VMware today announced the launch of Fusion 13, the latest major update to the Fusion virtualization software. Fusion allows Mac owners to operate virtual machines to run other operating systems.
Fusion is compatible with both Intel-powered and Apple Silicon-powered Macs. While Intel Macs will offer full support for Windows 11, on Apple Silicon there is a first round of features for Windows 11 on Arm.
On both Intel and Apple Silicon, Fusion 13 brings support for Windows 11 virtual machines. In order to achieve support for Windows 11 System Requirements while still providing performant virtual machines, we had to innovate. We’ve delivered a new Virtual Trusted Platform Module (2.0) device that is recognized as a valid TPM, and new encryption method to support that TPM.
On Intel Macs you’ll notice full support for Windows 11 with VMware Tools allowing for host-guest interactions like Drag & Drop, or Copy & Paste, as well as shared folders and USB and Camera device passthrough.
On Apple Silicon, we’ve introduced our first round of features for Windows 11 on Arm. In this release VMware Tools provides virtual graphics and networking, and more is still to come. With certified and signed drivers Windows 11 looks fantastic, and adjust the resolution to 4K and beyond!
Note that Fusion on Apple Silicon must run the Arm variant of Windows 11, and it does not support the x86/Intel version of Windows.However, for users who want to run more traditional win32 and x64 apps, Windows 11 on Arm has built-in emulation to run those applications compiled for Intel/AMD, and as a user-level process our testing has shown us that this works ‘out of the box’.
Fusion 13 also includes a TPM 2.0 virtual device that can be added to any VM, storing contents in an encrypted section of the virtual machine files and offering hardware-tpm functionality parity.
The software supports OpenGL 4.3 in Windows and Linux VMs on Intel and in Linux VMs on Apple silicon.
Fusion 13 Player is free for personal use, and commercial licenses for both versions are available at a 30% discount to celebrate the launch. VMware Fusion 13 Player is $104.30, and VMware Fusion Pro is $139.30. Upgrades from prior versions are also available for a lower fee.