MacBook laptops with Apple’s M1 processor support CrossOver 20 for running some Windows apps. CrossOver is based on the open-source Wine project that allows users to run Windows apps on macOS and Linux. MacBook users won’t have to install Windows to run these apps. This comes as a great news for those who used Boot Camp to run Windows apps on Macs as the new M1-powered ARM-based MacBook models don’t support Boot Camp. CodeWeavers, the team behind CrossOver shared that they were able to run CrossOver on Big Sur 11.1.
Developers at CodeWeavers were able to run CrossOver 20 on the new M1-powered MacBook laptops, allowing them to run a wide range of Windows applications, the firm announced in a blog post. They were also able to use the graphical performance of the M1-powered MacBook models to play games like Among Us and Team Fortress 2. The developers state that these Apple Silicon-based MacBook laptops run CrossOver 20 brilliantly. They tested this on the cheapest Macbook Air running Big Sur 11.1 and installed CrossOver 20.0.2 on it.
Explaining how this emulation works, the developers said, “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.” Essentially, CrossOver 20 is using Rosetta 2 technology that emulates Windows Intel binaries on macOS to emulate x86 binaries on the new ARM-based Mac laptop.
The gameplay for Team Fortress 2 shared by CodeWeavers shows some lag in game and not the highest frame rate possible, but bear in mind, it is running on the base-level MacBook Air that does not have active cooling and is missing one GPU core.
It seems like CrossOver 20 will work with macOS Big Sur 11.1 beta as it has some critical fixes to Rosetta 2.
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