CrossOver Allows x86 Windows Apps to Run on Apple M1 Macs

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Codeweavers posted a blog post and video tonight showing off CrossOver running on an Apple M1 MacBook Air. This video shows Team Fortress 2 running on a new ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌:

CrossOver is software (based on Wine Project) that runs Microsoft Windows apps on the Mac by translating Windows APIs into their Mac equivalents. The Codeweavers team was able to run the current version of CrossOver on the new Apple ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ under Rosetta 2 to achieve this feat.

That's incredible when you consider that we're on literally the cheapest Apple Silicon device you can buy - one that gets thermally throttled and is missing a GPU core.

I can't tell you how cool that is; there is so much emulation going on under the covers. 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! This is just so cool.

Codeweavers maintains a compatibility database so you can see what might work under CrossOver. They were also able to run Quicken, Among Us, and Witcher 3.

Tag: Apple Silicon Guide

Top Rated Comments

DJC631 Avatar
DJC631
24 weeks ago
All that software-level emulation and it still is playable. These chips must be damn good.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BornAgainMac Avatar
BornAgainMac
24 weeks ago
I am happy this topic of running nonMac apps on ARM is coming up. I want to hear about VMware, Parallels, Docker next.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yngrshr Avatar
yngrshr
24 weeks ago

All that software-level emulation and it still is playable. These chips must be damn good.
I picked up a Pro with 16gb of RAM. It absolutely flies.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CapeCodApple Avatar
CapeCodApple
24 weeks ago
RollerCoaster Tycoon here I come!
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
7thson Avatar
7thson
24 weeks ago
It was pretty skeptical about the transition to ARM based Macs. Once again, I find myself on the wrong side of a debate. What I’m seeing in these last few days is more encouragement to me updating to an M1 (or whatever comes next) Mac.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haunebu Avatar
haunebu
24 weeks ago
Now run a 68k or PowerPC Mac emulator in Wine/CrossOver.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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