for this video.

Thank you for explaining and showing these differences. I am glad I am still keeping my 2017 Air with bootcamp and it works just as well for what I need Windows for now. Thank you!

After 35 years of using PCs, I bought the M1 MBA. I love using it but as a CPA, most of my software is offered only for Windows (with the exception of Office). I am currently using the trial version of Parallels. Here are my thoughts. Right out of the gate, I wish I had purchased the 16gb version of the Air. Windows alone uses 6gb per the Activity Manager and some of the software does struggle with memory from time to time. The Mac version of Office works and I don't miss much from the PC version. The new Outlook for Mac is so much cleaner and has helped my workflow. Excel seems to work well enough and just to let you know, I still use the Lotus 1-2-3 formula structures from back in the 80's. Old dogs and new tricks, I guess. At the end of the day, I am pretty impressed with what I can get away with on a fanless, 8 gb workstation running multiple OS. Coherence mode is simply awesome for making the transition to the Mac "do-able".

My goodness time flies, I can't believe that Apple's switching from Intel to ARM chips, 15 years later, after the very first Intel MacBook Pro came out.

Fantastic video. You've helped me a lot, thank you!

Great illustration of the differences, highly appreciate it.

Thanks for the video and very helpful comparison.

Great video thanks. I would like a fanless but capable windows machine, in particular to run ms access. MS Access is the MS Office app that does not have a mac version. I would like to see reports of experience using MS Access on a M1 Macbook (via parallels I assume).

Since it isn't possible to run X86 W10 on an M1, how well does ARM W10 work on M1 and what does it miss compared to X86 W10? I would like to use VirtualBox in Windows 10 to run a Linux and W10 VM together but I don't know how well it would work on an M1

Thanks for the video. Been using bootcamp exclusively since 2014 and decided it was time to upgrade laptop, to find out it's no longer supported on the M1/2. Parallels doesn't seem like a great alternative for full time Windows use. Not sure what to do for a new laptop.

Love the video and changes! Would u know If windows Automated Workflows work on a Mac Air M1 if you run parallels? Thanks!

I had long thought about putting Windows on my MBA Intel so I could use it for work but I’ve never liked mixing the two uses. I ended up buying a new MBA M1 because I liked how quiet it was and they were on sale for $800, sold the MBA Intel for a great price and found a cheap $80 MBA 2013, added Windows with boot camp, used OpenCore to upgrade to Monterey and all is good. Looks like I made a good decision since Parallels doesn’t work well with the M1 while Bootcamp on the MBA 2013 works better than the dedicated Windows machine I was previously using. Here’s the kicker…the 2013 does everything I need pretty much AND I was able to upgrade the SSD which you can’t do with the newer MBAs.

while using bootcamp and setting the f1 - f12 keys as windows 10 functions you can change it to macs functions holding fn while holding the key for example: fn + f12 = increase volume

Great comparison. what is the specification for your MacBook pro ?

this is an awesome video... thank you so much for helping me make my decision. im rolling with bootcamps.... plus macs have a long time span as far usage and productivity

What if you're running an m1 max with 64gb ram? Can't you allocate more processors and memory to the vm?

hello bro my mac book broken lcd how to install window 10 with bootcamp externol display

Which is better for an eGPU, VMware Fusion 12 Pro or Parallels Desktop 17?

Can you 🏴‍☠️ apps on the bootcamp windows (I have a macbook pro 16" intel) just like on an average windows laptop?

@innoiso Thks for the video! I was undecided between another intel mac w/bootcamp similar to one I already have - to use on another site, thus having the same experience I'm used to - or go for an M1 iMac w/ Parallels, and your comparison helped a lot because the fluidity w/ Bootcamp running just Windows is clearly unmatched by the virtualization solution. Best regards!

I have so many problems with windows 10 on my iMac. For example my AirPods sound horrible, and wifi disconnects very often. I tried troubleshooting, and other solutions in RU-vid, but right the only way to get wifi back is to restart my iMac. Are these common Windows problems? Or it it bootcamp?

helped a lot thank you

Thank you for your video! I need to install Revit to draw on my mac pro 2019, which one do you consider has better performance? Parallels or BootCamp?

macbook pro running on intel? or m1? bootcamp work on arm processor? thanks for showing diffrences

Thank you that was great and informative video.

Thats were very helpful, thanks alot😊

Hey, thanks for the video! Do you think if parallels would work any better on high spec MBP than on MBA M1?

If I install bootcamp. Does the Mac book Nvidia graphic card Apple to the bootcamp windows?? 🙏

Thank you! Its very helpfull.

How do you become a windows insider? I don't have a pc running windows 10 :/

Very good and informative video. Good work.

Great video, man. Love your work, Few questions please: - On the bootcamp side, how's the experience with switching between mac & windows on-the-fly. - Does one have to "shut down" the windows to sort of turn off the Bootcamp and go back to MacOS? or one can use MacOS & Windows Bootcamp simultaneously? - Is it possible to minimize WindowsOS (Bootcamp) into like MacOS Dock, and bring it back up when needed? or it has to be shut down and not minimized? - Are mac files accessible on Windows Bootcamp like they are on parallel? - Can I copy something on the MacOS and paste it on WindowsOS (Bootcamp) or it'd see it as 2 completely different machine? - Can I sort of "float" (smaller window) the WindowsOS (Bootcamp) on my MacOS? and if yes, can I drag a file from MacOS to drop on WindowsOS? I feel like you can probably do another follow-up video answering these questions and other questions people have raised, from this video & the topic generally. Thanks once again.

Do you think Bootcamp would be made available in the future for ARM based devices ?

Does anyone know how to download parallels to an external hd? I am trying to play steam games that are windows based but even though I download to the external, it also downloads all gigs of memory to each game onto parallels which is on my Mac M1 hd. Very frustrating. M1 only has 256gig hd vs 2tb external. Please help!!! :)

The only reason why I'm very skeptical about buying the m1 macs are for this reason. They should really do some bootcamp on m1 as well

FYI: idk where I saw, I think Apple website, but it said that running Parallels would divide the ram, so maybe that why it’s lagging. Boot camp isn’t a problem bc it’s not sharing ram at the same time. If u want m1 & have to use Parallels, upgrade the ram, bc then 8 -> 4, 16 -> 8, 32 -> 16, etc. 8 ram is not enough to run Parallels smoothly (like this video) & I think 16 isn’t either. So this vid isn’t really accurate.

Parallels is better for an older MacBook Pro, especially a 2012 the my son uses. Trying to install bootcamp on a 2012 has been a nightmare and failure. Is parallels free?

So I have an M1 Mac Mini and recently needed some programs that could only be used on Windows so I downloaded a trial of Parallels and tried that - i got the same lag, dodgy resolution and it just didn't feel right. One good thing about parallels which was the ease of switching between 2 OS's. In the end I utilised an old 2014 i5 Mac Mini i still owned and utilised Bootcamp. It was so much better IMHO.

What about temperature (over heat) running bootcamp vs parallel?

Hi, really appreciate if you can share with me the specs of both laptops in this test, just to make sure I get it right for what I need in my next purchase. Thank you very much for your kind help! Have a nice day!

parallels on m1 mac just sucks... it's insanely slow and it slows down Mac OS too, any solution for this?? Just relaunching the Macbook would solve the problem temporarily yet.

I have a MacBook Mid 2017 I installed kali Linux via virtual box, Since then been have minor issues CPUs been heating up or overworking and I can’t run as many apps as I used to I try to find elsewhere but should I run Boot Camp I’m working with 256 SSD currently 50 to 60 GB available 8 MB ram, Processors in m3 core Also the only issue is kernel task… something..I’m not currently looking at my screen any help thanks I watched this video I’m watching it again to decide whether I should use Boot Camp

Bootcamp all the way, i'm using flawlessly on iMac 5k Late 2014.

Which one will drain the battery faster?

is bootcamp and parallels the same thing? I have an intel Mac that I need to run windows. If I have bootcamp because I have an older computer, do I need to run parallels?

Any option to install Windows 10 on M1 Mac Book pro through BootCamp

This helps me out on holding off on new computer for right now.

I like the concept of this video

Man, has there been any substantial improvement with Windows 11 on ARM via Parallels 17? 6 months have passed since this video has been released..

Has there been any improvement in Windows performance on Parallels since this recording? I understand from speaking with Apple that only half of the Macbook Pro's RAM can be dedicated to Parallels. If Windows 10 requires 16 gb of RAM minimum, would that mean that I would need a 32 gb Macbook? Thanks!

Is the MacBook Air now your main computer or do you still use surface devices more? Oh and your video is good as always by the way ☺️

do you think running windows 10 on M1 through parallels will get better overtime?

Hey is there any possibility of windows 11 ever running on a mac especially the intel chips

Im still waiting to run windows on my m-1 mbp silicone

I imagine the MBP has better Specs then the Air, it makes me feel like the performance would be much more similar if this was tested on two Devices with the Same Specs. It made the video a little confusing at times and I had to remind myself that when you did Comparisons. Currently I'm deciding if I wanna run bootcamp or Parallels on my MBP, if I can get away with it and similar performance I wanna do Parallels since Parallels allows me to not need to restart my Device each time I wanna use Windows Features.

Parallels can run without internet also?

Hi 2020 MacBook Pro i5 2.0 ghz is run Windows 10 fluent? I will use SQL on Windows

MacBook Pro & Macbook Air have different specs, this surely would casue Macbook Pro to be quicker to start with?! Also i'm running boot camp & it is driving me crazy as i've run out of storage space as Bootcamp takes up so much space that I can't even run a upgrade on my MacBook Air.

I have a MacBook Pro 2.6 GHz 6-Core intel Core I7 with 16 GB, which would give me the best performance?

Something notable is that Macs that are still capable of bootcamp do not (currently) support Windows 11, as the even though the intel processors in Macs support TPM 2.0, Apple has not unlocked that ability (and likely won't release support for this in the future) and Microsoft has made it a requirement for Windows 11. This is unfortunate as it means the writing is on the wall for bootcamp and native windows support on Macs. I use bootcamp on my iMac Pro and it's worked great for playing video games, but wanted to see what other options there are for windows support on mac and how gaming performance would be. Unfortunately, it seems that due to limited resources being allocated for parallels and virtualization, we'll never be able to get the best performance possible. With that said, bootcamp was never a priority for Apple and drivers were mediocre at best and never unlocked the true performance the hardware was capable of. I'm hoping that parallels and driver efficiencies can bring us close enough that windows gaming with higher-end macs will be playable by most standards (not saying I need to play everything on ultra or very high, but don't want to play on bare minimum / low settings eithers). Until then, I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that Apple will allow Macs with Intel processors to support TPM 2.0, or that Microsoft will drop TPM 2.0 as a requirement in windows 11.

I regret removing Windows from my macbook pro. I plan to install Windows again on my old MacBook pro and this video helped me decide which one I should do. Bootcamp again looks better than parallel. Subscribed!

I tried boot camp, but my MacOS starts to slow very badly ! So now I’m trying parallels.

Correct me if I am wrong, but, unless there have been recent updates, even Office is not native on Windows on Arm, let alone Chrome. So the experience is going through 2 layers, virtualization and emulation. I think even with a faster M1X or future M2, M3, etc. the latency is unavoidable.... As for bootcamp, Federighi said in an interview, it's up to Microsoft, so it's totally possible. But remember it's still Windows on Arm, there is no way to run x86 Windows on Apple Silicon

Interesting proposition

Can Parallels be downloaded on Intel Macs?

Can we use bootcamp on air m1

Will all windows app work on parallel ?? Please reply here

Sadly I have a 2019 Mac support boot camp but you can never install do to mo mouse keyboard to click next so no windows for me for some reason probably the states banned it so I need porellas which probably y thay banned windows on Mac need a free vm cannot afford porellas I may just buy a Dell laptop for my windows stuff seam's cheeper

now i am quite clear-use boot camp to run windows on a mac. paralles would be compromise. thanks very much for the video

How to switch back windows to mac? Thanks

Im waiting for the Bootcamp on M1! Theres a roumour that it can happens soon

I tried windows and it made things slow and I didn’t have that much GB because of boot camp I’m trying Parallels tho

Will windows on a mac run the same as windows on a pc if using bootcamp?

I prefer parallels due to how I can use it as a testing environment.

parallels in a yearly / monthly sub?

Bootcamp is way better. Windows runs better on Mac than on PC

Do you recommend installing antivirus software on a bootcamp Macbook if we want to safely use it as our primary device? Edit: Wording

In short, you need a faster Mac for parallels to make up for the extra lag

but parall...can't use all ram and cores? if yes then its not better than Bootcamp.

bootcamp doesnt work it says error copying windows files

i'm sure you'll gonna fix most of the performance issues you had on the m1 if you get the 16gb ram version

I'm using Parallels on my M2 MacBook Air with Windows 11 and zero lag, feels like I'm running a PC on a good computer.

Maybe windows 11 made a difference? Or intel maybe?

thanks! i’m going to download it via bootcamp on my 2017 macbook pro! i need it for solid works :/

Parallels 17 is awful. It worked great during the trial period, but after I bought it, Windows 10 just crashes and will not boot up anymore. I have tried everything to get it to work. Do not download the Parallels Toolbox. It will lag your whole system..

Maybe BootCamp was better bc you did it on the Pro with higher RAM? 🤔

i want to switch from windows 11 to macbook

We need Bootcamp else not going to purchase M1, thats all.

Does parallels cost money?

parr....is not free right?

you havent done the main thing that people try this thing. GAMING!!

I think VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion is more professional than Parallels. VMware's other advantage is have Free version. It's Player. Available on Mac, Windows, Linux. But M1 compatibility isn't yet available.

I hope people will resist this move by macs. Making people buy different system for new os update for both wimdows and Mac is just unnecessary

The answer is bootcamp. Bootcamp is free and it was everything I needed and wanted after wasting time with parallels. Just my opinion though. The video is rather informative.

Some people buy M1 mac to use Window 10? WTF

Your comparing Win64 to ARM64. Windows arm 64 has terrible X64 emulation

Windows 11 seems to to work better on M1

bootcamp is more natural and optimized

this is one sided you should have compared the pro against another pro not a pro against an air pro's are known to be faster and more powerful than airs so this is not a valid experiment.

When it comes to Windows gaming, Parallels is pale compared to Bootcamp. This is why I prefer Bootcamp to play most of my PC games and run other 3d software such as 3ds Max. I'll never buy a Mac that doesn't support Bootcamp.